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LHT
39,1 Security status of electronic
records preservation in
central China
22 The survey results of 34 archives in Wuhan City
Received 16 April 2019
Revised 3 September 2019
Qiuhui Xiao and Xiaotong Xu
28 October 2019 School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, and
Accepted 29 October 2019
Panpan Liu
Zhongnan Engineering Corporation Limited, Changsha, China

Abstract
Purpose – Recently, increasing importance has been given to electronic records in China, despite the lack of
understanding that institutions and organizations have regarding the security status of electronic records
preservation. Wuhan, the largest city in central China, serves as a case to investigate the preservation security
of electronic records. Challenges to security are summarized, and solutions are proposed to support policy-
developing and operational guidance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach – The Delphi method is applied to analyze the advice of nine experts, select
survey items and design questionnaires. Data are collected from 34 archives in Wuhan through field surveys,
oral interviews and e-mails, which are analyzed and illustrated with three representative cases.
Findings – Main achievements of electronic records preservation are concluded in the electronic records
management system, carrier types and storage formats, and data backup. Problems are summarized as a lack
of awareness and capability of defending against security risks, disaster recovery capability, and
understanding of electronic record characteristics. Solutions are proposed as follows: carrying out regular
security risk evaluation, adopting new technologies, implementing application-level backup, strengthening
technology-related education and attracting more IT talent to join the archive discipline. In addition, it is critical
to promote an understanding of the characteristics of electronic records.
Originality/value – This paper investigates the security status of electronic records in central China by
surveys and case studies. Critical problems and corresponding solutions are raised to support policy-
developing and operational guidance for the research and practice of all kinds of institutions that implement
electronic records preservation.
Keywords China, Survey, Electronic records management, Digital records, Electronic records, Electronic
records preservation
Paper type Case study

1. Introduction
Electronic records are suitable for manipulation, transmission or processing by digital
computers (Committee on Electronic Records, ICA, 1997); they derive from machine-readable
records and were widely used in the early 1990s (Feng and Liu, 2017). As Cook (1994)
comments, the post-custodial era of archives comes. As a particular kind of digital object, in
Specification on Electronic Documents Archiving and Electronic Records Management (GB/
T18894-2016), electronic records are defined as records that are created and processed by
digital devices, transmitted via digital devices, stored in digital formats, and formed from
content, structure and background. This is the most authoritative definition of electronic

Library Hi Tech
Vol. 39 No. 1, 2021
pp. 22-36 This work is supported by Humanities and Social Science Foundation, Ministry of Education of the
© Emerald Publishing Limited People’s Republic of China (No.15JJD870002). The authors thank Dr Jinfang Niu, Dr Hui Yang and Yilin
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-04-2019-0088 Zhang for proofreading this paper.
records in China. Electronic records preservation refers to the process of managing electronic Electronic
records actively and keeping them safely for long-term access (Beagrie, 2008). records
Archiving electronic records in China has made great advancements in the last 20 years.
Until 2016, the number of electronic records in all levels of general archives of China has been
preservation in
up to 22,340,000 GB (State Archives Administration of the PRC, 2017). Meanwhile, the central China
evidential status of electronic records has been acknowledged in China by a series of laws,
such as the Electronic Signature Law, Criminal Procedure Law and Civil Procedure Law (Xiao
and Duan, 2018). In 2019, Decree No. 716 of the State Council, “Regulations of the State 23
Council on Online Government Services,” proposed that “electronic records are no longer
archived and transferred in paper form”; i.e. these records are stored via “Single-Track,”
which puts higher demands on the preservation security of electronic records. In light of
China’s 13th Five-Year Plan of Electronic Records Management (General Office of the CPC
Central Committee, 2016), electronic records are expected to be widely accepted in key fields
and main information systems by 2020. Accordingly, ensuring the security – authenticity,
reliability, integrity and usability – of electronic records has raised increasing attention.
Risks that records face in the digital environment are much more diverse and flexible than
those of paper-based environments (Xiao and Xu, 2017). All kinds of institutions and
organizations manage to digitize as many records as they could, while risks, such as loss, damage
and divulgence, emerge. The status and primary focus of the work on electronic records
preservation must be clarified and identified, respectively. Otherwise, the more electronic records
are created, the more losses might increase. Therefore, the survey serves as an effective way to
follow the status of electronic records preservation, which is essential for implementation.
This paper investigates the security status of electronic records preservation in central
China by a series of continuous follow-up surveys of 34 archives in Wuhan from October
2017. Representative cases, achievements and problems are presented in the following
sections. Then, solutions are proposed to provide valuable insights for developing policies
and guiding the implementation of the security of electronic records preservation in not only
Wuhan but also China and other countries and regions.

