(a) The administrator may make or cause to be made preservation duplicates or may designate as preservation duplicates existing copies of essential state records. A preservation duplicate shall be durable, accurate, complete and clear, and a preservation duplicate made by means of photography, microphotography, photocopying, film, microfilm or digital image stored on unalterable media shall be made in conformity with the standards prescribed therefor by the administrator.
(b) A preservation duplicate made by a photographic, photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic, digital image or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable and unalterable medium for so reproducing the original, shall have the same force and effect for all purposes as the original record whether the original record is in existence or not. A transcript, exemplification or certified copy of such preservation duplicate shall be deemed for all purposes to be a transcript, exemplification or certified copy of the original record.