At the present level of technology, there is no, repeat no, format or
media that will guarantee the survival of an image or other digital
file over a period of 60 years.
In the digital arena, the best that one can do is to institute an
"archival process" that will improve the survivability of the images over time.
There is an excellent article in Layers magazine earlier this year
that deals with digital work flow and this would form a basis for
creating an archival process.
It starts with making a copy to the hard drive, then to a DVD, then
from that DVD to another DVD, then from that DVD via a conversion
program to a JPEG format on another drive and finally making a copy
onto a second hard drive. ( If I remember the steps properly )
That whole sequence of events ensures that the DVD copies are
readable and exactly compare to the original on the digital card.
Now comes the hard part:
Use only Gold CDs or DVDs. Not just the ones that are gold colored
but the ones that are actually made with real gold. CDs and DVDs are
subject to leakage between the plastic and the recording metal
film. Metals and other materials that are not gold will react to
moisture and get what is called "CD cancer" that will ruin the media
when it occurs. Gold media doesn't have this property and can resist
much better.
But - no media is perfect and perfectly archival since it is made of
plastic after all.
So ... Now one has to develop a process that will defeat the ravages
of time by periodically copying and verifying the old copy to a new
media copy. Occasionally this will require a software conversion to
move from one format to a newer format that is supported by the
current digital technology of the day. That's the hard part since
the verification of the conversion will be the tricky part. One way
will be to actually look at each image after conversion ( for a
lifetime's work this will be a daunting task.)
So much for the down side.
Back to negatives. There is only one for each image and if the
location in which they are stored is destroyed ( fire, flood,
tornado, hurricane, vandalism, etc.) then they are permanently
gone. Mildew can get to them and destroy the image, insects can eat
at them, dampness can glue them together and make them unusable and
so on. For chromogenic and color materials, the dyes can degrade
over time and the images just disappear. As a case in point, the
original Kodacolor prints from the 1950's have for all practical
purposes disappeared for this very reason - the dyes were so unstable
that they didn't last. Most people (excluding the tiny fraction of
the public that keep them in boxes and drawers or in file cabinets,
just discard the negatives once they have the prints in hand. Thus
those images are gone forever. Kodachrome slides, if they evaded
environmental hazards, do survive in excellent condition 60 years later.
So all is not perfect in the film world either.
Back to digital: Because it is infinitely reproducible without error
( if you check!!! ), many copies can be made and moved to other
locations to avoid these local environmental hazards and that should
be a part of the "archival process" also. Making high-quality
archival inkjet prints for storage will also help.
For better or worse, that's where we are and those who care about
archiving their work will have to cope.
Cheers,
James
At 07:53 AM 4/2/2007 -0400, you wrote:
This is something that has concerned me in our newspaper
office. Our current system of "archiving" consists of copying the
raw images to a C.D. each month. Two copies are made, one that we
use on a daily basis for file photos, reprints and the such, and one
set that is stored in the company safe. I fear that these photos
will be unaccessable in a few years, but no one else seems
concerned. We have boxes and boxes of negatives from pervious
years. Any ideas for a better, more reliable way to archive?
Thanks!
Angi Turnpaugh
<snip>
Angi Turnpaugh
Pharos-Tribune Staff Photographer
(574)722-5000 ext 5152
James Schenken
