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Re: preservation of DVD



DVD may be good as a delivery medium (in today's world), but I wouldn't
trust it for archival purposes.  There are a few reasons for this:

(1) It is compressed -- that is, the information is laid down on the medium
through a compression algorithm (or "codec").  While you may say, well, hey,
it looks and sounds good to me!, you have to consider not only the longevity
of the physical media (in this case, the disk) but also the longevity of the
codec by which the information can be read.  An uncompressed analog format
is a better choice for archival purposes.

(2) While DVD's supremacy is a reality today, it almost certainly will be
supplanted by another format and media in the future -- maybe the near
future.  Best to go with simpler, time tested technologies.

It's good that the tapes in question are S-VHS -- this is much higher
quality than standard VHS.  I'd suggest dubbing the tapes onto BetaCam-SP,
an analog format that is ubiquitous, time-tested, broadcast-quality and
uncomplicated by compression algorithms.  From there, you can make VHS
copies or digitize all you want, depending on how you want to deliver the
information on the tapes.

For more threads on DVD and its longevity, check the archives of the
Association of Moving Image Archivists listserve (AMIA-L) at
http://www.amianet.org/09_Listserv/amiaL.html.

Good luck!

Paul J. Eisloeffel
Curator of Audio-Visual Collections
Nebraska State Historical Society
P.O. Box 82554
Lincoln, NE 68501
(402) 471-4750
Fax: (402) 471-8922
pje@nebraskahistory.org
www.nebraskahistory.org


----- Original Message -----
From: "Laura Smith" <Laura.Katz.Smith@UCONN.EDU>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 10:03 AM
Subject: preservation of DVD


> Hi, everyone.  I recently got an inquiry from a donor about the permanence
> of DVD.  He is donating a set of Super-VHS tapes, which we intend to
convert
> to regular VHS, but he wondered if DVD might be a better choice.  I wasn't
> sure what how to respond.  Do any of you have any thoughts or knowledge of
> this situation?
>
> Laura Katz Smith
> Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
> University of Connecticut Libraries
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>