Got this from a lister and thought I would pass it on for your comments. Chris Hi Chris I'm a bit behind reading the lists, so someone may have sent in the following already. I bet it will set off lots of fireworks! (I've just sent the message to the Bristol list) Ron I haven't seen this yet on any lists, but come 2051, '61, '71, it will be generating lots of discussion! The following quote is from a trailer for a BBC Radio 4 programme: "In Part One of "Losing the Past", Richard Hollingham investigates specific examples of what is now unplayable or unreadable. For example, he can reveal for the first time, that the UK population census data from 1951 are lost, as are significant parts of the 1961 and 1971 census data." http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/losing_the_past.shtml I'll be 104 in 2051, so can't imagine that I'll be contributing! Best wishes Ron

Many thanks for the link. I still believe we are very lucky in the UK to have such a rich variety and high survival of sources to explore. And while war time bombing and paper reclaimation losses (not to mention insects, rodents, and fire related accidents!) have shot quite a few holes in the historic records, we do have a magnificent paper heritage. However the changes in technology and the pace of change has introduced new ephemeral information storage, coupled with the costs associated with storage, leads to new problems. Personally I'll be looking forward to comments on Newspapers ! Given the UK has already lost a number of local holdings, the comments on the options for preserving and providing economical access to the remaining collections (whether located nationally or locally), especially "more recent issues" (post 1900, which were cheap, bulky, and never designed for long term survival), should be interesting. Incidentally I'm increasingly aware of course that in some instances we may be down to one or two surviving legible copies of regional papers. TTFN Richard H