Re: [ARSCLIST] Hard disk drives and DAT

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Ross" <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> This is not a problem that is unique to those of us concerned with 
> preserving audio. Our colleagues who are producing digital archives 
> of documents and other artifacts are dealing with exactly the same 
> set of long-term storage problems, including the issues related to 
> digital originals.
> 
> Therefore, it seems to me that it's essential that those of us in the 
> audio preservation and archiving community should not try to 
> independently invent our own methods. In terms of archival storage 
> and access, it makes no difference if the bits represent sounds or if 
> they're words and images.
> 
> It's not clear to me that the words and pictures folks are any 
> further along the path toward a solution, but they're out there, and 
> we should work with them to assure that the IT "experts" don't 
> control the process without participation from the content specialists.
> 
Given my personal experience/observations in the field of audio
preservation...I might suggest everything be transferred to shellac
records! I have discs over a century old which appear to have suffered
NO deterioration, even though stored under less-than-ideal conditions.

Two caveats: you can't drop them, nor allow them to be immersed in water
for any significant amount of time!

Steven C. Barr