The National Archives of Australia is now shining a bright beam of light into what’s been described as a looming digital dark age.

Already a leader in developing software to convert records into a stable and permanent format, the Archives has released a series of new publications containing practical guidance on making, keeping and using digital records. By illuminating the invisible world of digital recordkeeping, the Archives is enabling all government agencies to properly manage and preserve their important records.

The Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Dr Peter Shergold, told a Canberra e-government conference last month that preserving digital records was a public service-wide problem and that without concerted action, Australia would be threatened with ‘digital amnesia’.

‘The long-term preservation of magnetic tape, hard drives and compact disks is challenging, and their future use is threatened by the very speed with which computers are changing,’ Dr Shergold said.

‘So relentless are the cycles of innovation, and so rapidly does hardware and software become obsolete, that the digital archive is in danger of becoming a crypt for a dead technology…that is why it is vital to convert and store digital records in a standard and stable format,’ he said.

Dr Shergold said that government agencies needed to understand that emails or SMS text messages that impacted on policy decisions should be treated as public documents and therefore should be preserved rather than carelessly or unthinkingly deleted.

‘By preserving a full historical record for posterity, it will help to secure the rights and entitlements of Australian citizens to examine the way that governance works and to understand the reason that decisions – big and small – are taken, ‘ he said.

The new National Archives digital recordkeeping products include:

• Digital Recordkeeping: Guidelines for Creating, Managing and Preserving Digital Records – A comprehensive guide to managing digital records.

• Digital Recordkeeping Self-Assessment Checklist – A self-assessment tool to evaluate digital records management.

• Recordkeeping and Online Security Processes: Guidelines for Managing Commonwealth Records Created or Received Using Authentication and Encryption – Advice on the recordkeeping implications of using online security processes such as authentication and encryption and strategies for ensuring legislative, business and community requirements are met.

• General Disposal Authority for Encrypted Records Created in Online Security Processes – Conditions for the disposal of encrypted records created during online security processes.

These digital recordkeeping products are available to download online at www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/er/summary.html.

These products will help Australian Government agencies:

• Make and keep the right digital records
• Store digital records appropriately
• Destroy digital records lawfully
• Manage technological obsolescence
• Access digital records over time
• Protect the integrity and authenticity of digital records

The National Archives has joined other public record authorities from Australia and New Zealand to form the Digital Recordkeeping Initiative, a think tank to investigate the problems of recordkeeping in the rapidly changing digital age.

The Initiative will pool resources and expertise to find better ways to ensure that digital records are preserved – and made accessible up to 200 years from now.