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cover of episode Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc

Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc

2023/11/10
logo of podcast Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
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主持著名true crime播客《Crime Junkie》的播音员和创始人。
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播音员：本节目探讨了档案保存的重要性及其面临的挑战，通过威廉征服者编纂《末日审判书》、BBC“末日审判项目”失败以及Windrush丑闻等案例，说明了无论纸质档案还是数字档案，都需要持续的努力和关注才能确保其长期保存。忽视档案保存可能导致严重后果，例如个人权利受损、历史信息丢失等。 Michael Braithwaite：由于英国政府销毁了大量的加勒比海地区移民的登陆卡，导致Michael Braithwaite无法证明其合法居留权，最终失去了工作，并面临被驱逐出境的风险。这突显了档案保存对个人权利的重要性。 Adrian Pearce 和 Sally Pearce：Adrian和Sally Pearce 尝试修复并数字化BBC“末日审判项目”的数据，但过程中也面临技术挑战和数据丢失的风险。这说明了数字化保存并非万无一失，也需要持续的维护和关注。 Peter Armstrong：Peter Armstrong 发起了BBC“末日审判项目”，旨在利用新兴技术收集和保存英国社会的数据，但由于技术更新和成本问题，最终数据丢失。 Amelia Gentleman：Amelia Gentleman 报道了Windrush丑闻，揭露了英国政府的错误做法以及由此导致的严重后果。

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William the Conqueror initiated a comprehensive survey of his realm in 1086, resulting in the Doomsday Book, which provided detailed records of ownership and resources, crucial for governance and taxation.

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William the Conqueror undertook a remarkably modern project. In 1086, he began compiling and storing a detailed record of his realm: of where everyone lived, what they did and where they came from.

900 years later, the BBC began its own Domesday project, sending school children out to conduct a community survey and collect facts about Britain. This was a people’s database, two decades before Wikipedia. But just a few years later, that interactive digital database was totally unreadable, the information lost.

We tend to take archives for granted — but preservation doesn't happen by accident; digitisation doesn’t mean that something will last forever. And the erasure of the historical record can have disastrous consequences for humanity...

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