RE: [AV Media Matters] reel-to-reel video tape

[Bob Savage <bsavage@stanford.edu>]

Hello, Bill,

As far as the right place to ask your question, AV-Media-Matters is
it. Unfortunately I would have to say that no "standards" exist for
archival reformatting of video; the biggest sticking point being the
lack of a wide-spread format that does not use compression. Your
(unappealing) choices are to let the stock deteriorate without doing
anything, or pick a format that uses compression. If you do choose
to do something to save the video now, it might be a good idea to
save the originals, in case a really good archival format appears,
but I don't have high hopes that this will happen in the near
future. I'll leave it to others on the list to offer specific
suggestions as to which format you might settle on and why.

I would recommend to you this website, however:
http://paulmessier.com/videoid/ ; a very useful guide to the various
video formats, which could help you be more specific when discussing
your needs with a vendor.

Best of luck,

Bob Savage
Media Preservation Unit
Stanford University Libraries
bsavage@stanford.edu

Moderators Comment:
Yes this is a good site - it was put together by Paul and Sarah
Stauderman who was with VidiPax at the time and has now joined the
Smithsonian. Many of the pictures are from my collection of formats
and equipment.