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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><br>
<br>
A couple of comments on the various media.<br>
Firstly, I'm surprised that anyone is recommending reel-to-reel. There is
a big problem with older archival materials in this format that the tape
becomes brittle over time; it's probably less of a problem with tapes
made now than it is with reels over 50 years old but it's still a major
drawback and a reason why many institutions (such as the National Film
and Sound Archive in Australia) are converting reels to other media<br>
<br>
Anything magnetic (like conventional audio tapes) will get demagnetised
over time and is not a good 'permanent' medium.<br>
<br>
Re digital deterioration: The most common cause of CD deterioration is
the CD getting scratches. Computer hard drives build up errors
because of the constant read-write that's going on during processing.
This doesn't happen when a CD-ROM is played because it's read-only; the
only equivalent of the 'write' that happens to a hard drive is if the
grooves get dirty or scratched. There's also physical deterioration of
the metal, but I think after the scare of corroding CDs in Germany in the
early 90s the manufacturers have fixed that problem, at least for the
time being.<br>
<br>
Another point to consider is retrieving items off the tape/cd/reel. It's
easy to tag the beginning of a segment on a CD (it's just a new track)
and so it's very easy to retrieve individual stories, whereas for tapes
and reels it's necessary to cue the tape and have a detailed audition
sheet and so on.<br>
<br>
I'd go with DAT and minidiscs, with a paper copy (acid-free paper) of
transcriptions as another backup. It's easy to transfer these between
other media (eg DAT to magnetic audio cassette).<br>
<br>
If all else fails, there's charcoal ink and papyrus buried in sand in a
warm and dry climate, but it makes information retrieval a bit
hard...<br>
<br>
Best wishes for your project!<br>
<br>
Claire Bowern<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Christian PERROTEAU wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><br>
----------<br>
De : Brian Levy <xernaut@yahoo.com><br>
À : ARSCLIST@galileo.cc.rochester.edu<br>
Objet : arsclist how to archive your language and other matters<br>
Date : Lun 16 oct 2000 1:45<br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><br>
Hello all,<br>
<br>
I would like to introduce myself. My name is Brian Levy, and I work
with the Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma as a Cultural Preservation
Activist (for wont of a better title to describe my job). Basically
I am helping the tribe create a permanent archive of songs, dances, oral
history in English, and, quite importantly, since the tribe is down to
only about twenty fluent speakers of the language now, we are recording
to DAT all manner of Caddo language, including stories, monologues,
prayers, conversation, etc. We are creating a master archive of
Caddo audio materials, recording older analog recordings on reel to reel
and analog cassette, to CD directly, and copying all DAT tapes made since
we began using DAT two years ago, also to CD. We make on blue dye
copy on Mitsui media (home audio type, not CDR computer type, using a
Harmon Kardon CDR2 machine, we also make one gold dye Kodak CD home audio
copy for a second copy of our archive housed at a archive in
Oklahoma. A third copy is also made on the same Mitsui blue dye
(silver) CD's. We may soon switch to just using computer CDR's
instead of the home audio type, since Tascam makes a machine for under
100 dollars which is high quality and recommended. I consult with
others doing similar work to this, and I am on this and other
lists. I am trying to determine the archivability of this
strategy. We have 110 CD's so far, and no stop in sight, as we have
tons of analog recordings to migrate, and are constantly making new DAT
recording.<br>
We have a huge quantity of old Beta, VHS, Hi8, Super8, and now we use
Sony TCR-320 Digital 8 cams for all videoing of elders and dances. We are
waiting to know what is best for permanent archivability for these.
I am guessing DVD-Rom burners, as opposed to DVD-Ram or such. But
listening to some of your pros on these list servers, I am
wondering. We do not have the budget to buy equipment costing 50k
now, we are very limited on budget, though we might could get a grant to
use better equipment.<br>
I am just wondering what any of your folks also concerned with permanent
archivability of precious materials, both audio and video, would have to
say on our situation. I would appreciate some advice.<br>
Some have suggested computer hard drive storage. Some have said
(such as the Getty Museum in LA, and the Library of Congress, that no
current digital medium is considered archival. Only old reel to
reel tapes quarter inch, are considered time safe. Since who knows,
they argue, if any CD players will even be available in 500 years,
whereas due to the wide use of reel to reel all during twentieth century
by broadcast media etc, it will still be playable. Plus when audio
tapes deteriorate on analog reel to reel they gradually degrade in
quality at playback, whereas, once digital degrades too far, the machines
can no longer decipher the one's and zero's and play the CD back at
all.<br>
I know this is a long posting, but I wanted to introduce myself and the
work we are doing at the Caddo tribe, and hopefully get some guidance
from some more technically savvy folk...<br>
Thanks.<br>
<br>
Brian Levy<br>
<br>
<br>
------------------------------------------<br>
Brian Levy<br>
Cultural Activist<br>
Kiwat Hasinay Foundation:<br>
Preserving Caddo Heritage<br>
211 W. Colorado Ave.<br>
Anadarko, OK 73005 USA<br>
(1) 405-247-5840<br>
</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><br>
<br>
_________________________________<br>
Department of Linguistics<br>
Harvard University<br>
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Cambridge MA 02138<br>
ph: (+1) 617-547-3521<br>
fax: (+1) 617-496-4447<br>
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<a href="http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~bowern/" eudora="autourl">http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~bowern/</a><br>
<br>
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----</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font face="Century Gothic, Avant Garde">------------------------------------------<br>
Brian Levy<br>
Cultural Activist<br>
Kiwat Hasinay Foundation:<br>
Preserving Caddo Heritage<br>
211 W. Colorado Ave.<br>
Anadarko, OK 73005 USA<br>
(1) 405-247-5840<br>
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