ON Archiving Media Selection _________
This is presented as true to the best recollection and is offered
for guidance with NO warranty expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
There is often a need to keep some data, writings, or images over extended periods.
There has been a LOT said and writen about chosing the correct archiving medium -- especially
as relates to the Digital Age.
Consider the following media comparisons ...
Photographs, Negatives, Film, Printing on Paper -
Advantages: Requires just an eye to read them
Copies (from an original) can be made over and over with little degradation.
Disadvantages: Fade over time.
Copies are NOT as good as the original.
Analog Recordings (e.g., VCR Tapes) -
Advantages: Copies (from an original) can be made over and over with little degradation.
Likely survive for years.
Disadvantages: Need hardware to read them and convert the bits into the original.
Fade over time.
Copies are NOT as good as the original.
Digital Recordings (e.g., Floppy Disks or CDs, or DVDs) -
Advantages: Copies (and copies from copies) can be made over and over with NO degradation.
Likely survive for centuries.
Disadvantages: Need hardware to read them and software to convert the bits into the original.
Recall that NO computers available as standard stock items today have 5.25-inch diskette readers.
Some of the early 1980s RadioShack units used 8-inch floppy disks and they went out of "style" VERY early.
If the Rosetta Stone or Dead-Sea Scrolls had been digitized,
then think how useful would they be to us today.
CONCLUSION: (well, it depends.. )
If it is for an UN-monitored time capsule, then a high-quality long-life eyeball-able
medium is likely best, e.g., printing on good paper or etching on metal or stone.
If it is for a monitored/attended vault, then a high-quality long-life digital
medium is likely best, WITH THE ATTENDANT BURDEN of having to copy ALL of it as
techology evolves and makes each prior medium obsolete.
For further info, see at ...
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:bLKYVUYyhcwC:www.scoug.com/os24u/2000/scoug008.desktop.html+%22file+formats+evolve%22+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
http://www.ctnow.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=hc%2Dconnecthomes%2Eartjan17
http://www.ctnow.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=hc%2Dconnecthomes%2Eartjan17
http://www.ctnow.com/business/hc-connecthomes.artjan17,0,5911162.story?coll=hc%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/016/economy/Home_entertainment_network_becP.shtml
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/national_intl_business/article/0,1713,BDC_2464_1679550,00.html
For more about computer data backup, see at ...
On_Backups
Be Careful About the Baskets in Which Your Eggs Are Kept ! !
On_Other_Stuff