2. Review
A series of surveys on electronic records preservation and management are implemented by
organizations, institutions and scholars. These surveys could be classified into international
surveys (Table I) and national/regional surveys (Table II) based on their scale and scope. The
results of the surveys provide precious references to improve electronic records preservation
and management, especially on showing the basic information and status (Center for
Information, Policy University of Maryland, 2005), identifying the needs and barriers (Bikson
and Law, 1991), recommending preservation strategies, and revealing future research
directions (Committee on Electronic Records, ICA, 1997).
In China, the State Archives Administration investigates the number of electronic records
in all levels of general archives every year, but it hardly goes through the details on the whole
preservation process of electronic records. The surveys of electronic records preservation in
China are mainly initiated by some scholars and their teams. At present, the earliest and
largest survey in China was conducted by Ning Zhang (2008) and her team on the status of
electronic records preservation of 153 institutions that are directly under the central
government, provincial archives, enterprises and public institutions. At that time, electronic
records preservation was conducted in China for only approximately ten years, and the
methods and scope of archiving, preservation methods, preservation institutions and
electronic records management system (ERMS) were lacking. The survey shows that 55.1
percent of the institutions could not guarantee the authenticity and reliability of electronic
records, and the overall status of electronic records preservation was disordered and
LHT Year Investigator Respondents Survey content
39,1
1988 Paola Carrucci (supported Category A members The most recent worldwide general survey on
by ICA) of ICA computerization of national/federal archives
1994 Committee on electronic Archival institutions (1) Information on the organizational and legal
records, ICA in members of ICA frameworks for electronic records programs;
(2) program structures; (3) technical
24 specifications; (4) information holdings; and (5)
access provisions
1991 Tora K. Bikson, Sally Ann 24 UN organizations (1) The roles of telex, facsimile and electronic
Law (supported by organizational information handling systems;
ACCIS) (2) the properties of computer-based
information; (3) associated technology options,
constraints and standards; and (4) policies,
guidelines, training programs
2002 Junki Yaegash (supported 73 category A (1) IT policy; (2) acquisition; (3) holdings and
by ICA) members of ICA media types; (4) quantity; and (5) arrangements
Table I. for receiving electronic records
International surveys 2014 Corinne Rogers 441 worldwide (1) Ways to ensure the authenticity of electronic
on electronic archival institutions records; and (2) find the indicators that
preservation/ institutions and organizations consider to be
management important

uncontrolled. In 2010–2012, Yuenan Liu (2011) conducted a follow-up survey on the reception
of electronic records in China’s provincial and deputy provincial general archives. The
proportion of archives receiving electronic records in China has increased by 10 percent
annually in the past two years. However, there are still some difficulties in terms of the types,
quality, management mechanism and long-term preservation measures in electronic records
preservation (Liu, 2014). These are two broad surveys about electronic records preservation
in China up to now. Other surveys are implemented by specific institutions in specific regions,
such as universities in Henan (Wu and Yu, 2005), public sectors in Liaoning (Tian, 2011), and
enterprises in Kaifeng (Han, 2006), of which the depth and scope need to be improved.
Through the review above, it is found that a survey is a basic step to know the status,
achievements, and barriers of electronic records preservation. Due to the large gap among the
eastern, western and central regions of China at the economic and social development level,
the level of electronic records preservation also has its own characteristics. As far as the
current research is concerned, there is a lack of comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the
preservation of electronic records in central China. Moreover, it has been seven years since the
latest nationwide survey was conducted. With the further implementation of various policies,
the security status of electronic records preservation has also made new progress, while new
problems and obstacles have gradually emerged. It is crucial to investigate the security status
of electronic records preservation in China through a series of comprehensive and continuous
surveys to discover the status of electronic records management and preservation in central
China and to clear the direction of further development and take exact measures. This
investigation will help to enhance the understanding of the current situation of electronic
records preservation in central China. This paper takes Wuhan city as the point of
penetration to explore the security status of electronic records preservation in central China.
Wuhan is a key city in central China approved by the State Council; it is also the largest
subprovincial city in central China and an important national center of industry, education
and transportation. Therefore, electronic records preservation in Wuhan has certain
representativeness, and the obstacles and difficulties it faces include the bottleneck problems
of the development of electronic records preservation in central China.
Year Investigator Respondents Survey content
Electronic
records
1996 Archives Authority of 160 agencies in New South Wales, (1) Policies, guidelines, and procedures; (2) preservation in
New South Wales Australia filing; (3) long-term preservation strategy;
and (4) electronic records management central China
tools
2004 Lefuma Sejane public sectors in Lesotho Status of electronic records preservation in
Lesotho in regards to (1) creation; (2) 25
policies and strategies; (3) storage methods
and formats; and (4) skills and knowledge
of staff
2005 The University of 21 federal government agencies, 2 state (1) Office function/organization; (2) paper
Maryland (supported government agencies and 1 private and electronic records management and
by NARA) sector organization in the USA maintenance; (3) electronic records
management process; (4) electronic
recordkeeping systems; and (5) e-mail
records management
2007 Ning Zhang 153 agencies including institutions (1) Filing methods; (2) management
directly under the CPC Central philosophy; (3) management methods; and
Committee, provincial archives, (4) management systems of electronic
enterprise and public institutions records in China
2010, Yuenan Liu 31 provincial archives and 16 vice- Surveys on electronic records transfer and
2012 provincial archives in China (2010) 23 preservation. The content of these surveys
provincial archives and 11 vice- is divided into 6 parts: (1) ingest; (2)
provincial archives in China (2012) archival storage; (3) data management; (4)
access; (5) administration; and (6)
preservation planning
2011 Council of State 50 states and 4 territories in the USA This survey focuses on the electronic
Archivists records management programs in the
following aspects: (1) creation of the
program and partnerships established; (2)
program strategies, priorities and needs;
and (3) description of the functionality of
their electronic records system
2011 InterPARES3 93 small- and medium-sized archives in (1) Acception of digital records; (2)
Canada preservation policy; (3) acquisition policy;
and (4) peoples’ interest/awareness of the Table II.
special nature of digital records National/region
2016 Mohamad Noorman 41 archivists at the National Archives of This survey investigates the knowledge surveys on electronic
Masrek Malaysia and skills of Malaysian archivists in preservation/
managing electronic records management

