[LINK] As Go Document Formats, So Goes Video
Bernard Robertson-Dunn
brd at iimetro.com.au
Mon Dec 24 10:48:32 AEDT 2007
As Go Document Formats, So Goes Video
Sunday, December 23 2007 @ 05:52 AM PST
Contributed by: Admin
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20071223055232858
Back in March of 2006, I interviewed Alan Cote, the Supervisor of Public
Records in the Public Records Division of the Massachusetts Secretary's
office. Alan had testified back in October of 2005 in the hearing where
Peter Quinn had been called on the carpet by Senator Marc Pacheco, the
Chair of the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight. At the
Pacheco hearing, Alan had professed neutrality about ODF, but also
doubts that document formats could provide a useful tool for document
preservation.
What struck me most forcefully at both the hearing as well as the
interview was that Alan presumably should have been one of the biggest
proponents of open formats, rather than a doubting Thomas. Why? Because
the process he now follows to preserve electronic documents seems almost
comically cumbersome and tedious. Briefly summarized, it involves
recopying every single electronic document every five years or so onto
new media (electronic media degrade surprisingly rapidly) in multiple
formats (because formats are regularly abandoned). Shouldn't someone
stuck with such a chore be desperate to find a better way?
Apparently, preserving documents is child's play compared to preserving
modern movies, especially those created initially in digital form. How
bad - and expensive - is that? According to a 74 page study released by
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAD) to a limited
audience in early November, preserving a full-length digital movie can
cost $208,569 (dramatic pause) per year. The reasons are exactly the
same as for digitized documents, and the currently available means of
preservation are the same as well.
.... etc
--
Regards
brd
Bernard Robertson-Dunn
Sydney Australia
brd at iimetro.com.au
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