Re: [ARSCLIST] Preservation policy question

["Steven C. Barr" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Ganesh.Irelan@xxxxxxxx>
> Hello all,
>
> I work in a private institution's audio archive.  In 1995 I started
copying original, historical audio recordings to 1/4" analog tape and 2 each
CD-Rs (one for on-site and one for off-site storage) for longterm
preservation.  Last year, when the analog tape plants closed, I decided it
was time to drop analog tape as an archival format and switched to .wav
files.  Now I copy each original source to 2 each CD-Rs and .wav file stored
on a secure, server based system.
>
> My question is whether to keep the 300+ analog tapes we have.  They
require significant storage space that could be used for other archival
holdings.   And, I have already gone back and created .wav files (via disc
extraction) for all the content on the analog tape copies.  With two digital
sources protected by geographic separation available, and with only a small
part of the total collection represented on the analog copies in question, I
can come up with no plausible scenario by which the analog tapes would be of
benefit, now or in the future.
>
> Would you keep the tapes or dispose of them?
>
If you are actually seriously short of physical storage space,
you might pass them to some sort of archival institution.

The value of originals is in two forms...

1) In case some ultimate disaster wipes out your digital
archive, or

2) In case there is some reason to verify that your
copies are actually identical (in a preactical sense)
to the actual sound recordings.

Keep Murphy's Law in mind...!

Steven C. Barr