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Re: [ARSCLIST] Mass Digitization
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Cox" <doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> On 17/05/07, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Schooley, John" <John.Schooley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> And wouldn't most archeologists and anthropologists KILL to have a
> >> sample of popular songs or stories from these past civilizations?
> >> We've got them in spades, but perhaps part of the problem is they
> >> date from a time period too recent to yet be of interest to scholars.
> >> Unfortunately, the formats are much more fragile unlike stone or even
> >> parchment. Well cared for, a Gutenberg Bible will probably last
> >> another century. Many recorded works won't last until some time in
> >> the future when academia deems them worthy of study or
> >> preservation...
> > The one significant exception, of course, being shellac records! As
> > long as they aren't dropped, allowed to stay wet for any significant
> > length of time, or wind up in a fire, they seem to be essentially
> > inalterable through age. I have 78's over a century old, which at the
> > very least play as well as they ever did...!
> I doubt if the signal-to-noise ratio is as good as it was when the discs
> were new. And there is certain to be some damage to the groove walls
> from playing on primitive record players.
> When a transfer can be made from a metal master, the results are clearly
> better than from a consumer-owned copy.
>
Agreed...but I was addressing age-related deterioration as opposed to
use-related deterioration! There exists a possibility that it could
occur that the laser beam used to play CD's could, over time (say a
million years or so) knock loose enough molecules to affect the sonic
result of subsequent playings. However, it is an established fact that
the physical stylus-to-record contact will remove MANY molecules (has
anyone ever established the deterioration created by a modern player,
with a 1-3 gram tracking pressure, on a shellac-compound disc...?!).
So, let's rephrase my statement..."An UNUSED shellac disc..."
Steven C. Barr