ABSTRACT
The need to preserve electronic records and publications has been expressed in archival and library literature, but analysis of the challenges and development of strategies for achieving reliable retention are in their infancy. Many archivists and librarians perceive that information created in or converted to electronic form is at risk as a result of several notable losses of important electronic information like National Aeronautics and Space Administration's electronic files from the 1976 Viking mission to Mars, pre-1997 e-mail communications of U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and photographic image files damaged by the “I Love You” virus in 2000.
