Digital information is characterized by fragility and rapid technological obsolescence. Under good conditions, books printed on acid-free paper, e.g., official state reports and codes, will last for centuries. They represent the original record of colonial America, and have survived several centuries in perfect mint condition. By comparison, the lifespan of a CD or disk is estimated at 10 to 30 years, but its lifespan is further limited by the hardware and software needed to read it. This means that digital information may become obsolete within five years unless it can be refreshed or migrated to a newer technology.
Migration means moving files to a new system.
It has risks, too, such as loss or change of information in the translation. Emulation consists of designing hardware and software that emulate the old system. Much research needs to be done on solving these technological issues. In the print world, it is easy enough to pull up a volume of the state reports or a state code, and be sure to have the authentic text. But, if, in the future, the state legislatures or courts decide to stop printing the texts, and they only exist in electronic form, there will be no equivalent to the print product.