[LINK] Guidelines for Digital Repositories, Canberra, 27 July

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Karl Auer wrote:
> On Fri, 2006-07-21 at 14:29 +1000, Markus Buchhorn wrote:
> 
> 
>>Presuming you mean digital preservation of the content, rather than
>>the physical media
> 
> 
> However, physical preservation of the medium on which your digital
> archive is written is itself a HUGE topic. Paper, good, old-fashioned
> paper, is STILL overall the most robust medium known to humankind short
> of chiselled rocks (which have a bandwidth even worse than paper). Until
> we come up with an incorruptible (if not unbreakable) storage medium, we
> will be spending a lot of time recopying.

...pottery, and painting in Tombs and on cave walls have stood the test 
of time....

> 
> Film, mag tape, CD, DVD, MO - they all have serious longevity problems.
> And many have bulk problems. The digital version of a feature film can
> occupy many times the space of the physical film.

Following up my own lead I found the
National Film and Sound Archive > Preservation > Film Preservation Handbook
<http://www.nfsa.afc.gov.au/screensound/screenso.nsf/allDocs/RWP6944831547BA3AD3CA256B5D0079B907?OpenDocument>
<snip>
> Speaking to ourselves over a thousand years means that any data
> reconstructed/restored will be using languages (in the broadest sense)
> long since dead. The restoration of the data to its original form is the
> least of the difficulties; comprehension of the result will be the
> biggy.
<snip>
A thousand years isn't very long, you will find that the major religions
have older records and maintained comprehension. The interpretation and
application of the stuff just may not always be to everyone's satisfaction.

Things are often hidden in malevolent times. As was the case with this
Hindu carving
http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2006/01/hindu-carving-at-bondla.html

-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications
http://www.ramin.com.au
Phone: 0414-869202
Email: marghanita at ramin.com.au