Archiving documentation of World Records
Comments about this discussion:
Started
In another discussion, the topic of archiving the documentation of world records came up. I think this is an important topic, because only with a suitable archiving of all documents belonging to a world record the traceability is guaranteed and also "historical" records can be retraced. Also with regard to an adequate documentation of the development of unicycling, I think it is important that world records are well documented and archived.
This is not something that needs to be described in the WR Guidelines, as it is rather something IUF / WR Committee internal. Nevertheless we should think about this and develop a suitable concept. The topic also concerns the way Unicon records are documented - should there be different rules than those for other world records.
Comment
I agree to the importance of archiving all documents related to granted World Records. I'm not sure to what degree this has been done in the past - not all of it may be retrievable.
Does IUF have a safe place where such documentation can be stored? What about current records; has documentation been appropriately stored at all?
(1)If it is digitised, it could be on some server, maybe the same one as this Rulebook software runs on. It could then be retreivable through a password, if only because the documentation contains sensitive data like witness contact details etc.
(2) If it is hardcopies like paper forms, I don't know if we should need to keep those - mainly because I wouldn't know where. Perhaps best if we digitise them and treat as under (1) above. The originals could then be discarded. Not sure if everything is digitisable (is that a word?).
Comment
I am quite sure that most of the documentation so far has not been stored anywhere and can not be found anymore. Therefore I'd suggest that we create that "standard documentation form" which could be found online on the IUF website accessible to everybody and use that for records in the future. But I think it's another discussion about HOW that form should be like.
Personally I'd prefer to have it stored digitesed and secured with a password and not any copies in paper form. Besides the advantage of having less paper it would also be harder to have everything together at one place - documents would have to be sent by post or we'd have to print out everything - doesn't really make sense in such a digital world nowadays.
Comment
I agree on the preference to go all-digital.
I think I still have most if not all of the documentation that has been sent to me since I got involved in this committee. Similarly, Ken may still have material from his time as committee chair.
If it turns out that for some records not all documentation, or even none of it, is available, then so be it. We can do better from now on.
What the form should look like is discussed in Discussion #4.
Comment
I would also prefer digital archiving. I think in today's digital world, this is the most convenient solution. I think it is also the easiest way for athletes to submit documents in a digital format - and if the documents are available in digital format anyway, storing them in this form is certainly a good idea.
Of course we will have to think about a secure digital storage location (personal data), but I hope that the IUF can provide a suitable server for this important documentation for unicycling as a competitive sport.
Comment
Scott Wilton is a member of this committee and I think he can say something about IUF's willingness and ability to provide storage for world record documents. Scott are you reading?