Government proposal to digitise wills (and destroy originals after 25 years)

[MollyC]

There was no standard for storage of archives before the 1970s.  The general principal is that temperature and humidity need to be kept within a very small range of variation to avoid repeated expansion and contraction of the fibres.  This has been achieved by air conditioning units but some newer buildings have been constructed on eco principals with substantial insulation.  Also protection from water requires avoiding basements and using inert-gas fire suppression systems.  At present these records appear to be in an uncontrolled environment.  How much would it cost to provide the correct storage?  Should private businesses be paid to provide it?  Does TNA have out-stores? What do they do?

[GrahamSimons]

There was no standard for storage of archives before the 1970s.  The general principal is that temperature and humidity need to be kept within a very small range of variation to avoid repeated expansion and contraction of the fibres.  This has been achieved by air conditioning units but some newer buildings have been constructed on eco principals with substantial insulation.  Also protection from water requires avoiding basements and using inert-gas fire suppression systems.  At present these records appear to be in an uncontrolled environment.  How much would it cost to provide the correct storage?  Should private businesses be paid to provide it?  Does TNA have out-stores? What do they do?

TNA has out-stores in Cheshire salt mines.
I think the concern over data format is well understood by archivists so not a problem.  Of course digitised records can readily be copied so that there is the possibility of having backup copies so that wholesale loss is less likely

[arthurk]

The consultation document refers to the wills currently being stored at a facility operated by a third party, because like many public services, it's been outsourced. It also mentioned that if the outsourcing contract switched to a different company, there could be significant costs and disruption in moving the documents to their premises instead.

I've no idea how secure or controlled the present storage facility is, but I do know that such places do sometimes suffer catastrophic damage. (I had some things in a self-store warehouse before moving house, and a few weeks after taking them out, it burned to the ground.)

So while I'd prefer the originals to be kept as well (does anyone have a spare salt mine?), I'd be broadly in favour of going digital, so long as there are multiple copies in a variety of locations - surely not too difficult?

[Andy J2022]

The consultation document refers to the wills currently being stored at a facility operated by a third party, because like many public services, it's been outsourced. It also mentioned that if the outsourcing contract switched to a different company, there could be significant costs and disruption in moving the documents to their premises instead.

I've no idea how secure or controlled the present storage facility is, but I do know that such places do sometimes suffer catastrophic damage.

The current contract is operated by Iron Mountain who have considerable experience running the digital operations for many large corporations so I don't think they are strangers to the concept of secure backups. But it would be interesting to know what the contract says about the ownership of any intellectual property rights arising from the scanning of wills which is currently provided by Iron Mountain.

[Pinjarra1929]

there is a weirdness in disposing (do the contracts specify how? burning , shredding, landfill etc.) of original records. isn't it likely the subjects in the will have descendants who would want them if they are to be destroyed?
1 If the electric power supply gets blackouts, are digtal Archives inaccessible? do they require internet access, and is that a second weakness, having no Internet signal? Reminds me of recent news that many houses relying on traditional home phones (landlines ) are having them stopped (cos use old copper parts). Forced to sign up for broadband landline but many dusciver it to be am unworkable replacement! eg no Internet access mean home phones won't function.  Also many panic alarms that the infirm wear like a necklace,  from care services,  are incompatable with this replacement.
2. Patients despair if need their hospital records to check on their history of treatment of their life- long medical  conditions, if they are told the hospital  etc destroyed them due to a need to store current records.  I woukd guess many people would've like to be warned beforehand and offered the opportunity to go and collect them. Having ones life's worth of health records seems incredibly necessary,  to have a chance to live your best life!??
Sorry if this is a distraction frim the topic but it's related and relevant isn't it? please can someone tell me if it's not relevant enough?Peferably with sensitivity & tact, that many like me who were at school before computers were there, need  (to cope with embarrassment for being ignorant and not able to find time to learn everything we want or need, with speed of tech development)

[Wexflyer]

Another unmentioned aspect:

It is certain that there will be errors and omissions in any scanning effort.  Previous experience and human nature suggests that some wills will get missed entirely, some pages will be skipped, some improperly scanned etc.
If the originals are retained, then this is of no great consequence. But if the originals are destroyed, then any and all errors will be irreversible.

[Copper1]

This is not meant to be entirely flippant but given the conjecture of one red-banner tabloid tomorrow(thursday) - the World has a mere 2 centuries before it expires.

Has anyone yet developed a foolproof method of preserving any archive document before the apocalypse?

[GrahamSimons]

Another unmentioned aspect:

It is certain that there will be errors and omissions in any scanning effort.  Previous experience and human nature suggests that some wills will get missed entirely, some pages will be skipped, some improperly scanned etc.
If the originals are retained, then this is of no great consequence. But if the originals are destroyed, then any and all errors will be irreversible.

One-off paper documents are also vulnerable - to misuse, to misfiling, to falling down the back of a filing cabinet....and of course to losing the whole set of documents in a good fire! Using data centres in places round the world, as all good data storage systems do, is likely to be more resilient to disaster.
The quality of image is now very impressive, as witness the CofE's re-photographing of parish registers to replace the old poor quality monochrome microfilms.

In some cases in archives, the physical original has historical and scientific value, for example in investigating the place of origin of the materials, or radiocarbon dating. I can't see that as being of value with wills from 1858: what is important is the text, and if that can be imaged successfully it's in principle available to anyone at any time and in any place, which the paper record is not.

[Wexflyer]

One-off paper documents are also vulnerable - to misuse, to misfiling, to falling down the back of a filing cabinet....and of course to losing the whole set of documents in a good fire! Using data centres in places round the world, as all good data storage systems do, is likely to be more resilient to disaster.

You are seemingly arguing against an invented strawman.

No one has argued against digitizing the records.

The argument is against destroying the originals.