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Re: questions for a grant application



First, I appologize for not responding in a more timely fashion to this
post from Friday. I thought I would post my opinion  to the list for
better or for worse.

I believe you are correct in assuming ". . . that the only currently
recognized archival medium is open-reel, half-inch, analog tape."  I
don't see this changing anytime soon.  One reason for sticking to this
standard is that there are still plenty of players and recorders around
to use this format.  These machines, to the best of my knowledge, are
still being made.  Otari, one of my personal favorites for no other
reason than good experience with them, still makes these machines.  I
also know that there are plenty of people who can fix them and pleanty
of used ones around.  Another reason, I believe that this tape is still
standard is that it is still being produced and is readily available. As
long as you don't have binder breakdown, run into sticky shed problems,
or have tapes with really bad splices  they tend to last quite long and
well.


As far as the conversion to CD, I think it is a great idea for ACCESS
purposes, but not for longterm storage.  I feel the jury is still out on
the life expectancy of the CDs.  Depending on who you consult or what
article you read, a disc can live anywhere from 5-100 years depending on
manufacture and storage.

To convert to CD, you will obviously be taking those less than wonderful
analog tapes and making them digital. This is a great opportunity to do
some clean up on the audio, and in most cases, make it so you can
actually hear the tape. I am really all for the clean up process.  Any
recording engineer worth his/her salt should be able to take care of a
good deal of the tape problems.  I have seen engineers work miracles,
but the way the tape was recorded, the equipment that was used , the age
of the tape, and the quality of the tape used all have an effect on the
clean up results.  I would say at minimum you would be able to eliminate
or reduce much of  the noise created by pops, clicks, and hiss.  You
should also be able to raise the volume on the interviewees  for most of
the tapes.  You have to also be prepared for the idea that some tapes
have no hope.  They sound dreadful now and probably will continue to be
dreadful no matter how much effort is put into making them sound better.

I recommend you find a good reputable recording engineer who has done
this type of work before or one who is willing to seriously commit time
to a project like this.  The coversion process is not something that can
be done quickly .  Sure, there may be tapes that will go quickly because
they are in great shape and have a clear signal, but for the majority,
it will take a lot of processing time in the computer and a lot of prep
time on the studio end of things.  A small studio may be your best bet.
If you are able to commit to them, they will  be able to commit to you
and possibly offer you a level of detail that a larger more busy studio
might not be able to give you.   I would expect to spend $35 an hour and
up for studio time.  This is no cheap venture.  Anyone who says it can
be done in-house and in-expensively, hasn't done it.  It is tedious,
time consuming, and expensive. Try not to let anyone convince you
otherwise.

Once you have the digital version of the tapes, you can do whatever you
want.  You can put that information in 1/2 inch tape if you feel more
comfortable doing that or put the information on the web, providing you
have permission from the interviewees to do it, create CDs, put it on
digital audio tape, or whatever you want to do.  You could also just
keep the audio files sitting on a hard drive, though they do take up a
ton of space.

Note:  I feel I can make these assertions because I have participated in
projects like these in a former life.

Miriam

"Madden, Robert" wrote:

> Hi,
>      I've been off the list for a while.  I have a few questions to
> help in
> the process of applying for a grant.  We want to preserve recordings
> of
> music and oral history by transferring them from cassette tape to an
> archival medium, from which we will "burn" CDs for normal use.  I
> understand
> that the only currently recognized archival medium is open-reel,
> half-inch,
> analog tape.
>      First question: Should they be taped at 15 ips, or is 7 1/2
> acceptable?
>      Second: What should I say to those who would prefer to transfer
> the
> recordings directly to CDs or some other form of digitization?
> (Untested
> medium (how long does it take to become an accepted medium?). Analog
> recording better because there is always something lost, no matter how
> high
> the sampling rate, especially considering potentially higher future
> sampling
> rates.  What else?)
>      Third:  I know the "one last copy" theory of photocopying brittle
> old
> books.  I assume there is a "one last play" equivalent, but is there a
>
> better term for it?
>      Thank you for any help improving the proposal.
>           Bob
>
> Robert J. Madden                                               Many a
> man
> has dated a new are in his life
> Special Collections/Reference Librarian              from the reading
> of a
> book.
> Keene State College, Keene, NH 03435-3201       - Henry David Thoreau,
>
> Walden
> rmadden@keene.edu
>
>

--
Miriam Meislik,MLS
Associate Archivist
Photograph Curator
Archives of Industrial Society
400 North Lexington Avenue
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412)244-7075 voice
(412)244-7077 fax
miriam@pitt.edu

http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/archives.html
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/index.html

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
--Steven Wright



--
Miriam Meislik,MLS
Associate Archivist
Photograph Curator
Archives of Industrial Society
400 North Lexington Avenue
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
(412)244-7075 voice
(412)244-7077 fax
miriam@pitt.edu

http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/archives/archives.html
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/index.html

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
--Steven Wright

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