[padg] Optical Disc Archival Test Standard released!

[Tara Kennedy <tara.d.kennedy@xxxxxxxx>]

Walter Henry announced this on the Dist List and I thought I would send
it out on PADG for those who don't read the Dist List...

***

The following is from a joint press release. See
URL:http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-379.htm
>
for the

    OSTA and Ecma International announce issuance of
optical disk
    archival test Standard needed to promote
archival-grade media

    Cupertino, Calif. and Geneva, Switzerland, July 2,
2007 - The
    Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) and
Ecma
    International announced today the completion of
their
    co-development work to issue an industry standard for
optical
    media archive life testing that targets recordable
and
    rewritable DVDs. This standard will enable the
industry to offer
    reliable archival-grade optical discs to help
end-users select
    the media life expectancy best suited to their
application
    requirements. The new standard was approved by the
Ecma General
    Assembly on June 28, 2007, culminating an effort
initiated in
    June 2006 in Sapporo, Japan, when Ecma International's
Technical
    Committee TC31 agreed to finalize a draft standard
developed by
    various industry participants working within
OSTA.

    The document has been assigned the number ECMA-379,
and may be
    accessed at the Ecma website for immediate review.
Following
    this milestone, the standard will be transferred to
ISO/IEC JTC
    1 SC23 under an established "fast track
procedure". The earliest
    anticipated ISO/IEC version is December 2007.

       "We announced this
collaboration a year ago. The rapid
        completion of this program can
be attributed to the sense of
        urgency within the optical
storage community," said David
        Bunzel, President of the
Optical Storage Technology
        Association. "End users
need reliable media for secure,
        removable, portable storage of
their important documents.
        Industry wide implementation
of this standard will greatly
        assist them in their purchase
decisions."

       "Ecma is very pleased to have
facilitated this standard
        development designed to assist
the market in clarifying
        differences in optical media
quality," said Istvan
        Sebestyen, Ecma Secretary
General. "The TC31 committee was
        formed in 1983 having its
charter as the development of
        `Optical Disk and Disk
Cartridge' standards and has since
        been the preferred venue for
this activity. Virtually all of
        the CD and DVD read only and
recordable/rewritable standards
        have been developed in TC31.
Its members are the primary
        players in optical technology
development and therefore it
        was an ideal place for the
development of this media
        archival life
test."

    Manufacturers sponsoring and participating in the
development of
    this standard included Fujifilm, Hewlett-Packard,
Imation,
    MAM-A, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Ricoh, Sony,
Toshiba, and
    Verbatim. The committee received strong support from
related
    industry organizations, including Japan's CDs21
Solutions and
    the Digital Content Association (DCAj). Significant
expert
    technical contributions were made by the editing team
that
    included Drs. Mitsuru Irie (Osaka Sangyo U) and
Kunimaro Tanaka
    (Teikyo Heisei U) under programs sponsored by CDs21
and DCAj,
    respectively.

       "We at CDs21 Solutions feel
fortunate that we were able to
        take part in this effort,
where we were able to contribute
        our resources to the Ecma
document with OSTA," said Takao
        Ihashi, Chairman of the
Steering Committee of CDs21
        Solutions. "Media life
expectancy was also a main project at
        CDs21, where many active
members were those who brought
        recordable optical discs to
market, and were determined to
        establish a standard for
enhancing the value of optical
        media for all end users, and
therefore the timing of our
        collaboration was
perfect."

    Fred Byers of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology
    (NIST) had this to say: "As a long time proponent
of this
    development and an early contributor to the document,
I am very
    pleased with the outcome. Optical disc applications
are
    increasingly oriented towards long-life storage of
computer and
    A/V data and this standard will help ensure that
tested media
    will meet expectations."

       "I3A believes that archiving of
digital images is an
        underestimated issue for the
global imaging industry," said
        I3A's President Lisa
Walker.  "We are very supportive of
        this proposal for a joint
OSTA-Ecma standard for optical
        disc archive testing, which
fulfills a critical consumer
        need to identify archive
quality media to store their
        precious memories for the long
term."

    Victor McCrary, member of the National Digital
Strategy Advisory
    Board (NDSAB) for the Library of Congress and Business
Executive
    for Science & Technology at the Johns Hopkins
University Applied
    Physics Laboratory states,

       "this effort is an excellent
example of government, industry,
        and academia working together
to address the need for
        archival standards for optical
media. Preservation of `born
        digital' media is of the
utmost concern for many of the
        parties involved in the
development of this standard. I
        commend all involved for
taking this important step in
        taking seriously the emerging
global issue of digital
        preservation as its affects
end-users at every level."

    Since its formation in Sept. 2005, OSTA's Optical Disc
Archival
    Testing (ODAT) Committee has consisted of a
multi-national group
    of industry experts sharing this common goal. The ODAT
Committee
    includes members of global manufacturers and
representatives of
    optical storage products, university and
government.

    The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA)
was
    incorporated as an international trade association in
1992 to
    promote the use of recordable optical technologies and
products.
    The organization's membership includes optical
product
    manufacturers and resellers from three continents,
representing
    more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical
product
    shipments. They work to shape the future of the
industry through
    regular meetings of DVD Compatibility, Commercial
Optical
    Storage Applications (COSA), MPV, ODAT and UDF
committees.
    Interested companies worldwide are invited to join
the
    organization and participate in its programs by
contacting an
    OSTA representative at 408-253-3695, by fax at
408-253-9938,
    or at
<
URL:http://www.osta.org>.

    About Ecma International: Since its inception in 1961,
Ecma
    International (Ecma) has developed standards for
Information and
    Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer
Electronics (CE).
    Ecma is a non-profit industry association of
technology
    developers, vendors and users. Experts from industry
and other
    organizations work together at Ecma to develop
standards. Ecma
    submits its work for approval as ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC and
ETSI
    standards and is the inventor and main practitioner of
"fast
    tracking" of specifications through the
standardisation process
    in International Standards Organisations (ISOs) such
as the ISO
    and the IEC. Publications can be downloaded free of
charge at
   

URL:http://www.ecma-international.org/>.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
Tara D. Kennedy
Preservation Field Services Librarian
Yale University Libraries
130 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 432-4335
tara.d.kennedy@xxxxxxxx
"let me help you help your library"