INFS 423 Preservation of Information Resources Lecture 11 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Information and Communication Studies Department of Information Studies

2015/2016 – 2017/2018

INFS 423 Preservation of Information Resources

Lecture 11 – Preservation of Electronic Documents

Lecturer: Prof. Harry Akussah & Mr. Michael Allotey, Contact Information: mallotey@ug.edu.gh, hakussah@ug.edu.gh

Lecture Overview

In this lecture, I will introduce you to the complexities of preserving documents in electronic environments. Students will learn about the nature, attributes and characteristics

• f electronic documents that distinguishes them

from other documentary materials and how to preserve them.

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Lecture Outline

The key topics to be covered in the lecture are as follows:

• Topic One: Defining Electronic Document
• Topic Two: Formats of Electronic Documents
• Topic Three: Types of Electronic Documents
• Topic Four: Protection and Care For Electronic Documents

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Reading List

• Akussah, H. (2011). Preservation of Documents. Department of

Information Studies, Legon, NAB Superior Services.

• Gorman, G. E., & Shep, S. J. (2006). Preservation management for libraries,

archives and museums. London: Facet Pub.

• Adcock, E.P. (2000). Principles for the care of handling of Library Materials.

Washington, D.C., IFAPAC.

• Swartburg, S. G. (1983). “Conservation Library.” A Handbook of use and

care of traditional materials. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983.

• Feather, J. (2004). Managing preservation for libraries and archives:

current practice and future developments. Aldershot, Hants, England, Ashgate Publishing.

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DEFINING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Topic One

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Defining Electronic Documents

• An electronic document is a document that can be

manipulated, transmitted or processed by a computer. Electronic documents are by nature:

• Written on magnetic or optical medium (including magnetic

tapes, cassettes, CD-ROMs, hard disks and diskettes)

• Recorded in binary code (or has digital data)
• Accessed using computer software and hardware.
• Easily manipulated (that is, updated, deleted and so on).

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Attributes of Electronic Document

An electronic document must have: 1) Has an identifiable context 3) Has an identifiable content 5) Has a structure (fixed form and a stable content)

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Identifiable Context

• Context of document is the framework of action,

activates and / or background information that lead to the creation or modification of the document.

• Context is the background information that helps

explain the meaning of document, i.e. Information that identifies the document, creator and purpose of creation.

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Identifiable Content

• The intellectual component of the document or what

the document says. This could also be the subject matter of the document.

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Structure

• This is the appearance, the arrangement or the format
• f the content of the document.

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FORMATS OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Topic Two

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Formats of electronic Documents

Data Sets

Groups of related electronic documents organized and treated as a

• unit. They are created, managed and used in the context of a
• database. E.g.: annual census information for a region.

Text-based documents

Basic word-processed documents, with words only and few or no graphic images.

Multi- dimensional documents

Electronic documents that can be represented in more than one way on the screen and on the printed page. E.g.: spreadsheet can be represented as a set of figures and formulae.

Multi-media documents

Documents composed of a number of different elements, which interact together to display their full meaning. E.g.: graphical, moving image, sound and text documents.

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Characteristics of Electronic Documents

The following are some of the characteristics of electronic documents:

• Machine dependency - electronic documents are

machine dependent and for that matter cannot be created, processed, stored or accessed without a computer system

• Compactness – electronic documents can easily

be compressed unto portable devices to save space.

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Characteristics of Electronic Documents

• Ease of Duplication - electronic documents lend

themselves to easy manipulation. This implies that they can be easily updated, merged, edited, deleted.

• Re-packaging - electronic documents can more easily

be repackaged into various information products as compared to other document types.

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Characteristics of Electronic Documents

• Multi-User Access - electronic documents very easily

lend themselves to multi-user access within a network environment.

• This implies that several people can have access and

can use one electronic record at a time.

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TYPES OF ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Topic Three

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Types of Electronic Documents

When digital documents are created, they are usually backed up (Copying files/ data to a different medium – disk, tape, flash drive etc.) onto electronic documents. Electronic documents covers the many forms of secondary storage devices. Secondary storage devices fall under 4 broad categories:

• 1. Magnetic, 2. Optical 3. Solid State and 4. Cloud

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Magnetic Storage Media

• They depend on the magnetic properties of certain

materials (iron and nickel alloys)

• Magnetic material is coated on the surface of a disk or tape

that can be magnetized to represent 1 or 0. Examples are:

• Fixed/ Internal Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
• Portable Hard Disk Drive
• Magnetic Tapes
• Floppy Disc
• Zip Disc
• Jaz Disc

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Obsolete

Magnetic Storage Media

FIXED/ INTERNAL HDD

• Have a very large storage capacity (up to 1TB).
• HDD are random access devices
• Data access speeds are very fast.
• Data is stored on rotating metal or glass discs

(called ‘platters’). PORTABLE HDD Is one that is placed into a small case along with some electronics that allow the hard-drive to be accessed using a USB or similar connection. MAGNETIC TAPES

• Is a large capacity, serial access medium.
• Because it is a serial access medium, accessing

individual files on a tape is slow.