3. Methodology
Investigation and case study are the main research methods adopted in this paper, and they
are used to understand the overall situation of electronic records security assurance in central
China. In-depth research on representative cases is conducted to explain the problems,
obstacles and causes reflected by the data.
From October 2017 to February 2018, we surveyed 14 general archives (including 1
provincial archive, 1 municipal archive, and 12 archives of different districts), 12 university
archives and 8 archives of large enterprise and public institutions in Wuhan (34 in total). To
ensure the comprehensiveness of the survey results, a questionnaire is designed in advance.
Questions are designed based on following national standards and professional standards:
Standards of Archives Construction (Jian Biao 103-2008), Specification on Electronic Documents
Archiving and Electronic Records Management (GB/T18894-2016), Specification on Magnetic
Media Archives Management and Protection (DA/T15-1995), Specifications for Technical
LHT Requirements, Care and Handling of Optical Discs for Electronic Records Filing (DA/T38-2008),
39,1 Specification for Mark of Archive Digitizationoptical Disc (DA/T52-2014), and Operations and
Maintenance Specifications for Archival Information System (DA/T56-2014). A series of policies
and regulations promulgated by the State Archives Administration of China are referenced:
Measures for Contingency Preparation and Response of Archival Work (2008), Guidelines of
Hierarchy Protection of Archival Information System Security (2013), Basic Requirements on
Archival Information System Security Protection (State Archives Administration of the PRC,
26 2016) and Basic Function of Electronic Records Management System (State Archives
Administration of the PRC, 2018). Then, the Delphi method is applied to analyze the advice of
nine professors and experts who major in electronic records preservation to select the survey
items and decide the structure of the questionnaire. Questions are organized from three
perspectives, which are physical security, information security and management security, and
are further divided into seven aspects, including the environment of the computer room and
archival repository, storage carrier, network security, ERMS security, data security, institution
construction, organization and management. Each aspect corresponds to several survey items,
which are translated into at least one question in the questionnaire. For the follow-up data
analysis, the questions are designed in the form of single choice or multiple choice. If all the
options do not fit the reality, respondents could fill in the relevant contents to further improve the
questionnaire. For example, the survey item “Site selection” includes two questions:
(1) Which of the following is suitable for the site selection of your archives? [multiple
choice] ,detached building ,away from the source of pollution ,away from
dangerous places ,high terrain , easily transported
(2) Do electronic records have a special storage room? ,yes ,no
There are 56 questions in the questionnaire. Due to the limitation of the length, this paper
shows the structural framework and survey items of the questionnaire in Table III.
To avoid the fill-in mistakes and misunderstandings of the questions and to ensure the
accuracy of the survey results, field surveys are carried out in 32 institutions, and another two
archives are surveyed through e-mail and telephone.
After a unified analysis and review of the survey data, three archives are selected from the
34 institutions and organizations participating in the survey, which represent the security
status of electronic records preservation situation of high level, common level and low level, to
make a concrete analysis and give a more comprehensive presentation of the security status
of electronic records preservation in Wuhan city.

