Howdy tinroof!
Based on my research, here are my recommendations, followed by
the links to the research I have done.
- Make multiple CD copies, of a "glass master" format
- Make multiple copies on high grade "gold/gold" CDs
- Store everything on multiple hard drives in a Linux format
- Get archival quality inkjet prints made
- Get multiple black-and-white separation positives made
- Get multiple color negatives made
Store all of the above along with a tested personal computer along
with multiple CD-ROM drives in a climate controlled storage facility.
You are right in being leery of the shelf life of consumer grade
CDs as they might be limited to 10, or even 5 years. Glass masters
are used to "press" duplicates of CDs, but can be expensive ($250).
You might be able to get away with less expensive "gold/gold" CDs as
they are supposed to have a longer shelf life.
Archival quality inkjet prints have a 200 year "dark storage" life,
can be of "museum" quality and be scanned and digitally corrected.
Black-and-white separation positives don't fade as fast as color
negatives do, and can be digitally corrected.
Color negatives have a long shelf life and preserve color better.
You might need the PC and CD-ROMs because of obsolescence. It should
be a Linux platform as it stands the best chance (due to it being
open source) of surviving and having people that can operate it.
Storing a copy of the operating system wouldn't hurt, no matter what
OS you are using.
Climate control is essential for the safekeeping of all of the above.
If space and money is of concern, go with the "gold/gold" CDs, the
color negatives, the black-and-white separation positives, and the
archival prints.
Links to the research follow:
Seattle's University of Washington's Electrical Engineering web site
points out a larger problem:
http://www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/otherformats/95x9.htm
"Putting it bluntly, it is not enough for the media to have survived
error-free for several decades if there is no technology that has
survived to read it."
The above page discusses ongoing challenges to using CDs for archives.
The National Library of Australia's Preserving Access to Digital
Information (PADI) initiative web site has this to say about physical
format digital material:
http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/topics/52.html
"Media instability and changes in technology are the two main threats
to the continued accessibility of digital information stored on physical
formats. Of these, changes in technology present the greater risk because
they may render these materials inaccessible within a much shorter time
span than that in which the medium will become unstable. In five years,
some information stored on digital media may become irretrievable, and
this will certainly be a serious problem within 20 years if preservation
methods are not promptly implemented."
"No single method has been identified to preserve access to physical
format digital material. It will probably require a combination of
different methods, such as refreshing, format migration, migration
and emulation. Refreshing and format migration may be used to address
the problems of unstable media; migration and emulation are longer
term strategies for preserving access."
The Colorado State Archives web site talks about archiving CDs:
http://www.archives.state.co.us/cpa/articles/audiovisual/careofcds.htm
The Research Libraries Group (RLG) has their extensive "Report of the
Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information":
http://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/tfadi.index.htm
The above includes "THE CHALLENGE OF ARCHIVING DIGITAL INFORMATION":
http://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/tfadi.index.htm#challenge
The Pixel Forge has some shelf life estimates of two of their archival
CD processes.
http://www.pixelforge.us/printing-possibilities/
"On high quality CDs - Called "silver/silver" because they are made with
a new and improved Silver Phthalocyanine Dye. These 80min 700MB CD-Rs
feature a genuine silver metal alloy reflector layer over a transparent,
improved-compatibility phthalocyanine organic dye layer - they are more
stable, less sensitive to heat and UV light (i.e. sunlight), and produce
a longer lasting CD recording than most others. These CDs are generally
more resistant to environmental hazards than others, and their estimated
dark storage life is 10-20 years. Your CD will be burned at low speed on
a dedicated system and checked for fidelity after completion. Includes a
light proof black case."
...
"On archival CD - We can burn your image file onto a Ultra high grade,
"Gold/Gold" 74min 650MB 8X CDR that features a genuine gold metal reflector
layer, over an almost transparent, improved-stability phthalocyanine organic
dye layer. The estimated dark storage life is 100-200 years! The CD is burned
at low speed on a dedicated system and checked for fidelity after completion.
Includes a light proof black case."
The eMedia Live web site, part of Online: a division of Information
Today, Inc. has some pricing information of glass masters.
http://www.emedialive.com/r5/2002/glass8_02.html
"Glass master prices vary, but replicators gave me some conservative
prices. DVD-5 glass master prices can cost about $250."
The UK based Disctronics Manufacturing (UK) Ltd. shows the process of
glass mastering.
http://www.disctronics.co.uk/technology/manuf/rep_master.htm
The Williamsphotographic.com web site speaks to various type of print
methods:
http://www.williamsphotographic.com/digital/dig5.html
"Even the so-called "photo-inks" don't offer lives over 25 years in
many cases. Compare this to a film print on good paper (Kodak Royal,
Fuji Crystal Archival, Kokak Duralife, etc) which has a rated life
of 40-50 years."
More on archival photographic papers at Immersive Systems Inc.
http://www.immersive.com/davka/fractals/fujicrystal.html
"Prints of the artist's work are made on a CSI LightJet 500 printer.
