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Archiver > SOG-UK > 2002-03 > 1015421092


From: Peter Amsden <>
Subject: Re: [SoG]Worth noting!!
Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 13:25:50 +0000
References: <DAlFRHAnUdh8EwRJ@tdrake.demon.co.uk>


Barney Tyrwhitt-Drake wrote:

> It is a pity the Grauniad was not around in ancient Egypt just before
> the Rosetta Stone was being carved. They could then have confidently
> predicted that hieroglyphics would soon be obsolete and that all the
> wonderful inscriptions paid for by several Pharaohs, were in vain.

Of course I agree with Barney's comments on news hype, but alas modern
technology does not use granite and basalt on which to store its
information. It is not so much the principle of the process, whether it
be digital or analogue, but the medium on which it is stored. So far no
one has come up with an equivalent to granite in the digital world. The
bonding of oxides to substrates or laminations on CDs are all suspect.
They have a life much shorter than we had hoped. A floppy disc that is
no longer readable is little more than junk, and if a hard drive has a
fit and destroys the contents, there is little likelihood that much can
be salvaged.

The current answer is to migrate information stored in this manner
upwards to the next level of technology. This would appear to be an easy
practical solution. Once digitised it can be moved around ad infinitum
with little loss. The real constraint is that of time. It has, for
example, been estimated that to transfer all of the audio tapes in the
Library of Congress to the next level would take 30 years! This is
clearly unacceptable. No one has that time to spare, and so almost
inevitably these records will eventually be lost. And this is only the
audio. The still and moving images will require much longer.

Today's manufacturers are still searching for the modern block of
granite. One day they may find it, but until that time we must be aware
of the fragility of modern methods and act accordingly. Whether it be
multiple back-ups, hard copy on paper or migrating to the next level.
Individual genealogists should find this no great problem; they can
leave the millions of miles of video and audio tape tape, the countless
still images and the increasingt number of digitised books, to the
archivists who are paid to have the headaches!

There was a time when someone actually suggested that by digitising the
majority of books in the British Library and placing them onto CDs, it
would be possible to destroy the real thing and thus save a great deal
of space. Thank goodness no one took them seriously.


--
Peter Amsden,
Argyll, Scotland

Researching Amsden World Wide
Outline History: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~amsden
Amsden Forum: http://www.genforum.com/amsden
Books I have written: http://www.btinternet.com/~amsden
AllExperts: http://www.allexperts.com/displayExpert.asp?Expert=38044

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