Over the past few years, libraries and archives (档案馆) across the world have worked to digitize their resources. Many have been investing heavily in expanding digital collections for their records. A recent attack on the British Library (BL) has raised some questions about it.
On Oct. 28, 2023, the British Library's website was hacked, making it nonfunctional for several weeks. The library didn't restore its home page until Dec. 19, and it was a month before its basic catalogue was searchable again. The bulk (主体) of the library's online resources will take much longer to restore, leaving students and scholars with research plans across the world in trouble.
Digitization has been a powerful weapon in the battle against both intentional destruction and the neglect of records. It helped scholars preserve the records while also allowing understaffed libraries to preserve materials suffering from the degradation (毁坏) of neglect. It enables users to access records from all over the world, helping them overcome the barriers of geography and the costs of travel. Digitization can help us hold ourselves to account for the past.
The hack at the British Library, however, exposes the vulnerabilities (易受打击) of digitization. It forces us to ask: what happens to our records if a cyberattack severs us from our digital records? Since the BL has physical (if somewhat outdated) catalogues, restoring access for scholars won't be a mission impossible. But it is still extremely expensive. So what happens if digitized collections in other countries are attacked in the same way? As with the BL, it could prevent our access to physical records by destroying digital catalogues and reference material. That means even though the original physical records may still exist, we may struggle to access or use them effectively. And repairing the damage could require resources that the institutions in question might not have.
Digitization has been a transformative tool for scholars and a valuable shield against the dangers that threaten paper-based historical records. But it's time to consider the vulnerabilities of digital repositories as well. Fires, theft, and physical neglect are no longer the only major threats archives face: now we must also add ransomware (勒索软件) to the list.