Perspective Aspect Survey items

Physical security Environment of computer room
and archival repository
Storage carrier
Information Network security
security
ERMS (electronic records
management system) security
Data security
Management Institution construction
security
Table III.
Survey items of the Organization and management
questionnaire
Site selection; protective devices (disaster protection; air condition;
radiation protection; intrusion prevention)
Carrier type; carrier inspection; carrier management and protection
Network devices; access control; defense system
ERMS credibility; ERMS function; hierarchy protection; ERMS
upgrade and maintenance
Storage format; security authentication; data encryption; data
backup; long-term preservation strategy; audit trail
Supervision system; individual responsibility system; business
policies, guidelines, and specifications; security and secrecy
regulations
Work plans; budgets and funds; personnel training; contingency
plan and disaster recovery
4. Survey results Electronic
After analyzing the questionnaire from archives of 34 institutions and organizations, survey records
results are summarized according to seven aspects of the questionnaire.
preservation in
central China
4.1 Environment of computer room and archival repository
Site selection. Of the surveyed archives, 38.2 percent have separate and independent work
sites, while the remaining archives share one building with other institutions and 27
departments, such as the library, museum and executive office. In sum, 50 percent of the
surveyed archives own specialized repositories for electronic records preservation.
Protective devices. Protective devices represent devices that could prevent electronic
records from danger caused by disasters, air problems, radiation and intrusion of people who
have been denied access. Concrete results are shown in Table IV.

4.2 Storage carrier

Carrier type. Different types of storage carriers are accepted by surveyed archives. Of the
respondents, 85.3 percent use more than two carriers to store electronic records. The hard
disk and CD adoption rates are the highest. Concrete results are shown in Table V.
Carrier inspection. Utility inspections are implemented by 70.6 percent of the surveyed
archives. Inspections of carrier appearance and data integrity and for viruses are
implemented by 47.1, 35.3 and 50 percent of the surveyed archives, respectively.
Carrier management and protection. Carriers of electronic records are widely stored in CD
cases and tape cartridges by 88.2 percent of the respondents, and these cases and cartridges
are stored in a normative place (i.e. anti-magnetic cabinet). The storage environment of the
carrier is basically safe.

4.3 Network security

Network devices. Of the surveyed archives, 79.4 percent are equipped with sophisticated
network devices. Backup of critical communication devices is carried out by 58.5 percent of
the surveyed archives.

Items No. % (n534)

Temperature and humidity control 17 50

Water protection 15 44.1
Fire protection 15 44.1
Dust protection 15 44.1
Intrusion prevention 15 44.1 Table IV.
UV prevention 13 38.2 Protective devices of
Radiation protection 12 35.3 electronic records
Earthquake prevention 9 26.5 preservation
Harmful gas prevention 9 26.5 repository

Items No. % (n534)

Hard disk 33 97.1

CD 28 82.4 Table V.
Magnetic tape 9 26.5 Carrier types of
Floppy disk 4 11.8 electronic records
LHT Access control. A total of 85.3 percent of the respondents report that their networks are
39,1 divided into internal networks and external networks. In particular, access control manners
are accepted by 79.4 percent of the surveyed archives.
Defense system. For the defense system, all respondents claim that antivirus software is
installed. A high percentage (94.1 percent) of the surveyed archives employs firewalls.
Intrusion detection technology and automatic vulnerability scanning technology are used by
64.7 and 55.9 percent of the surveyed archives, respectively.
28
4.4 ERMS security
As shown in the survey, 88.2 percent of the surveyed archives are equipped with ERMSs.
Some archives still adopt the ways that they manage paper records to manage electronic
records.
ERMS credibility. Approximately 73.3 percent of surveyed ERMSs pass the tests of
qualified secrecy units. In sum, 20 percent of ERMSs pass the tests of institutions that
purchase them.
ERMS function. The functions of the surveyed ERMSs are shown in Table VI. In addition,
53.3 percent of ERMSs fulfill the needs of archives in this survey. This is because 96.7 percent
of institutions and organizations do not participate in designing their own ERMSs; instead,
they purchased ERMSs directly from the software enterprises.
Hierarchy protection. According to the Guidelines of Hierarchy Protection on the Archival
Information System (State Archives Administration of the PRC, 2013), 56.7 percent of ERMSs
are given certain security hierarchies by surveyed archives, and on this basis, measures to
protect ERMSs are carried out.
ERMS upgrade and maintenance. Approximately 86.7 percent of ERMSs are upgraded
and maintained in a convenient and timely manner.

