Re: [ARSCLIST] Fw: [ARSCLIST] Gold CDs

[Karl Miller <lyaa071@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 24 Sep 2004, Peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> Oh well, a consensus
> on what archival means when referring to media would be really nice and I'm
> certainly open to any suggestions on how we all could get such a definition
> into a published standard.  Any ideas?

I am reminded of the "Audio preservation: a planning study" published by
AAA back in 1988. As I recall, the conclusion was that there needs to be a
mutually agreed upon preservation format that would be supported
indefinitely, a notion which runs contrary to the fundamental notion of
"planned obsolescence."

For me, any notion of "archival" would not include any electromagnetic
storage; a format supported with a technology that is public domain, and
designed to last as long as stone and able to survive normal fluctuations
in temperature and humidity. In short, you probably wouldn't want to have
me on any preservation standards committee.

Since we don't have a universally agreed upon notion of what duration of
time would qualify as "archival," it would seem to me that we have a long
way to go before we can hope to satisfy the recommendations of that AAA
study.

Looking at the ARSC committees...is not all of this a concern of the
Technical Committee? Looking at its membership, it reads like a "Who's
Who," of some of the best minds in preservation.

Karl