I can completely agree with Mark and want just do add that in most cases this is done anyway (usually the bigger the company the more information is stored - either within the company or, for example, on the internet. In the latter case finding the data might be more difficult and time consuming).

In addition to the legal requirements that regulates the archiving of economic data for tax purposes, etc... most companies have also have substancial archives of the intellectual property (such as patents, plans, prototypes, ...). This, I guess, is a huge datamine for future historians.

However, unfortunately, the picture of any given time periode is and will always be incomplete as you cannot prevent some data to go missing and not every bit of data is stored (that would be impossible). Also misinterpretation can be a problem in certain cases.

YES ;))

they should be saved on durable media to allow future historians and archeologists a well supported interpretation of our culture and history, etc...........

which informations will be left from our times? nothing else than informations on  tombstones and empty bottles of Coke.....;))

best regards

Andreas

@Marcel,

this is most certainly a big problem - the amount of information that you can save on a given medium is inverely proportional to its durability, but destruction of media has been a problem as long as there are media.

Even messages on stone plates can be lost, paper or pergament can burn and digital media can become obsolete by technical advances...

Destruction of valuable museum pieces, like in Iraq this week? How often did this happen in the past?

@Marcel

I'd rather like not to know - I am afraid that happened and happens in all parts of the world at all times.

For example, in the 19th century the British railway in egypt found it cheaper to burn ancient mummies in their train furnaces than to burn coal - hundreds or thousands of old mummies were destroyed….

I don't think so (maybe in some cases), but generally there might be a lot of different reasons - accidents, natural disasters or, like in my mummy-example, economic reasons. Then there is the question about know-how - what good is any archive, if there is no one left who knows how it is organised.

Furthermore there is the possibility of simply loosing important documents during moving the archive or similar things.

I guess that's mainly because electronic forms are much easier to handle, faster to send and easier to transport for individuals.

If you cannot correctly track the history of a single company, how can you track History in general?

This is important if you care about the employees to strongly identify with the organization - to feel in relation to the organization as a bond with the family.

How do you handle this over a period of 40 years where people come and go?