Estimating archiving costs for engineering records
Information technology has completely changed the concept of record keeping for engineering projects -- the advent of digital records was a momentous discovery, as significant as the invention of the printing press. Digital records allowed huge amounts of information to be stored in a very small space and to be examined quickly. However, digital documents are much more vulnerable to the passage of time than printed documents because the media on which they are stored are easily affected by physical phenomena, such as magnetic fields, oxidation, material decay, and by various environmental factors that may erase the information. Even more important, digital information becomes obsolete because, even if future generations may be able to read it, they may not necessarily be able to interpret it. Engineering projects of all sizes are becoming more dependent on digital records. These records are created on computers used in design, estimating, construction management, and construction. The necessity for the accurate and accessible storage of these documents, generated by computer software systems, is increasing for a number of reasons including legal and environment issues. This paper will discuss media life considerations and life cycle costs associated with several methods of storing engineering records.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 484529
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-96-4749; CONF-970737-1; ON: DE97001670; TRN: 97:003843
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 41. annual American Association of Cost Enginnering (AACE) meeting, Dallas, TX (United States), 13-16 Jul 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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