How the Information Infrastructure Has Changed in the Digital Age - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 86

gnostic process with their client(s), they are accepting responsibility for the out-
come: that the client understands the information and its possible utilization. The
information professional assists individuals as they understand information and
see how it can be utilized. This role is vital in the information infrastructure. A more
detailed discussion of utilization is found in Chapter 7.
Preservation
Preservation is concerned with the retention and storage of recorded informa-
tion for future audiences. As noted in Chapter 4, bibliographic control is impossible
for social media, Web sites, and blogs; and preservation is complicated as well.
The ability of individuals and organizations to create Web pages, blog posts, and
e-mail messages, and to engage in the creation of social media communications
(Twitter, Facebook, etc.) also complicates the preservation process.
In earlier times, the quality of paper and the extent of a document's deterioration
were major factors in determining whether a document should be preserved.
Duplicate copies could be procured to preserve the intellectual content of the topic
or document.
Digital documents create a new set of issues. The ephemeral nature of social
media is a factor in the preservation process, and individuals must make decisions
regarding the value of their communications. Those decisions can be made on an
ad hoc basis. However, digital communications for organizations can be very im-
portant for decision-making, for policy-making, and for legal protection. Web sites,
digital documents, and e-mail should be included in the retention and preservation
policies of an organization.
Unlike paper documents, digital documents more easily can be stored without
regard to storage capacity; however, the format of the digital document must be
considered. As hardware changes are made in the organization, capability for re-
trieving digital documents in the organization's library is a consideration in preser-
vation policy. Another consideration is the protection of digital documents by sys-
tematic storage and organization so that the documents are not lost within the or-
ganization and accidentally deleted. As more documents and communications are
digitized, individuals and organizations must be intentional about developing or-
ganizational, preservation, and discarding policies.
Discarding
The process of discarding digital records is much the same as with paper docu-
ments. Items may be discarded if the content is irrelevant or obsolete, or if the digit-