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Re: CD Longevity



I am not an archivist, but unofficially a records manager, of a small
records center, so migrating the data I am dealing with is not expensive.
I know that migrating data is expensive when one is dealing with large
amounts of data, but it must be done.  My concern is that all our
carefully-gathered and well-cataloged information will be impossible to
read in the not-so-distant future if we all do not keep copying it onto the
latest data storage medium.  Doing this may be expensive, but the
alternative is to lose easy access to ALL the information in our records
and archive catalogs.  I wonder if our employers realize this.

The CDs I am referring to are CD-ROMs, not music CDs, but I think the same
concerns apply to both.

Methinks I may not have used the exact words that conveyed what I meant.
What I meant was that we all need to copy our catalogs and databases onto
whatever format is currently in use.  All computers now in use still have
ports that can accept 3 1/2" diskettes, but most computers businesses use
also have ports that accept standard 4 1/2" CD-ROMs.  And I read recently
on this listserv that the newest CD-ROMs are only one inch in diameter and
hold 5 times as much data as present CD-ROMs.  These smaller CD-ROMs will
probably supplant the larger ones we now use.

Margaret Monroe

(Office Technician (Typing))

State of California Department of Transportation
Structure Maintenance & Investigations - Toll Bridges
District 4
District Office, Room 10 - 400
P. O. Box 23660
Oakland, CA  94623 - 0660

Voice: 510 - 286 - 6188
Fax:    510 - 286 - 0353

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