The LightJet transfers digital images to color photographic paper with
a 3-color laser system. This results in consistent color with a very
high resolution. The prints are fine-art quality."
"The paper is Fuji Crystal Archive paper, which is extremely stable.
The authoritative documents regarding the archival life of photographic
paper were written by Henry Wilhelm of Wilhelm Research."
"Wilhelm states that the "display life" of the paper is 60 years when
exposed to 450 lux for 12 hours per day (the industry standard for
normal or above-normal indoor lighting.) This figure is among the best
in the industry. Note that this is 60 years, fully exposed, with no UV
protection. Time intervals as long as 200 years are sometimes quoted, but
according to Fuji, this refers to "dark storage" life."
The web pages of Jonathon Earl Bowser talks about archival prints:
http://www.jonathonart.com/digital.html
"Sometimes called "Giclee Prints", these artworks are made with an
ultra-high-resolution fine-art printer, using the very finest archival
inks and papers. Independant testing by Wilhelm Imaging Research Inc.
(a world-leader in image-longevity testing) has established that these
"Archival-Prints" will last more than 200 years before any noticable
shift in color integrity occurs."
Stanford University's web site talks above factors beyond media type.
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/peters/peters1.html
"Environmental control provides the single most effective tool in
preventive conservation."
Kodak's US web pages talks about color motion picture film, but gives
some very good insights into the archiving of film negatives:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/storage1.shtml
"Method A: Let's begin with extended life expectancy records-those film
documents that need to last for a very long time. Nothing can last
forever, but hundreds of years or longer is possible. Color originals
should be made on high-quality camera-color-negative film such as EASTMAN
EXR Color Negative Film, having a set of properly exposed and processed
black-and-white separation positives made for the red, green, and blue
records onto EASTMAN Panchromatic Separation Film on ESTAR Base. Then you
should store the original negative and separation positives and the master
positive and duplicate negative, that were made from the original negative,
at the keeping conditions specified earlier."
The CryoNet.org web site talks of archival color printing.
http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/dsp.cgi?msg=5591
"The Cadillac of archival color printing (just to show this isn't quite an
oxymoron) is the process represented by the very interesting Ultrastable
Permanent Color Prints (UltraStable Systems, Inc, Santa Cruz, CA) and
Polaroid Permanent Color Prints, both made with a unique and different
pigment system, and expected to last up to 500 years. "Permanence" does not
come cheap, however: a 16 x 20 UltraStable portrait may be as much as $500."
Peter Kaminski's web journal has some personal insight on the use of hard
drives for archiving information:
http://www.istori.com/log/archives/00000056.html
"Nice 7200 rpm, 9 ms, EIDE Ultra ATA/100 drives right now run a size/price
line from 20Gb/$80 to 100Gb/$200. So if you buy two to keep your data
redundant, you can get 20Gb for $160, about the price of a decent CD burner,
or up to 100Gb for $400."
Search strategy:
archival cd
://www.google.com/search?q=archival+cd
archival cd glass
://www.google.com/search?q=archival+cd+glass
archival prints
://www.google.com/search?&q=archival+prints
archival prints "storage life"
://www.google.com/search?q=archival+prints+%22storage+life%22
If you need any clarification of the above, please do not hesitate
to ask.
Looking Forward, denco-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
denco-ga
on
18 Apr 2003 15:14 PDT
Howdy tinroof!
Thanks for the 5 star rating!
Apologies, but I have struck out on the "pin" memory from IBM. That said,
I don't think you would want to go with any "bleeding edge" concepts for
your valuable data. Cost would be a major issue as well, I imagine.
Also struck out on finding an all-in-one storage and media migration outfit.
They might exist out there, but it appears that there are companies that do
one or the other. If you were to take that route, it might be possible to
have the storage company ship a set of the media out to a media migration
company on a "need be" basis, and then store the resulting conversion on
its return.
In looking for the above and thinking about the challenge in a different
way, the best way to currently accomplish what you really desire, which is
the preservation of your data over a long term, might be something different.
Store the information on other people's hard drives. Specifically, rent 2
or 3 dedicated servers with 20GB of storage on each. Not the cheapest
solution at around $200 a month but if the media goes bad, it is replaced,
and if a company goes out of business, you hire a new one. With the way
things are going, it would get cheaper all the time. Extra security could
be had with RAID systems in the dedicated servers, and software could be
setup for checking, backups and migrating the data, etc. Put a gold/gold
copy of the data in the CD drive of each server for safekeeping/access too.
If you are shooting for long term, absolutely hands off storage, and don't
want hardware involved, you should go the postives/negatives/prints route,
otherwise, you are looking at the storage price for the crate that has the
PCs, spare parts, gold and glass master CDs inside. To be really careful
to guard against earthquakes, etc. you are looking at multiple sets of it
all, no matter which approach you take.
Through my research I found out that your challenge is a big one that is
shared by many others; individuals, institutions and governments alike,
so don't feel you are alone.
Looking Forward, denco-ga
|
,
0 Comments
)