Safekeeping Archives


Tutorial Home >Music and Video >Digital Music >Archiving Digital Multimedia >How do I maintain the shelf life of my video archives?
Tutorial Home >Music and Video >Digital Video >Archiving Digital Multimedia >How do I maintain the shelf life of my video archives?
Tutorial Home >Music and Video >Digital Music >Archiving Digital Multimedia >Safekeeping >Safekeeping Archives
Tutorial Home >Music and Video >Digital Video >Archiving Digital Multimedia >Safekeeping >Safekeeping Archives

  Step 1:  Dust to dust

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The story is told of a network employee who went to retrieve a vintage videotape, only to find brown dust in the bottom of the can. It may be urban legend, but it's more than likely true.
  Step 2:  Shelf Life

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The untold fact about all data storage media is that it has a "shelf life". In other words, at some point in time, it will disintegrate and become unusable. Storing the media under the wrong conditions can accelerate this.
  Step 3:  Obsolescence

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The other unspoken truth is that with advances in technology, storage media may not be readable by state-of-the-art technology in the future. Anyone tried to read an 8" floppy lately?
  Step 4:  Planning

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So an important part of archiving is planning for the inevitable and taking steps to preserve and safeguard your archives.