4.5 Data security

Storage format. The storage formats of electronic records are shown in Table VII. Of the
surveyed archives, 39.3 percent employ more than two formats to preserve text records, and
55.2, 50 and 45.5 percent of the surveyed archives use more than two types of storage formats
to preserve image records, audio records and video records, respectively. There are archives
that employ DOC as the only format for text records preservation.

Items No. % (n530)

Retrieval and utilization 30 100

Storage and backup 28 93.3
Classification 23 76.7
Capture and archiving 21 70
Security secrecy 20 66.7
Long-term preservation 19 63.3
Table VI. Appraisal 10 33.3
Function of ERMS Audit and analysis 6 20

Format type Text (n528) Image (n529) Audio (n520) Video (n522)
Format TXT XML PDF DOC TIFF JPG GIF WAV MP3 AVI MPG MOV
Table VII.
Storage formats of Amount 14 6 24 2 14 29 3 13 17 18 13 5
electronic records % 50 21.4 85.7 7.14 48.3 100 10.3 65 85 81.8 59.1 22.7
 Security authentication. Digital signature and identity authentication technology are used Electronic
by 58.5 percent of the surveyed archives. Nevertheless, 32.6 percent of the respondents report records
that they never employ security authentication technology.
Data encryption. Asymmetrical cryptographic is employed by 35.3 percent of the surveyed
preservation in
archives. However, 55.9 percent of the surveyed archives do not implement data encryption. central China
The adoption rate of key technologies to keep data confidential and not tampered is not high.
Long-term preservation strategy. A total of 67.7 percent of the surveyed archives carry out
data migration and carrier transformation. While 23.5 percent of the surveyed archives 29
choose making copies as the only strategy for long-term preservation, 8.8 percent of the
respondents do not take any measures to ensure the long-term preservation of electronic
records.
Data backup. In sum, 26, 3 and 1 archives execute data-level backup (backup data only),
application-level backup (backup data and applications) and business-level backup (backup
data, software, hardware of the whole business process) respectively. The accomplishment of
all kinds of data backup methods is shown in Table VIII. A total of 72.8 percent of the
surveyed archives choose more than four backup methods. However, most archives backup
only the data content, ignoring the backup of applications and software and hardware
systems. Once the records leave the original environment or the original formats are out of
date, the data would become unavailable even if they are backed up. In addition, among the 11
backup methods listed in this paper, real-time backup, online backup and differential backup
have high efficiency, but their utilization rates are relatively low. Several frequently used
backup methods are not very effective because they are still unavailable to backup electronic
records in time.
Audit trail. An audit trail is employed by 58.8 percent of the surveyed archives during the
process of electronic records preservation.

4.6 Institution construction

Business policies, guidelines and specifications. Specific rules and guidelines for electronic
records filing are formulated in 88.24 percent of the surveyed archives. Similarly, national
standards and professional standards are adopted for operational guidance by 76.5 percent of
the 88.24 percent of the surveyed archives. Additionally, 47.1 percent of the respondents are
satisfied with their implementation of business guidelines. This is consistent with the
investigation results of Yuenan Liu (2014) on the establishment of the system.
Individual responsibility system. A total of 58.9 percent of the surveyed archives have full-
time staff who are in charge of electronic records preservation. Rules and regulations are
formulated to define their rights and responsibilities.

Items No. % (n534)

Local backup 23 67.7

Full backup 20 58.8
Regular backup 17 50
Off-line backup 17 50
Off-site backup 15 44.1
Heterogeneous backup 13 38.2
Incremental backup 9 26.5
Real-time backup 7 20.6
Homogeneous backup 7 20.6
Online backup 7 20.6 Table VIII.
Differential backup 2 5.9 Data backup methods
LHT Supervision system. Half of the surveyed archives develop supervision systems and the
39,1 system of rewards and penalties for electronic records preservation. Compared with business
policies, the individual responsibility system and supervision system are not widely adopted.
This reflects insufficient attention to electronic records preservation in the surveyed archives,
and this insufficient attention leads to the weak awareness of traditional archivists on the
preservation security of electronic records.
Security and secrecy regulations. Electronic records security and secrecy regulations are
30 set up in 88.2 percent of the surveyed archives.
4.7 Organization and management
Work plans. Of the surveyed archives, 47.1, 29.4 and 14.7 percent develop long-term (more
than ten years), medium-term (three to five years) and short-term (less than three years) work
plans, respectively. A total of 17.7 percent of the archives do not have any work plan for
electronic records preservation. This reflects that the surveyed institutions and organizations
need to pay more attention to the preservation of electronic records.
Budgets and funds. Of the surveyed archives, 85.3 percent have special budgets and stable
funds for electronic records preservation.
Personnel training. Training for electronic records preservation is carried out by 64.7
percent of the surveyed archives.
Contingency plan and disaster recovery. Of the surveyed archives, 67.7 percent make
contingency plans for electronic records preservation. Drills are performed by 20.6 percent of
the surveyed archives according to the respondents. Compared with paper records, electronic
records are more vulnerable to risks and accidents. However, the respondents’ attitudes
toward contingency plans and disaster recovery are not optimistic.

