History buffs can breathe a sigh of relief.
JFK’s documents and memorabilia are well on their way to beingpreserved and protected for generations to come, according to JohnF. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, deputy director TomMcNaught.
The library is working with the Hopkinton, Mass-basedinformation management and storage provider to protect the archivesof both personal and professional Kennedy documents and photosusing the EMC Centera FileArchiver system.
McNaught said one of the catalysts for looking for a storagesystem like that provided by EMC, was the result of approximately40,000 negatives of the Kennedy’s that were destroyed in the9/11terrorist attacks.
“Kennedy photographer, Jacques Lowe had stored (the negatives)in a vault under the World Trade Center (where) he thought theywould be safe,” said McNaught.
The JFK Library archives contain more than eight million pagesof papers — personal and presidential — of JFK, as well as over400,000 photographs, 11,000 hours of audio recordings and over1,000 hours of video.
Tom Heiser, senior vice president and general manager of EMC’sCentera division, said the cost of storing information online isreduced significantly, making it a more economical option.
Heiser added that he now has customers who are asking how theycan preserve content not just for years or decades, butforever.
“We’re planning an ILM (Information Lifecycle Management)environment (at the JFK Library),” said Heiser. “We will be usingCentera for the long-term retention of information.”
While still in the early stages of the project with the JFKLibrary, the objectives include long-term preservation, onlineaccess, and remote replication of documents in the event of adisaster, he said.
The Centera system has also been deployed at NZZ newspaper inSwitzerland, one of the oldest newspapers in the world, and at theDuchess Anna Amalia Library in Wiemar, Germany after fire destroyed30,000 volumes in 2004, according to Heiser.