3052: Archive Request - Revision history

AdmiralMemo: Typo fixes

2026-05-07T07:39:06Z

Typo fixes

FaviFake: /* Explanation */

2025-06-16T14:41:09Z

‎Explanation

141.101.99.219: /* Explanation */

2025-04-03T17:08:59Z

‎Explanation

141.101.99.70: /* Explanation */

2025-04-03T17:06:56Z

‎Explanation

172.68.7.209 at 16:41, 3 April 2025

2025-04-03T16:41:28Z

CalibansCreations: /* Explanation */

2025-03-17T12:01:58Z

‎Explanation

CalibansCreations: /* Explanation */

2025-03-11T09:15:29Z

‎Explanation

172.69.43.163: /* Explanation */ Rework, and add a (more obvious?) example.

2025-03-05T11:39:27Z

‎Explanation: Rework, and add a (more obvious?) example.

172.70.214.112 at 23:49, 4 March 2025

2025-03-04T23:49:56Z

Dannie: /* Explanation */

2025-02-27T13:18:22Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-Research sometimes involves looking up old data in an archive, and old data is often not stored in a modern standard of file format. It may either be an older standard, largely forgotten and no longer catered for, or a choice of original archival format that made sense only within the organisation itself; either way, being a proprietary internal or licensed third-party format that lost (or never gained) wider support in the world at large. Unless the archive's contents are periodically re-examined, and up-converted into more contemporary standards in a timely manner, they might not be able to provide the data the researcher needs in a convenient way. The comic shows [[Cueball]] facing several issues that can happen with archived data:
+Research sometimes involves looking up old data in an archive, and old data is often not stored in a modern standard of file format. It may either be an older standard, largely forgotten and no longer catered for, or a choice of original archival format that made sense only within the organization itself; either way, being a proprietary internal or licensed third-party format that lost (or never gained) wider support in the world at large. Unless the archive's contents are periodically re-examined, and up-converted into more contemporary standards in a timely manner, they might not be able to provide the data the researcher needs in a convenient way. The comic shows [[Cueball]] facing several issues that can happen with archived data:
 * The data is stored as paper records, which will have to be scanned into a digital format.
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * The data is not being sent in a common format for scanned documents, such as PDF, but a proprietary format that needs special software to decode.
-* The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it. Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particuar Windows family (there was Windows Millenium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees that you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be unable run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overriden by compatability modes or other special ways of running the software.
+* The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it. Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particular Windows family (there was Windows Millennium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees that you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be unable run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overridden by compatibility modes or other special ways of running the software.
 Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Explanation==
 Research sometimes involves looking up old data in an archive, and old data is often not stored in a modern standard of file format. It may either be an older standard, largely forgotten and no longer catered for, or a choice of original archival format that made sense only within the organisation itself; either way, being a proprietary internal or licensed third-party format that lost (or never gained) wider support in the world at large. Unless the archive's contents are periodically re-examined, and up-converted into more contemporary standards in a timely manner, they might not be able to provide the data the researcher needs in a convenient way. The comic shows [[Cueball]] facing several issues that can happen with archived data:
 * The data is stored as paper records, which will have to be scanned into a digital format.
 * The data is being sent as a CD-ROM instead of being emailed or shared online, so it will take time to arrive. Also, most computers sold today do not come with a CD or DVD drive so the researcher might need to use another computer, or buy an external CD drive, to read it.
 * It will take 10 business days (about 2 weeks) to process the request, plus shipping time.
 * The data is not being sent in a common format for scanned documents, such as PDF, but a proprietary format that needs special software to decode.
 * The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it.
-**Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particuar Windows family (there was Windows Millenium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees that you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be unable run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overriden by compatability modes or other special ways of running the software.
+* The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it. Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particuar Windows family (there was Windows Millenium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees that you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be unable run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overriden by compatability modes or other special ways of running the software.
 Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * The data is not being sent in a common format for scanned documents, such as PDF, but a proprietary format that needs special software to decode.
 * The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it.
-**Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particuar Windows family (there was Windows Millenium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees thst you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be able run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overriden by compatability modes or other special ways of running the software.
+**Alternatively, it is a message originally written from when '98 was the earliest usable version in its particuar Windows family (there was Windows Millenium Edition, after that, which was all but the same for most purposes, and also still ran as "Windows upon DOS") and XP the required level in the NT-based line (i.e. no guarantees that you could use Windows 2000 or earlier, but XP was significantly of the "DOS runs within Windows" design). This does not ''necessarily'' mean that Vista or later successors did not turn out to be unable run the older software natively, although ''some'' key changes to the successor UIs or system back-ends (e.g. access to now-legacy .dlls, assumed system locations for user data or/or User Access Control limitations) might indeed need to be overriden by compatability modes or other special ways of running the software.
 Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 * The data is not being sent in a common format for scanned documents, such as PDF, but a proprietary format that needs special software to decode.
 * The decoder software only runs on {{w|Windows 98}} or {{w|Windows XP}}, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by [https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-xp Microsoft],<!--Removed "cannot even be installed on modern computers" because MSDOS can be run on semi-modern hardware (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRtNnd8lFs)--> requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it.
 Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:41, 3 April 2025
Line 24:		Line 24:

