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summary of responses about DVD



Hi, everyone.  Here is a summary of the responses I received to my question
about using DVD as a preservation medium:

*I have always heard that Beta is best for preservation purposes, and I
believe it still is, although obviously you would want copies in some other
format that people can use.

*I would recommend regular VHS, it is easier to duplicate, and would not
require special out sourcing.  DVDs are not as permanent as VHS, the
technology is changing to rapidly, and currently DVDs cannot be duplicated
or recorded in anyway.  VHS has been around for 20 years is still an
industry standard.

*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.

******************************
Laura Katz Smith, CA
Curator for Business, Railroad and Labor Collections
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
University of Connecticut
405 Babbidge Road Unit 1205
Storrs, CT  06269-1205

Telephone: (860)486-2516
Fax: (860)486-4521
Email: Laura.Katz.Smith@uconn.edu

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