[LINK] Internet leading to cultural 'black hole': Library

[grove at zeta.org.au]

On Mon, 20 Apr 2009, Tom Koltai wrote:

> Of the 70,000 movies and shorts made in Australia since 1908 - less than
> 1,000 are available to the public from the national Film Archives.

And since we started printing on that lovely pure white paper, anything 
transferred to that is not going to last thanks to its ability to oxidise 
readily.  And then what about the billions of reams of data collected 
on "Reflex" products and printed via inkjet/laserjet etc.

I suspect a lot of these types of media will individually require 
a solution, as we don't really know what the long term lifespan 
of the paper, ink and various dyes is.

Perhaps we should be encouraging or forcing, via govt policy/law 
to make print media vendors supply the recipes and formulae for their 
bleaches and dyes so accelerated testing of them can be done and 
then appropriate legislation for data archiving passed so that only 
vendors with suitable media and print products get the contract to 
supply paper and toner etc.

It is very telling, that I can have trouble reading a photocopy from 20 years 
ago, whereas I have no trouble reading a document written on vellum or 
parchment in iron gall ink from 250 or so years ago!


rachel

> -------------
> Quote/ from http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/clrcld.html
>
> 3.1 The National Film and Sound Archive and the National Library of
> Australia play important roles in implementing the Commonwealth's
> cultural development policy, defined in Creative Nation as:
>
>    * nurturing creativity and excellence;
>    * enabling all Australians to enjoy the widest possible range of
> cultural experience;
>    * preserving Australia's heritage;
>    * promoting the expression of Australia's cultural identity; and
>    * developing lively and sustainable cultural industries, including
> those evolving with the emergence of new technologies [2].
>
> 3.2 The Cultural Ministers' Council has endorsed the statement National
> Conservation and Preservation Policy for Movable Cultural Heritage which
> recognises
>
>    * the need to conserve and preserve Australia's movable cultural
> heritage; and
>    * the important right of the Australian people to have a reasonable
> and an equitable opportunity of access to their movable cultural
> heritage, subject to cultural restrictions or sensitivities [3]
> /quote
> -------------------
>
>
> Interestingly - almost 150 of those are available on P2P - without any
> administration or oncost - beyond bandwidth.
>
> I am now seeing on a global basis searches for films from the 20's and
> 30's containing Buster Keaton, the Three Stooges, etc.
>
> <a
> href="ed2k://|file|Big%20Times%20Buster%20Keaton.mpg|167835652|5CF3BCD05
> 5C9356E5F27CEE89906B5FF|/">Big Times Buster Keaton.mpg</a>
>
> Available from 320 sources
>
> <a
> href="ed2k://|file|Buster%20Keaton.avi|735838208|B9E6518C673060555004C0A
> 52DE645E7|/">Buster Keaton.avi</a>
>
> Available from 413 sources
>
>
> On Australian Classics
>
>
> <a
> href="ed2k://|file|The.Sundowners.1960.DVDRip.XviD-.avi|1469001728|9D84B
> 7227DABB099FB701728AB994687|/">The.Sundowners.1960.DVDRip.XviD-.avi</a>
>
> Available from 70 sources
>
> <a
> href="ed2k://|file|The%20Adventures%20of%20Barry%20McKenzie%20(1972,Bruc
> e%20Beresford).avi|706955264|B20ED3627E00A550B395D2B8671278C9|/">The
> Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972,Bruce Beresford).avi</a>
>
> Available from 5 sources
>
> I could continue to list examples - but possibly it is time to consider
> that P2P is archiving for free quite a lot of our heritage that is not
> being archived by the government.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Rachel Polanskis                 Kingswood, Greater Western Sydney, Australia
grove at zeta.org.au                http://www.zeta.org.au/~grove/grove.html
 		The price of greatness is responsibility.