Electronic records preservation in China – An exploratory inquiry

Abstract

Electronic records in China are defined as records that are created by digital devices and in a digital environment, exist in digital formats, rely on digital devices such as computers for reading and processing, and can be transmitted via communication networks. As a subset of electronic records, archival electronic records are those, based on their reference and use values, determined as needing to be preserved as archives. A gap was identified by reviewing literature that, although there are projects being conducted in a number of archival institutions, a systematic and standardized approach towards archival preservation of electronic records is currently lacking in China. In order to lay the foundation on which such an approach can be built, the present study was conceived to gain a comprehensive understanding of the preservation of archival electronic records in both the provincial and secondary provincial archives throughout the country. Relying on survey methodology and the OAIS reference model as the guiding theoretical framework, the study collected and analyzed data from a large number of archival institutions in China. As the first of its kind conducted in the geographical area of the Mainland China in terms of scope and subject matter, the investigation yielded empirical discoveries that over half of investigated archives had ingested electronic records with non-uniform and insufficient long-term preservation mechanisms. The study also pointed out that the issues surrounding electronic records management in records creating agencies were considered most challenging for long-term preservation, and that a national strategy with a top-down approach was called for, which could take full advantage of the Chinese archival system. It is believed that the findings generated by this study will be instructive and beneficial to the other types of archives in China and to the archival functions that operate internationally in similar or comparable environments.