5. Representative cases analysis

Through the process of the surveys, it is found that there is an obvious gap in the security level
of electronic records preservation among the surveyed archives. To further explain more details
of Wuhan’s electronic records preservation practice and deeply analyze the obstacles and
reasons, three representative archives of different institutions are selected for case studies.
Among them, case 1 is a general archive with the highest security level of electronic records
preservation in this survey, case 2 is a university archive that represents the common level and
case 3 is an enterprise archive that represents the least satisfactory level.

5.1 Case 1: a general archive (high security level)

As a general archive, this archive has special anti-magnetic storage for electronic records
preservation with an area of 20 square meters and an electronic records preservation office
with a specially assigned person in charge of the security of electronic records. In this survey,
it has the best performance, and the security management of electronic records has been
successfully achieved.
In terms of physical security, this archive takes strict protection to the environment of the
computer room and archival repository. It also carries out regular appearance inspection,
readability inspection, data integrity inspection and virus inspection on electronic record
carriers such as CDs and hard disks. All items involved in the questionnaire could be realized
in this institution. In terms of information security, the network infrastructure, system
hardware, basic software and storage and backup equipment of this archive are fully
configured, and important communication devices are backed up. Defense systems, including
firewall, anti-virus software, intrusion monitoring systems and automatic vulnerability
scanning technology, are deployed and installed. The authentication technologies are used to
implement access control. The ERMS is qualified and reliable with complete functions, which
can be upgraded and maintained in a timely and convenient manner. Hierarchy protection is Electronic
applied. Digital signatures, message authentication and digital watermarking are used to records
ensure the authenticity and integrity of electronic records. This archive implements data-
level backup, and full, incremental, differential and off-site backup could be realized
preservation in
regularly. In particular, for some important electronic records, heterogeneous backup with central China
microfilms is implemented. In terms of management security, this archive actively complies
with national and professional standards and has developed effective electronic records,
business management guidelines, rewards and punishment systems, and secrecy 31
regulations. Additionally, this archive has developed a long-term plan for electronic
records preservation and has sufficient financial support. In addition, staff training courses
are offered regularly.
Generally, the daily management and preservation of electronic records in this archive are
relatively professional and experienced, and its security level should be at the forefront in
Wuhan and even in central China, which partly depends on that it is a professional archival
institution. However, it should be noted that this archive has neither encrypted the
transmission and preservation of electronic records nor made contingency plans and
conducted emergency drills. This archive also lacks an electronic records disaster backup
center. This archive is responsible for the administration and management of archive work in
the region located and should strengthen the consciousness of emergency and safety
management to guarantee the safety of electronic records and guide archive preservation
under a complicated and changeable technical environment. In the investigation, the staff of
the archives said that this was also the focus of their work in the future.

