Disaster Recovery of Water damage Files



Posted: Wednesday, September 07, 2005

by
Gosford Micrographics Pty Ltd

Disaster recovery for
water damage files


There has been a number of disasters lately e.g. New Orleans in USA and Banda Aceh in Indonesia that have highlighted the legal obligation of organisations (corporate and government) to protect their records.

Banda Aceh highlighted the need to preserve the original land titles register, development consents and construction certificates. As there was only one register in hard copy that was so badly water damaged that surveyors and engineers have to recreate the city from teh beginning. This will result in many disputes over property boundaries before any real normality can return.

New Orleans has once again highlighted the legal obligation on all government authorities and companies to ensure that their critical files and records are protected. This protection is not just from Internet hackers but from natural disasters. Imagine the water damage to hard copy documents and microfilm records and the corrosive effects of the computers being submerged in water for 24-80 days. How many companies and government agencies had stored their critical files in fire proof and water tight facilities. One suspects that it will be no-one as everyone assumes that it will never happen to them. Did you know that over 80% of businesses that suffer a disaster never recover because they had no active disaster recovery plan.

Can we learn a very valuable lesson from these disasters about protecting our business critical documents and files.

What needs protecting:


The public office may become vulnerable through a lack of evidence of its business that is required by auditors, the courts or accountability 'watchdogs' such as the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). In addition, equipment or technology dependent records may be required in the long term as part of the State's archives or legal obligations under various Acts (both State and Commonwealth). It is therefore vital that records that depend on equipment or technology to be accessed or read are managed so that their ongoing accessibility is ensured. (extract from NSW State Records Act 1998 Guideline 14)

There are methodologies that have been proven to survive most disasters. With microfilm it is now designed to last around 300-500 years and can be stored in very small spaces compared to hard copy records and is far less vulnerable to damage than the digital alternative of hard disk, magnetic tape and optical (CD/DVD/WORM). Through Film-Based Imaging a public office can achieve the best of both worlds the ease of use through the digital copy and the long term preservation and protection from microfilm. The resultant film can be stored in a fire-proof and water tight safe off-site. The digital version can be recreated by scanning the microfilm. Microfilm is growing in popularity due to the long term storage capability and the technology independence for reading the information.

  1. Restoration of files once water damage occurs requires a freeze drying process to extract all the excess moisture from the paper without inflicting anymore damage. The paper is then restored to normal humidity and put through the Film-based Imaging process.
  2. Restoration of film requires a cleaning process similar to the method of developing the film. There are still some microfilm service bureaus that are able to do this process that will allow the microfilm to be read and/or scanned.

George has had 15+ years in record and knowledge management and 30+ years in IT. http://www.gosmicro.com.au



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