[Bell Historians] An IT ringing trust?

[Robert Lewis]

At 15:17 10/12/2006, you wrote:
>At 12:22 on 05 December 2006, John Camp wrote:
>
>This group of 'trustees' would be low-key, but would be able to step
>in if the individual for some reason became unable to carry on and at
>least keep things ticking over until other arrangements were made. It
>would also be able to inform ISPs, hosting providers and other
>relevant people about the existence of such a problem. It would
>probably need to be modestly funded in some way.
>
>This may not be the right list to bring up this matter, but historians
>are concerned with maintaining records and continuity of information.
>Any thoughts?

This is a very interesting debate.

Looking at the down-side, I would make two observations:

1) it is very easy to underestimate the time and effort required to step in 
and take IT systems on - even to just "keep things ticking over".

2) the prior consent / cooperation of the "owner" is essential;  I wonder 
how forth-coming many "owners" would be in reality.

Still, it has to be worth exploring.

RAL