[ARSCLIST] Format conundrum

[Anonymous SET ARSCLIST DIGEST <KIrelan@xxxxxxxx>]

Dear Fellow Archivists,

I have spent the last 7 years working with a private institutional audio collection.  The collection of 7000 tapes is primarily cassette  with some very early 1/4".  Up until now we have been reformatting to both CD-R and full track 1/4" (7 1/2 ips).  I have been uncomfortable with the prospect of putting all our historical eggs in one basket especially when that basket (CD-R) hasn't got much of a longterm track record.  However, with the recent closing of the Quantegy plant, and the future availability of 1/4" tape in question, I am re-evaluating my stance.  I suspect there have been many discussions on this list about format choice for preservation projects such as ours but I am a recent subscriber and have not had the good fortune to gleen the views already expressed.

So, my question is really a request for a quick survey.  How many of you would vote in favor of using CD-R alone, for a collection like ours, with multiple copies being generated for long term preservation and access purposes?  (Considering that we would like not to have to do another round of reformatting for at least 30 years.)

Thank you in advance for your responses and any other comments you care to make.
Sincerely yours,

Kevin Irelan
SYDA Foundation
Audio Archive