[ARSCLIST] Archiving to hard drive

["Viola, Claire Michelle" <cmviola@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

This is my first inquiry to this list.  In August, I began in my position as
archivist for the Eastman School of Music's Audio Archive.  Briefly, this
archive consists of approximately 34,000 Eastman concerts recorded from 1933
up to the present.  The bulk of these recordings is on reel-to-reel tape.
Of particular recent concern for preservation are 2,816 recordings on
digital tape.  Unfortunately, playback equipment for these recordings is now
obsolete, so it is imperative to transfer these recordings to another media
before our playback equipment wears out.

While we have been transferring here and there to CD-R, mainly in order to
provide service copies, the audio engineers here at Eastman are now
seriously considering the option of transferring directly to hard drive,
with several servers to provide for back-up.

I would be very interested to hear from engineers, archivists or librarians
with experience in, or knowledge of, the process of archiving to hard disc.
Any responses will be seriously considered as we determine whether to go
ahead with this form of preservation.

Thanks in advance,

Claire Michelle Viola
Sound Recording Archivist
Eastman Audio Archive
Sibley Music Library
27 Gibbs Street
Rochester, NY 14604
(585) 274-1330
cmviola@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx