Disaster recovery
for water damage files
There has been
a number of disasters lately e.g.
New Orleans in USA and Banda Aceh in Indonesia that have highlighted
the
legal obligation of organisations (corporate and government) to protect
their records.
Banda Aceh highlighted the need to
preserve the original land titles
register, development consents and construction certificates. As there
was only one register in hard copy that was so badly water damaged that
surveyors and engineers have to recreate the city from teh
beginning. This will result in many disputes over property
boundaries before any real normality can return.
New Orleans has once again
highlighted the legal obligation on all
government authorities and companies to ensure that their critical
files and records are protected. This protection is not just from
Internet hackers but from natural disasters. Imagine the water
damage to hard copy documents and microfilm records and the corrosive
effects of the computers being submerged in water for 24-80 days.
How many companies and government agencies had stored their critical
files in fire proof and water tight facilities. One suspects that
it will be no-one as everyone assumes that it will never happen to
them. Did you know that over 80% of businesses that suffer a
disaster never recover because they had no active disaster recovery
plan.
Can we learn a very valuable lesson
from these disasters about
protecting our business critical documents and files.
What needs protecting:
The public
office may become
vulnerable through a lack of evidence of its business that is required
by auditors, the courts or accountability 'watchdogs' such as the
Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). In addition,
equipment or technology dependent records may be required in the long
term as part of the State's archives or legal obligations under various
Acts (both State and Commonwealth). It is therefore vital that records
that depend on equipment or technology to be accessed or read are
managed so that their ongoing accessibility is ensured. (extract
from NSW State Records Act 1998 Guideline 14)
- Local Government - approved development applications, development
consents, construction certificates, HR files, Community health files,
Council Minutes, drainage & sewer diagrams, accounts
recievable/payable
There are methodologies that have
been proven to survive most
disasters. With microfilm
it is now designed to last around 300-500 years and can be stored in
very small spaces compared to hard copy records and is far less
vulnerable to damage than the digital alternative of hard disk,
magnetic tape and optical (CD/DVD/WORM). Through Film-Based
Imaging a public office can
achieve the best of both worlds the
ease of use through the digital copy and the long term preservation and
protection from microfilm. The resultant film can be stored in a
fire-proof and water tight safe off-site. The digital version can
be recreated by scanning the microfilm. Microfilm is
growing in popularity due to the long term storage capability and the
technology independence for reading the information.
- Restoration of files once
water damage occurs requires a freeze drying
process to extract all the excess moisture from the paper without
inflicting anymore damage. The paper is then restored to normal
humidity and put through the Film-based Imaging process.
- Restoration of film requires
a cleaning process similar to the method
of developing the film. There are still some microfilm service
bureaus that are able to do this process that wil allow the microfilm
to be read and/or scanned.
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George has had 15+ years in record
and knowledge management and 30+
years in IT. http://www.gosmcro.com.au