Re: [ARSCLIST] Hard disk drives and DAT

["Richard L. Hess" <arclists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 03:46 PM 2007-03-27, John Spencer wrote:
> [Richard wrote:]
> > I am extremely concerned about asking any archive in position B. to
> > worry about what they have created long term.
>
> Could you clarify that statement? Are you saying that any archive in
> "position B" should NOT worry about the digital preservation files
> they have created and how they are stored?

Hello, John,

I would not entrust to any organizations (with perhaps a few 
exceptions) that are chronically underfunded and lacking in IT 
expertise the long-term responsibility of managing the life cycles of 
a transitional digital archive. I see this is an invitation to defer 
the management of the archive by using already scarce funding for 
immediate needs. In the end, a crisis is generated and heroics have 
to happen in order to preserve most of the archive.

I honestly don't care if it's gold audio CD, gold data CD, DVD of any 
flavour, LTO tape, or hard drives on the shelf. The interim solution 
doesn't solve the problem, it merely postpones it.

On the other hand, handing over your data with an in-perpetuity 
storage contract is as stable and as secure as the in-perpetuity 
provider. Only major universities and government entities strike me, 
at first glance, as having the staying power to ensure that the 
common definition of "in perpetuity" is meant.

Hope this clarifies a bit.

Cheers,

Richard


Richard L. Hess                   email: richard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.