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Re: arsclist Digital knowledge preservation
At 07:59 AM 6/18/2002 -0400, Mike Loughlin wrote:
Don-Just because you make an mp3 file of a recording doesn't mean you have
to throw the source of the file out. Save it for when it is really
needed. In the meantime mp3 files of any recording are easy to make. They
are easy to post on the internet. And they are easy to access. If you go
to my page at www.mp3.com/stations/totaledison you will find 1,000
Edison recordings on one web page. They all sound great! Why not
1,000,000? Isn't the preservation of knowledge best served by making that
knowledge accessible to everyone? What is unwise about this?
There are different aspects of preservation, different purposes of archives
and different choices appropriate based on those distinctions. For example,
an original document such as the Declaration of Independence or the
Consitution is preserved in armored glass with a Helium atmosphere, exposed
to light only briefly and with controlled illumination. Facsimile copies of
those documents are widely distributed on acid paper with no protection or
control. The contents are distributed in textbooks, on the Internet and
elsewhere without even consideration of control.
The original of a sound document - a cylinder, analogue disc, tinfoil or
whatever - should be captured to the best possible facsimile for an era,
then preserved as well as we can for some potential improved capture in the
future. That facsimile should be made available to scholars and to
researchers who have the potential to exploit more than the superficial
aspects. At the same time, I encourage producing the content - without
regard to the form or the fine esthetic points - for the general student or
listener. Think of those as the Constitution, the facsimile and the text in
a schoolbook or an almanac. They serve different purposes.
The discs I publish use MP3 files for economy and to provide a synoptic
view of a subject on a practical medium. Where appropriate, the source
material is preserved in other forms. For example, I produced a CD-ROM with
the forty-six hours of master classes Maria Callas conducted Juilliard. It
appears that the tapes from which I worked, provided by John Ardoin, are
probably the only surviving set from those sessions. There are now three
forms of the material: the analogue tapes are now at the Library of
Congress; the lossless but sampled digital transfers are on file here and
in England; and several thousand copies are now in distribution and on sale
from various places (including the Juilliard Gift Shop) at low cost. For
the purposes of the voice student, teacher, or aficianado, the CD-ROM is
far superior to any of the other forms. It is more audible, multiply
indexed and accessible in moments on any computer and some portable
players. Losses due to MP3 are insignificant for the purposes of the
CD-ROM, but preserving the other forms is necessary to ensure that those
losses can be evaluated and reduced when/if the technology permits.
In short (at length), the medium should be chosen for the purpose of the
archive. In my earlier post, I urged that AIFF or WAV be used for archival
storage of sound. I repeat that suggestion, but add that other, less
satisfying formats be used where fitted to the purpose.
Mike
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/
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