formats and archiving

[Brian MacWhinney]

Dear Chris,

     Yes, this a pivotal issue.  Here at CMU, I have two approaches  
to this issue.  The first is to maintain a menagerie of old devices.   
I have five type of reel-to-reel recorder, for example and an equal  
number of reel-to-reel video recorders.
     The other approach is to treat the database as an active  
database, not an archive.  All CHILDES and TalkBank data, including  
the media, are always online and there are mirrors in Antwerp (Steven  
Gillis) and Chukyo (Hidetosi Sirai) that maintain full copies of  
everything.  In addition, I maintain four copies on hard drives here,  
all stored at different locations.  These approaches help us deal  
with antique formats and minimize catastrophic data loss.
    Yes, DVC tape is even better than mini-DV, if you recorded in  
that format.

--Brian MacWhinney

On Mar 27, 2006, at 6:26 AM, Chris Letts wrote:

> And my few pence worth of contribution is that whatever format you use
> to archive material, you should review the archive at regular  
> intervals.
> The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) learned the hard way, by
> archiving the results of extensive information-gathering onto a new
> technology for the time, LaserDisc. Many years later they wanted to
> re-use the information, then found that although the discs were
> perfectly preserved, there existed nowhere a machine that could play
> them !
> In the U.K. we're starting to find VHS format machines becoming more
> difficult to get, ditto decent cassette players at reasonable  
> prices and
> one day these formats will dissappear for ever. Many old computer
> formats are also difficult to read including CD's burned by
> who-knows-what software before the formats became standardised.
>
> I'd certainly also advocate archiving valuable material in 2 different
> formats, stored in 2 different places. Our 'standard' system for video
> is to keep original material on DVC tape, with a copy in AVI format  
> on a
> USB hard drive. Yes AVI files are huge, but they're easy to make and
> edit, and are guaranteed to replay on virtually any computer. Their  
> size
> isn't really a problem these days - 250GB USB drives are getting  
> common.
>
> Chris Letts,
> Technical Site Manager,
> School of Education, Communication & Language Sciences,
> King George VI Building
> University of Newcastle,
> Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 7RU,
>
> U.K.
>
>