5.2 Case 2: a university archive (common security level)

This archive is affiliated with a university. It is located on the top floor of the school
administration building and does not have a special storage room for electronic records
carriers. The technical department comprises part-time staff who are in charge of electronic
records preservation. This archive represents the common level – the situation of most
institutions, whose electronic records preservation practice involves basic electronic records
preservation, of which the quality and level need to be improved.
In terms of physical security, this archive chooses archival CDs for electronic record storage
and implements regular readability inspection on storage carriers without conducting integrity
inspection or virus inspection. In terms of information security, this archive is equipped with
basic computer network devices, internal and external networks are divided, and firewall
system and anti-virus software are installed. However, important network communication
devices are not backed up. Their ERMS has been used for many years, has not passed the
qualification certification and holds simple functions, including archiving, retrieval, storage
and backup. Electronic records backup is implemented in the way of local offline backup. In
terms of management security, this archive has never developed a work plan or a system of
rewards and punishments, let alone complied with national standards. Personnel training is
also deficient. According to the survey, this archive has established an electronic record
archiving system and disaster response plans, which have not been further implemented. It is
worth mentioning that this archive has adequate funding support.
In the investigation, the archives staff of this institution also expressed that they felt the
current management level of electronic records could not meet the daily requirements.
Hardware facilities, software facilities and technical level need to be improved. More
strikingly, funding is sufficient in this archive, but the security level of electronic records
preservation is not satisfactory, as we thought. It can be concluded that the emphasis on the
preservation security of electronic records is not only embodied in funding but also reflected
in reasonable work planning and deployment.
LHT 5.3 Case 3: an enterprise archive (low security level)
39,1 This archive belongs to a medium-scaled enterprise that was established in 2012, of which the
electronic records preservation practice is in a passive state. Systematic work of electronic
records preservation has not been arranged.
In terms of physical security, these archives could not provide an exclusive place for the
preservation of electronic records. Most electronic records are stored and backed up in hard
disks whose storage life is only five years, and no inspection has been carried out. In terms of
32 information security, this archive merely uses firewalls and anti-virus software to prevent
attacks. However, ERMS and data protection-related technologies are absent. In terms of
management security, this archive has not formulated work plans or any systems for electronic
records preservation, far less adopting national or professional standards. The responsibilities
of electronic records preservation are not clarified, and contingency plans and disaster recovery
are neglected. Additionally, funds for electronic records preservation are not established.
During the process of investigation, the staff of this archive indicated that paper records
management was more important, and the important archives were stored in paper form;
electronization was not a reliable way for recordkeeping. The lag in the understanding of
electronic records is unable to meet the growing demand of electronic records preservation.
A comprehensive analysis of the above cases reveals that institutions and organizations
have their own ways of conducting electronic records preservation in terms of physical
security and information security. However, differences in the security level of electronic
records preservation exist between diverse institutions and organizations. The largest gap
between the three cases lies in the perspective of management security, that is, awareness,
planning or systems of electronic records preservation deeply affect the physical security and
information security level of electronic records. In case 3, the archives that hold the lowest
level implement nothing to assure the management security; accordingly, the physical and
information security of its electronic records was not satisfactory.

6. Discussion
Through the analysis of the survey results and cases, the successes and shortcomings of
electronic records preservation in Wuhan are summarized below. First, ERMSs are employed
in a high percentage (88.2 percent) of the surveyed archives. Second, electronic records are
preserved in diversified formats and carriers. Third, data-level backup is accomplished
basically in most surveyed archives. Moreover, budgets and funds for electronic records
preservation are stable and adequate. However, existing challenges and problems should not
be neglected. Even the archives with the highest security level of electronic records
preservation in this survey also face the problem of insufficient emergency management.
Based on a comprehensive analysis of research results and case studies, the challenges and
problems are investigated as follows:

6.1 Insufficient awareness and capability of defending the security risks

The preservation of electronic records should be given more attention than is given to paper-
based records, since the characteristics of electronic records are easily changed and lost, and
the risks in the digital environment are dynamic. However, in the surveyed archives, the
preservation and management of paper-based records are performed better than they are for
electronic records. It could be concluded that the awareness and capability of defending the
archives from security breaches is insufficient given the following reasons.
First, it is found that less than half of the institutions preserve electronic records in
professional physical environments. Although electronic records are not as physical as
paper-based records, they deserve to be preserved in a professional environment. Otherwise,
valuable information would be lost.
 Second, throughout the survey, the adoption of innovative technologies that are employed Electronic
to defend against risks is unsatisfactory, which makes electronic records more likely to be records
attacked. For archives and other cultural heritage organizations and institutions, antivirus
software and firewalls are just basic configurations, and employing them alone is far from
preservation in
ensuring the security of electronic records. As to this point, one director of the surveyed central China
archives points put that the lack of archivists who master both archival specialized
knowledge and IT skills may be one of the major causes.
Third, the duration of long-term preservation should exceed the lifecycle of hardware and 33
software where the records are created and stored (Liu, 2009). To ensure long-term
preservation, essential measures should be taken by archival institutions and departments.
However, the survey results show that data migration and carrier transformation are not
widely carried out by archives. Only 23.5 percent of the surveyed archives make copies.

6.2 Low-grade implement of electronic records backup and disaster recovery

Contents, structures and backgrounds are all crucial to the authenticity, reliability, integrity,
and usability of the electronic records. As the survey results show, over 70 percent of the
surveyed archives implement data-level backup. This percentage seems satisfactory in
general. Most archives have awareness of backup, but the security of backups depends not
only on the number of backups but also on the scope and method of backup. However,
application-level backup and business-level backup fail to receive enough attention, which is
adverse to preserving electronic records that are stored in special formats or carriers. More
efficient and reliable backup methods, such as real-time backup, online backup and
differential backup, have not been widely applied.
As for disaster recovery, drills are conducted by 20.6 percent of the surveyed archives, despite
over 60 percent of archives making contingency plans for electronic records preservation. The
technical environment of electronic records is much more complex than the paper era. Once
disasters occur, electronic records would be in great danger due to a lack of preparation.

