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VERS STORY | STANDARD | ASSESSMENT | PROJECTS | DIGITAL ARCHIVE | TRAINING | TOOLKIT | PUBLICATIONS | |
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3.8 Media refreshing (Specification 1, section 2.8) The system must have the ability to refresh the media on which records and folders are stored. Refreshing means copying the contents from one piece of media to another. Refreshing may involve copying the contents from one type of technology to another in order to prevent records from being left on media which can no longer be read. Alternatively, refreshing may be from one piece of media to another of the same technology; this ensures that pieces of media are replaced before they fail. Apart from the physical process of refreshing media, refreshing involves developing procedures for the ongoing management and conversion of media, and staff training in media management. It should be realised that refreshing is a standard practice in all computing systems. For example, disk drives on servers are regularly replaced with newer units of higher capacity. Refreshing is closely related to creating a backup of the records and folders. The system must document the refresh (including time of refresh, the operator invoking the refresh (if any), and the identity of the media being refreshed), with the exception that it is not expected that routine refreshing by the system (e.g. by a Hierarchical Storage Management system moving files from tape to disk) would be documented. Conformance to this point is the joint responsibility of the agency and the vendor responsible for the storage system in use. The agency is responsible for setting up the procedures for ensuring refreshing of media. The vendor of the storage system is responsible for the technical process of refreshing. If the storage system is the general storage infrastructure of the public agency (e.g. a storage network or file servers) the ability to refresh the media can be assumed as part of the standard infrastructure. If, however, the storage system is specific to the recordkeeping system (e.g. storage on individual CDs that are stored off-line), conformance is achieved by the recordkeeping system vendor demonstrating the refreshing of media. The accuracy of the refresh must be verified by ensuring that all records and folders (except those which have been disposed of) have been copied, and that the contents of the records and folders have been copied accurately. Accuracy is normally ensured by verifying the copy (i.e. checking that all records and folders have been copied and performing a bitwise comparison of the original record and the copy). Conformance to this point is the responsibility of the vendor supplying the software performing the refresh, and is achieved by the vendor supplying a statement certifying that all refreshes are verified as accurate copies. If records and folders are stored on removable media (e.g. CDs), the system must have the capability to manage the media, including generating media identifiers that are unique within the system. Managing the media involves documenting the:
If media are to be transferred to another agency or to PROV, provision must be made to ensure that the media identifiers are unique or are made unique within all the offices (including PROV) involved in the transfer. Agencies should consult with PROV on the application of unique identifiers. Conformance to this point is achieved by the vendor supplying the software demonstrating the tracking of media. | |||||
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