Electronic Information Media

Introduction

Increasingly, museums, galleries and libraries are using electronic media to improve access to their collections, to enhance their documentary collections, as publishing options and as exhibits. As the interest in, and use of, electronic media increases, people are becoming more concerned about preserving these formats.

The main carriers, or media, for electronic information are hard disks, floppy disks, audio tapes, video tapes and CD-ROMs. Preserving electronic information and media is about being able to use them for as long as you want to. However, preserving electronic media is not straightforward. There are two main issues to consider:

• the preservation of the actual item, that is, the CD-ROM or the audio tape; and

• preserving the information.

When it comes to preserving electronic information and media, conservators tend to believe that preserving the information is more important than preserving the media. There are many reasons for this. One of the main ones is the recognition that technology is advancing at such a rate that many of the media used today may be obsolete in the near future. Think about how quickly compact discs—CDs—replaced the once familiar vinyl LP record.

Obviously, if you have invested in a certain technology you will want to protect your investment and be able to use your electronic media for as long as possible. This will require that the carrier and the machine needed to access the information are in good condition. This section gives basic information on caring for electronic media—with an emphasis on video and audio recordings.

Electronic information is inherently short-lived and at some stage the information will need to be transferred from its present carrier to a new carrier, before the present medium deteriorates or your equipment stops working. This may be in a few years or a decade, but you must plan for this transfer to take place.

In the meantime, this section will help you to care for your electronic media. If you are particularly interested in preserving electronic media, it is strongly recommended that you keep in touch with the latest developments—the library network can help you with this.