If access to data in an existing electronic imaging system cannot be maintained for the specified retention period of the records stored in that system, the images must be migrated, without loss to the images or indexes, at the time of acquisition or implementation of a new system. Access to electronic data which has not been migrated to a new system requires preserving the data, the storage medium in which the data is kept, and whatever hardware, operating system, and applications software is needed to view and use the data.