	==Transcript==		==Transcript==
−	~~{{incomplete transcript\|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~

	:[A side view of Cueball, sitting on a wheeled office chair, at a desk with a laptop on it and his hands on the laptop. A jagged line comes from the laptop screen presumably representing text on the computer screen from an online page, with the underlined text representing a hyperlink to another online page.]		:[A side view of Cueball, sitting on a wheeled office chair, at a desk with a laptop on it and his hands on the laptop. A jagged line comes from the laptop screen presumably representing text on the computer screen from an online page, with the underlined text representing a hyperlink to another online page.]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.
-In zoos, captive animals need {{w|behavioral enrichment}} to promote physiological and psychological well-being - to keep them active and reduce stress and harmful behaviors. One common method is to provide food or treats encased in such a way that the animal has to exert effort to open/destroy the enclosure. The intention is to mimic the natural pattern of having to work to get to food, with the challenge and effort providing fulfillment and distraction, in addition to receiving food. The comic humorously suggests that archivists are doing the same thing as zookeepers - providing intellectual stimulation for the researcher by forcing them to jump through hoops in order to get their data. The title text suggests that archivists live in their world of archives and see the rest of the universe outside it as a cage that's trapping the rest of us. This is perhaps a reference to Jevil from {{w|Deltarune}}, who refers to his prison in the Dark World as his “little freedom”, or {{w|Allegory of the cave|Plato's Cave}}, a philosophical question about what it means to perceive reality. Randall [[876: Trapped|has enjoyed]] poking fun at the latter idea before.
+In zoos, captive animals need {{w|behavioral enrichment}} to promote physiological and psychological well-being - to keep them active and reduce stress and harmful behaviors. One common method is to provide food or treats encased in such a way that the animal has to exert effort to open/destroy the enclosure. The intention is to mimic the natural pattern of having to work to get to food, with the challenge and effort providing fulfillment and distraction, in addition to receiving food. The comic humorously suggests that archivists are doing the same thing as zookeepers - providing intellectual stimulation for the researcher by forcing them to jump through hoops in order to get their data. The title text suggests that archivists live in their world of archives and see the rest of the universe outside it as a cage that's trapping the rest of us. This is perhaps a reference to {{w|Allegory of the cave|Plato's Cave}}, a philosophical question about what it means to perceive reality for which Randall [[876: Trapped|has enjoyed]] poking fun at the idea before, or any number of examples of 'inside-out' thinking, such as {{w|List of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy characters#Wonko the Sane|Wonko the Sane}} (from ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'') or Jevil (of ''{{w|Deltarune}}''), where someone insists that they live 'outside' a conceptually inverted structure which contains the whole rest of existence beyond ('within') its walls.
 In libraries and archives, catalog enrichment means adding useful data to the catalog, including scans of the table of contents or the whole book. Many institutions have already digitized large parts of their collection. Researchers can then download a scan directly from the online catalog, just by clicking on a link.