Re: [PLUG] Media durability

["William H. Magill" <magill@mcgillsociety.org>]

> On 3/3/06, ARTHUR ALEXION <art.alexion@verizon.net> wrote:
> I am involved in a discussion on another list
> regarding long term archiving of data.  While there
> seems to be agreement on issues of the potential
> obsolescence of data format and media (i.e. things
> like 5.25" floppies and calendars and contacts stored
> in Sidekick 2 or Packrat), there are unresolved
> disagreements over the lifespan of the media itself.
>
> My experience comes from the only time when I owned
> different media simultaneously, the early 1980's.
> Audio tapes from that era have physically degraded,
> and moreover have bled to adjacently wrapped tape.
> CDs from that era, play like new.
>
> But others refer to "studies" of CDs lasting only 1-2
> years while tapes last 10 years.  While there are
> numerous references to such studies, nobody has cited
> anything that I can read, and I am skeptical based on
> my aforementioned personal experience.
>
> Has anyone here researched this issue and have a
> citation for me?

Library of Congress and Librarians in general have been dealing with  
this topic on a serious basis for about the pat 5 years (since around  
2000). They have talked about the issue for the past 20 years.

Long term storage of Electronic Media simply does not exist... it  
simply hasn't been around long enough to be termed "long term," let  
alone archival.

Yes, I have a 1/2 inch Stainless Steel Tape from the Univac I, which  
probably represents one of, if not the oldest form of "electronic  
media" - circa early 1970s. (Ignoring punch cards.) The last time we  
played with it (about 1995) the "bits" were still visible. We could  
tell this by using a solution of iron filings to actually, visually,  
read the tape. No drive, let alone software, existed which would read  
the tape that we knew of.

However, all of the various media available today simply have  
"projected" life-spans. Nobody knows if those statistics will prove  
right or wrong; or if "a bad batch" is a common problem.  The topic  
is simply "to new" to be absolute.

One good source of sources is:

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/bytopic/electronic-records/electronic- 
storage-media/

"Ensuring the Longevity of Digital Documents" a 1995 article is  
referenced.

Another is:
http://www.nal.usda.gov/services_and_products/other_nal_products/eii/ 
nal-eii7.html

Using your favorite engine, search for: "archival storage of  
electronic media"



T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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