[WEB4LIB] Standby for Reverse Paradigm Shift

[Dan Lester]

At 12:49 PM 8/29/99 -0700, Jan Lindquist wrote:
>If you're preserving a rare book in a digital version, how do you preserve
>the digital file? Ironically, the digital versions of books don't last long.

That all depends.  If they're handled right, they last forever, unlike paper.

>Paper documents, especially those made before the use of pulp (and the
>introduction of acid), can remain in good condition for hundreds of years,
>but a typical digital file on a CD-ROM might stay fully intact for only 30
>years.

That isn't a problem as long as it is copied to a newer (or the same) 
medium as necessary.

>huge amounts of knowledge recorded in the late 20th century exist only in 
>digital form.

That sounds like a good thing to me.

>But skeptics claim that there won't be time or money to make sure all the 
>important data gets transferred - there's just too much of it.

Well, then that may be a good thing.  That which is worth saving will be 
saved.  That which is not won't.  Van Gogh's paintings will continue to be 
saved and preserved.  Mine won't.  No great loss.

The same is, and has always been, true of printed materials.  There are 
literally tons of books at LC that will self-destruct before they're 
de-acidified or otherwise copied or preserved.  They preserve the most 
valuable, those most worth keeping.

>  He advocates a hybrid approach, combining digital versions (for easy 
> access), microfilm (for preservation - it's believed to last for hundreds 
> of years), and the original documents.

Gee, sounds just like a library.

dan


--
Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.postcard.org/