[ARSCLIST] Vinegar syndrome audio tapes [ARSCLIST] Memorex CDs and more

[Mwcpc6@xxxxxxx]

Tom Fine wrote:
> Despite optimistic statements and predictions, I think ALL content of 
> importance on analog reel to reel tape should be transferred to a 
> managed digital archive system in the next couple of decades.
In a message dated 1/19/2006 10:13:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
handwritten notes, old
sound recordings (usually in obsolete formats) and the like
are generally consigned to the landfill, ocean, incinerator
or whatever...

Meanwhile, those of us with a historic bent are left thinking
"I wonder why nobody saved..."
********************************

We have two completely different groups here with totally different 
perspectives.

Those in commercial audio were paid good money to produce their material and 
can see the possibility of making more from it in the future, even if only 
from the $1.00 bins at Walmart. They have no problem assuming that all of their 
work can be preserved in managed archives financed by the future value of the 
material itself.

Archivists, on the other hand, feel that there is a moral value in preserving 
the total record of human existence, even if it will be of no interest to 
anybody until it reaches the status of George Washington's grocery list. Lack of 
financing leaves them to their own devices in the hope that the material that 
interests them will survive indefinitely without any management whatsoever.

I, and I think a few others on this list, am in the second category. Thus the 
interest in permanent media and preservation of existing media in spite of 
the lack of sympathy from the professional audio side.

Mike Csontos