A report this past Spring from the New Brunswick provincial archives warns that society is in danger of losing valuable historical records because they are being improperly stored on digital media.
I have been reexamining the benefits of analog vs digital in the past year, after reading reports like above. After all, as an archivist, I have been using the Net to "re-publish" works that relate to my hobbies like rail rapid transit (see transportation documents on uwto.org), CBWT's former news & current affairs program, 24Hours, where 32 videos have been re-published onto YouTube.
Recently I played back a few of the old audio cassettes that have been gathering dust for a few years. It's recommended, at a minimum, to fast wind a tape from beginning to end, to ensure that the tape binder doesn't stick to the adjacent tape, causing major playback problems. One tape had me at the age of 13 or 14 introduce two news reports I recorded in 1979 or 1980 by placing a cheap cassette recorder close to the television speaker. At the time, just like anyone else, when hearing ones own voice recorded, it doesn't sound complimentary.That recording is invaluable now. However, given its age, and the quality of tape itself was not high. It is best to make a second generation copy before it gets lost or unplayable.
Five years ago I scanned in my baby pictures from the late late 1960s into the computer and have a couple of copies accessible to me. One of them is a CD-R, the other is via an online photo sharing service. However, dozens of other family photos from our collection have yet to be digitized and I hope that they can be done before severe deterioration occurs.
The best way to keep family family photographs from being lost before future generations even have a chance to see them, is to print them out on good quality photographic paper.
If you have any audio or video recordings of your childhood or your own kids, the best way to preserve them is to use good quality analog media like reel-to-reel (do people still use those? you bet), and Hi8 camcorder tape.
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