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Optical Storage Media

• Optical storage media (Optical

discs) uses a thin layer of metal alloy or light-sensitive organic dye to store data

• The data is stored on a spiral track

and a red laser is used to read and write the data.

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Spiral Track

Optical Storage Media

Optical discs can be designated as follows:

• Read Only Optical Discs

– CD ROM – DVD ROM

• High Capacity Optical Discs

– Blu-Ray disc – HD DVD

• Recordable Optical Discs

– CD R and DVD R – CD RW and DVD RW – DVD RAM

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Read Only Optical Disks

CD ROM

• Can hold around 800MB of data.
• The data cannot be altered (non-volatile)
• CD-ROMs are random-access devices.
• Used to distribute all sorts of data: software (e.g.
• ffice applications or games), music, electronic

books (e.g. an encyclopaedia with sound and video.) DVD ROM

• Digital Versatile Disc (DVD-ROM) discs can hold

around 4.7GB of data (a dual-layer DVD can hold twice that).

• DVD-ROMs are random-access devices.
• They are also used to store high-quality video.

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High Capacity Optical Discs

BLU-RAY DISK

• Blu-Ray disks are a recent replacement for DVDs.
• Can hold 25 - 50GB of data (a dual-layer Blu-Ray

disc can hold twice that).

• Blu-Ray discs are random-access devices.

HD DVD

• High-density DVD (HD-DVD) discs can hold

around 15GB of data (a dual-layer HD-DVD can hold twice that).

• HD-DVDs are random-access devices.

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Recordable Optical Discs

CD R and DVD R CD-Recordable (CD-R) and DVD-recordable (DVD-R) discs can have data burnt onto them, but not erased. You can keep adding data until the disc is full, but you cannot remove any data or re-use a full disc CD RW and DVD RW CD-ReWritable (CD-RW) and DVD-ReWritable (DVD-RW) discs, unlike CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, can have data burnt

• nto them and also erased so that the discs can be re-

used. DVD RAM

• DVD-RAM discs have a similar capacity to a normal

DVD, holding 4.7GB of data. DVD-RAM discs are random-access devices.

• DVD-RAM discs are used in many camcorders (video

recording cameras).

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Solid State Storage Devices

• The term solid-state essentially means no moving

parts.

• Solid-state storage devices are based on electronic

circuits with no moving parts (no reels of tape, no spinning discs, no laser beams, etc.)

• Solid-state storage devices store data using a special

type of memory called flash memory. Examples include: USB Memory Stick | Memory Cards | Smart Cards

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Solid State Storage Devices

USB MEMORY STICKS Memory sticks (or ‘thumb-drives’) have made many

• ther forms of portable storage almost obsolete (why

burn a CD or DVD when you can more easily copy your files onto a memory stick?). MEMORY CARDS Many of our digital devices (cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, etc.) require compact, non-volatile data

• storage. Flash memory cards provide this and come in

a variety of shapes and sizes. SMART CARDS Many credit cards (e.g. ‘chip-and-pin’ cards), door entry cards, satellite TV cards, etc. have replaced the very limited storage of the magnetic strip with flash

• memory. This is more reliable and has a much larger

storage capacity.

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Cloud

• One Drive
• Google Drive
• Drop Box

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PROTECTION AND CARE FOR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Topic Four

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Protection and Care For Electronic Documents

Electronic documents are very sensitive and are easily prone to unauthorized access .They need to be handled carefully to forestall fast deterioration and total lose. They need to be protected at the following two levels: ❑Physical protection ❑Intellectual protections

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Physical Protection

• Electronic documents are stored on discs and tapes

either within the computer System (fixed disc) or on external storage devices. These storage devices need to be physically protected through the following: ❑Lockable workstation accommodation ❑Lockable storage equipment ❑Protection against power surges

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Intellectual Protection of Electronic Records

• As mentioned earlier, electronic documents are vulnerable to

unauthorized access and alteration. This most often puts the integrity, authenticity and accuracy of these documents in

• doubt. The following measures can be taken to protect them:

❑Backing-Up ❑Data Migration ❑Authentication

➢ Passwords ➢ Digital Certificates

❑Data Encryption ❑Anti-virus systems

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How should Electronic Documents be handled?

❑Storage environment ❑Handling ❑Storage and use ❑Avoidance of magnetic fields ❑Avoidance of food and drinks ❑Good house keeping

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Summary

You have completed lecture 11. You have learned:

• The nature of electronic documents
• The attributes of electronic documents
• Formats of electronic documents

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References

• Duranti, L., & Rogers, C. (2012). Trust in digital records: An increasingly

cloudy legal area. Computer Law & Security Review, 28(5), 522-531.

• InterPARES. InterPARES 3 project: glossary. Available at: http://

www.interpares.org/ip3/ip3_terminology_db.cfm? letter¼p&term¼38.

• MacNeil, H. (2000). Providing grounds for trust: developing conceptual

requirements for the long-term preservation of authentic electronic

• records. Archivaria, 50.
• Duranti, L. (2010). From digital diplomatics to digital records forensics.

Archivaria, 68, 39-66.

• Electronic vs Digital Data, Retrieved from:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/electronic-vs-digital-data-bernadette- bosse/

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