6.3 Lack of understanding of the characteristics of electronic records

Several archivists have a poor understanding of the conception and characteristics of
electronic records. Some archivists claim that electronic records are not supposed to be
regarded as archives, which is to say, archives must be paper-based, which lags behind the
development of technology and times. The aforementioned phenomenon illustrates that the
preservation value and evidential value of electronic records are not widely accepted. The
analysis of the three cases also confirms that the understanding of electronic records
determines the planning and investment of electronic records preservation, which affects the
security level in turn.
Electronic records preservation has failed to gain independent status in archival work so
far due to the lack of independent repository, exclusive full-time staff, specialized individual
responsibility system and professional personnel training. Archivists prefer to employ
traditional methods that are used for paper-based archives to manage and preserve electronic
records. As a result, solutions are proposed to improve the implementation of electronic
records preservation in Wuhan, which can also provide references for all kinds of institutions
that are working on electronic records preservation in central China:
 Promote the awareness and the capability of risk-defending: electronic records
preservation is a systematic task. There is no need to protect all electronic records
equally, which seems obviously unrealistic. Therefore, archives should carry out risk
evaluation regularly. The questionnaire items designed in this paper could be
referenced by self-correction and self-examination to learn about the weaknesses of
electronic records preservation and implement appropriate strategies. Second, the
LHT sensitivity to new technologies of archivists needs to be improved. To ensure the
39,1 authenticity, reliability, integrity and availability of electronic records, it is necessary
to adopt digital signature, identity recognition, digital watermark and other
information security technologies to protect the generation and transmission of
electronic records through ERMS. In addition, more IT talent should be recruited into
the archive discipline, or technology-related education needs to be strengthened in the
existing archival curriculum system to cultivate interdisciplinary skills to adapt to
34 archival work in a new technology environment.
 Improve the quality and the level of electronic records backup by implementing
application-level backup and business-level backup: for electronic records preservation,
technology is a double-edged sword that brings opportunities for security and the
possibility of risks. This paper suggests that archives should actively apply application-
level backup and business-level backup to electronic records, and more than three copies
should be performed for important electronic records. Moreover, metadata, ERMS and
its configuration, and log data should also be considered for backup. In addition, it is
necessary to pay attention to the construction of a disaster recovery center, which can be
built by the lead of general archives on a regional basis.
 Upgrade the understanding of the characteristics of electronic records to highlight the
importance of the security of electronic records preservation: at present, some
traditional archivists’ limited understanding of electronic records derives from their
lack of awareness and ways to learn about it. Under the guidance of Decree No. 716 of
the State Council, the State Archives Administration could issue relevant regulations
on “single track” preservation of electronic records and encourage institutions and
organizations to integrate electronic records preservation needs into the top-level
design. Meanwhile, more training on the theory and practical skills of electronic
records preservation for archivists, especially for some traditional archivists, must be
conducted by cooperating with local general archives or universities.

7. Conclusion
Electronic records are becoming increasingly important in China, the number of which
increases rapidly with diverse security risks: loss, damage and divulgence. This study
investigates the security status of electronic records preservation in Wuhan by surveying 34
institutions, and this status is the epitome of electronic records preservation in central China.
The survey outlines several urgent and crucial challenges that threaten the security of
electronic records in regards to physical security, information security, and management
security. In particular, the survey points out that many archivists in central China are not
completely prepared to preserve and manage electronic records. Corresponding solutions are
proposed in this paper to improve the long-term preservation of electronic records in central
China and provide valuable strategies for other countries and regions.

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About the authors

Qiuhui Xiao is Professor at School of Information Management (iSchool), Wuhan University, China,
where she also serves as Director of Department of Archives and Government Information Studies. She
is also awarded as the National Archives Expert. Qiuhui Xiao holds a PhD in Information Science from
Wuhan University, China. Her research areas cover electronic records and digital archives management,
information policies and laws. She has hosted ten projects (research grants) and published three
monographs and three textbooks, and she has published over 60 research papers.
Xiaotong Xu is PhD Student of School of Information Management, Wuhan University, China. Her
research interests include electronic records management, cost of digital preservation. Xiaotong Xu is
the corresponding author and can be contacted at: xuxiaotongwhu@qq.com
Panpan Liu is Archivist at Zhongnan Engineering Corporation Limited. Her research interest is
electronic records management.

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