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Preservation of Obsolete Media: The Need for Managed Digital Storage

Preservation of Obsolete Media: The Need for Managed Digital Storage. Bruce Whisler Director of Music Technology Clemson University. Issue. Countless historical items in a variety of formats are endangered. Tape Film Wax Cylinders Records Printed Materials. Potential Loss.

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Preservation of Obsolete Media: The Need for Managed Digital Storage

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  1. Preservation of Obsolete Media: The Need for Managed Digital Storage Bruce Whisler Director of Music Technology Clemson University

  2. Issue • Countless historical items in a variety of formats are endangered. • Tape • Film • Wax Cylinders • Records • Printed Materials

  3. Potential Loss • Recorded sound • Is a unique form of historical documentation • Has existed for a little over a century • Can transport us back in time

  4. Endangered Audio Formats • Wax Cylinders • Subject to mold and chemical degradation • Early Records (shellac 78s) • Subject to delamination, warping, cracking • Magnetic Wires • Subject to oxidation • Magnetic Tapes (including digital tapes) • Subject to mold and chemical degradation • CDs • Subject to delamination and physical damage

  5. Endangered Formats, cont. • Greatest threats facing all formats: • Obsolescence of playback equipment • Lack of experienced engineers

  6. Audio Preservation Strategy • Optimal playback of original item • Item prepped, equipment calibrated • Digitally capture analog signal • 96 kHz sampling rate • 24 bit word size • For a stereo audio stream this calculates to slightly over 30 MB per minute

  7. Storage of Digital Audio Files • Unsatisfactory: CD-R/DVD-R • Burned vs. stamped (commercial CDs) • Subject to failure modes • Subject to obsolescence • All CDs have errors • Data format of audio CDs is not a true digital audio format • CDs are multiplexed and interleaved • Broadcast Wave File (.bwf) is the preferred archival format

  8. Digital Storage, cont. • Better: Redundant hard drives in two geographically separate locations • Drives can fail – routine monitoring essential • Wide geographic separation desirable • Cool, dry storage desirable

  9. Digital Storage, cont. • Best: Digital Mass Storage System • Automated/Self-Checking • Redundant • Migrated as necessary

  10. Storage Requirements • 350 PB World Wide • 50 PB for all audio in USA?

  11. Challenge • The NEH is awarding funds for digitization projects • Land-Grant and other major universities need to help provide the storage • Harvard and Indiana - Sound Directions Project

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