Government Information Preservation Working Group December 16, 2003 Fred Byers NIST

Obsolete and Endangered Tapes Source: 2003 Cornell University Library, Digital Preservation Management 1/2" 9-track Reel Storage capacity: Standard bpi recording densities of 800-6250bpi. It is estimated that over 90% of the world's data mine is still held on 9-Track DC6150 QIC-150 Storage capacity: 150Mb Approximate dates in use: 1990-1995 IBM 3480 cartridge Storage capacity: 200Mb Approximate dates in use: 1984-1994 DC600A QIC-24 Storage capacity: 60Mb Approximate dates in use: 1990-1995 DC9135 QIC tape 1/4" Storage capacity: 1.35G Approximate dates in use: 1990-1995 G2000 (DC2000 compatible) Storage capacity: 40Mb Approximate dates in use: 1990-1995 Sony 8mm data cartridge QG-112M Storage capacity: 2.5-5GB Approximate dates in use: 1990-present Fujifilm DG-90M DDS cartridge Storage capacity: 2.0 GB Approximate dates in use: 1993-present 4mm DAT (TDK DC4-120 DDS2) Storage capacity: 1 - 4 GB Approximate dates in use: 1993- present Fujifilm DLTtape III XT Storage capacity: 15G Approximate dates in use: 1994-present 4mm DAT (Verbatim DDS3 125M) Storage capacity: 12 GB Approximate dates in use: 1996- present Fred Byers NIST

Obsolete and Endangered Disks Source: 2003 Cornell University Library, Digital Preservation Management 8" floppy disk  (Radio Shack TRS80 Model II ) Storage capacity: 509,184 bytes Approximate dates in use: Late 1971-1981 5.25" floppy disk Storage capacity: 100KB-1.2MB Approximate dates in use: 1972-mid1980s 3 1/2" disk Storage capacity: 400K to 2.8 MB Approximate dates in use: 1982-present Sony 12" Magneto Optical Disk (WDM-3DL0) Storage capacity: 3.2G Double-sided (WORM) Approximate dates in use: 1985-1992 Sony Magneto Optical Disk EDM-600B Storage capacity: 600Mb Dual-Sided rewritable Approximate dates in use: Iomega 100 Zip disk Storage capacity: 100Mb Approximate dates in use: 1995-present CD-ROM disc Storage capacity: 650Mb Approximate dates in use: 1984-present Fred Byers NIST

Digital Storage Media Timeline User-Removable Digital Storage Media Timeline Paper Magnetic Magnetic Magnetic Optical Optical Optical ??? (Infrared (Red (Blue/Violet Laser) Laser) Laser) Punch Cassette 5 Floppy 3.5” Floppy CD DVD ** Card Tape Disk Disk Disc Disc Disc ??? l______________________l_____________________l_____________________l________________________l__ 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005+? Future ** Blu-Ray Disc, Advanced Optical Disc, or other.   Timeline illustrates the changes in common “removable” storage media Source: Technical Advisory Service for Images (TASI) 2002, extended Fred Byers NIST

Digital Preservation Options Duplication (tape to tape) Media migration (tape to disc, disc to tape) Digital encoding format (old-to-new) Emulation (simulation of previous software) Hardware/software and OS preservation Outsourcing Wait and see, deal with it later Convert to analog (i.e. print documents, microfilm) Fred Byers NIST

Selecting Storage Media for Long-Term Preservation An example scorecard, comparing some common media types 1 (does not meet the criterion) to 3 (fully meets the criterion). As a general rule, no medium which scores less than 12 should be considered. Media CD-R DVD-R Zip Disk 3.5” Magnetic Disk DLT DAT Longevity 3 3 1 1 2 1 Capacity 2 2 1 1 3 3 Viability 2 2 1 1 3 3 Obsolescence 3 2 2 3 2 2 Cost 3 2 1 1 3 3 Susceptibility 3 3 1 1 3 2 Total 16 14 7 8 16 14 Source: THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, Digital Preservation Guidance Note 2: Selecting storage media for long-term preservation, June 19, 2003. http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/preservation/digital/guidance/selecting-storage-media.pdf Fred Byers NIST

Strategy Preserve what?  To what?  Now what? Future access Digital Preservation Strategy Preserve what?  To what?  Now what? Future access Fred Byers NIST

Considering CDs, DVDs? What’s to consider? Life expectancy Quality variations Interoperability/compatibility Robustness Fred Byers NIST

Factors that affect Disc LE Type Manufacturing quality Condition of the disc before recording Quality of the disc recording Handling and maintenance Environmental conditions Fred Byers NIST

Maximizing Disc Usefulness Care and Handling Consider environmental influences Physical handling Storage conditions Labeling Cleaning Fred Byers NIST

CD, DVD Landscape CD DVD CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM DVD-R General, VCD CD-ROM CD-DA, CD-I, CD+G, DVD DVD-R General, DVD-R Authoring, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM DVD-Video DVD-Audio DVD-RAM, Fred Byers NIST

CD vs DVD Construction Fred Byers NIST

Double-Sided DVDs Fred Byers NIST

Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs A Guide for Librarians and Archivists Co-Published by NIST and CLIR NIST Publication http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/carefordisc/CDandDVDCareandHandlingGuide.pdf One-Page Reference from the Guide http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/carefordisc/onepage.pdf CLIR Publication http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub121abst.html Fred Byers NIST