Dear John and Listers:

In the museum world, as in other cultural facilities, we are just now
addressing concerns on the security of data - especially over the World
Wide Internet. This is a topic which deserves more discussion!

At the upcoming "National Conference On Cultural Property Protection"
sponored by the Smithsonian Institution and hosted by The Getty Trust -
7-11 March 1999 in Los Angeles, CA - we are attempting to begin
addressing the issue with a session on "Preventing Thefts that Use
Internet," presented by Ms. Maureen Pastine, Temple University Library.

Kind Regards

Roger Wulff
______________________________________________________________________


John Scafidi TAL 850/488-5090 wrote:
>
> I am puzzled by Mr. Ryan's request for information. I hasten to point out I
> have no wish to flame him or dis his request.  But I do want to make some talk
> about the topic, and I think listers - including all you students out there -
> should, too.
>
> There seems a tendency among us to consider all data as equal, since to a
> computer all data ARE equal.  Therefore, the line of reasoning seems to go, all
> data are equally share - able.  The only danger, if we are of a suspicious
> frame of mind, is possible corruption of our data by the occasional hacker or
> careless user.  However, I am not a computer.  I am a human, and I work (I
> think) for the public in the present and in a future which will extend far
> beyond my life span.
>
> We attempt to keep our collections data close, allowing little insecure (so far
> as we know) access. When I entered museum work in the seventies, cheap (free
> for employees) xerographic copying was all the rage; opportunities for data
> leakage on paper were considered dangerous, and potential for leakage via the
> new electronic data storage devices were worrisome. Insecure data were viewed
> as potential shopping lists for industrious thieves.  I continue thinking this
> way and acting out my thinking.  However, I have begun to understand that some
> colleagues may consider my point of view as old fashioned or extreme.  Yet our
> greatest sorrow as professionals is that sometimes our friends, with whom we
> are most anxious to exchange data, have proved to be fifth columnists of the
> worst sort.
>
> (I read what I have written and realize it may appear paranoid to many in the
> field, but...) I cannot see any hope for collections physical security unless
> we attempt to ensure collections data security.
>
> Perhaps this is an extreme point of view.  Let's talk.
>
> John A. Scafidi
> Florida State Parks
> Tallahassee, FL
> [log in to unmask]

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