Agreed! The nice thing about microfilm/-fiche, besides taking up a very
small footprint and being generally archivally stable, is that no
machinery is required to read it... even after whatever technological
apocalypse may be coming, microfilm requires only a light source and a
magnifying lens to access its content (I never, ever imagined I'd sound
like a Luddite; I love my computer, I swear!)
More practically, a quick search of the 'net for "digital microfilm" found
a host of companies who will digitize your microfilm or microfilm your
digital records. A report regarding this hybrid approach, including a
discussion of costs, can be found here:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/preservation/com/comfin.html
--Megan Springate.
> Hello all,
>
> Lots of good posts for and against digitization of those old records.
> Let's also not forget microfiche and microfilm still exist and are a lot
> more stable than Win 3.1/98/98/2000/XP/Vista/...
> (or Apple, or Linex, or Commodore, or so on and so forth...)
>
> Just my tiny little nugget of food for thought...
>
> Cheers all,
> Mike Jackson
>
> UND Anthropology Research
> Grand Forks, ND
>
>
> HISTARCH automatic digest system wrote:
>
>>There are 31 messages totalling 1273 lines in this issue.
>>
>>Topics of the day:
>>
>> 1. Pre-dating the love of chocolate
>> 2. old notes (29)
>> 3. A Clatsop Winter Story
>>
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:37:02 +0100
>>From: geoff carver <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Pre-dating the love of chocolate
>>
>>chocolate addiction earlier than previously thought:
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7087899.stm
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:16:10 EST
>>From: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: old notes
>>
>>Good morning Histarch-ers.
>>
>>After 25 years operating a small business we are out of space and faced
>> with
>>a dilema. We have accumulated tons of material. Excavation fieldnotes,
>>level records, etc. are filed with the collection at archives but we
>> also have
>>copies in house. On a survey level we have all the pencilled site
>> records and
>>maps from the field effort and notes, although the information is
>> included
>>in reports that are filed at various places and copies of fieldnotes are
>> with
>>agencies who contracted with us in the first place. Getting a storage
>> locker
>>to stick boxes in isn't really feasible. Trying to scan 25 years of
>>projects also isn't feasible, and who knows how long the e-data will
>> last on a cd?
>>We have two schools of thought here. One is that since copies of
>> excavation
>>data are with collections we can dispose of the in-house duplicates by
>>shredding. The survey material is no where but here, but was reproduced
>> in reports
>>that are filed at various agencies or repositories so can also be
>> shredded.
>>The other "school" screams PRIMARY DATA - DO NOT DESTROY!!!
>> Suggestions?
>>
>>Mary L. Maniery
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>************************************** See what's new at
>> http://www.aol.com
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:16:29 EST
>>From: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: old notes
>>
>>If they are duplicates, they ceaqse to be primary. Sherd them! Just be
>> sure
>>the originals are in a szecure facility. I try archiving them in
>> several
>>places (helps me, but doesn't solve the overall storage space problem).
>>Bob Hoover
>>
>>
>>**************************************
>> See what's new at
>>http://www.aol.com
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:19:46 EST
>>From: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: old notes
>>
>>Ah, Mary. This is one of my most pressing back burner concerns about CRM
>> and
>>has been for some years. We have the same issue. We have materials
>> which
>>have accumulated since 1981 and, fortunately, we moved to a building
>> where I can
>>still store them and accumulate a few years more, but there is a limit
>> and,
>>the most important question arises, what do you do with them when you
>> reach the
>>point that you have or when you decide to sell the business or just close
>> the
>>doors?
>>
>>I have heard a lot of people talk about this in the past with quick,
>> fairly
>>blase suggestions of just scan them, toss them (because the SHPO has the
>>information anyway), etc. I find these totally unsatisfactory and quite
>> annoying,
>>because they don't answer the essential problem. There is a lot of
>> history in
>>those records about the essential roots of CRM in this country, not to
>> mention
>>there is a lot of material that people may THINK is at SHPO, but over the
>>years SHPO has actually contacted us a number of times to send them
>> materials
>>that they have lost, or cannot find for one reason or another. The
>> materials
>>that we have in our "archives" also includes far more than is sent to
>> SHPO or
>>other agencies. Field notes, photographs that were not included in site
>> forms or
>>reports, memos, some of which have far more interest than just internal
>> to
>>our company, brochures and other materials picked up and related to
>> projects,
>>some of which are no longer available, and a 100 other things I can't
>> even
>>remember.
>>
>>Some years ago I was envious of an architectural company which was able
>> to
>>donate the first 15 years of their materials to the library at the
>> University of
>>Utah. In the public's eye, architectural stuff is, perhaps, more sexy
>> than
>>our stuff, but our materials have value that it would be a shame to see
>> just go
>>down the toilet.
>>
>>This question is something that really needs to be aired and some
>> solutions
>>offered. There are 100s of companies which are on the verge of facing
>> this
>>soon, as boomers begin to reach retirement age and wonder what to do with
>>everything. It is one of the issues that I plan to have debated in ACRA
>> during my
>>tenure as president over the next several years. Hopefully, there will
>> be
>>viable solutions presented to each of us to see as possible ways to
>> protect and
>>preserve these valuable assets.
>>
>>And this is not even addressing the curation problem of all of the
>> artifacts
>>still held "temporarily" by CRM companies across the US.
>>
>>Sorry I do not have solutions to offer at this point, but I wanted to, at
>>least, provide my support of the need for long term debate of this issue.
>>
>>Mike
>>
>>
>>Michael R. Polk, M.A., RPA
>>Principal Archaeologist/Owner
>>Sagebrush Consultants, L.L.C.
>>3670 Quincy Avenue, Suite 203
>>Ogden, Utah 84403
>>
>>(801) 394-0013 (voice)
>>(801) 394-0032 (fax)
>>[log in to unmask]
>>www.sagebrushconsultants.com
>>
>>
>>
>>************************************** See what's new at
>> http://www.aol.com
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:24:56 -0500
>>From: "Mary C. Beaudry" <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Re: old notes
>>
>>Iron Mountain
>>
>>On Nov 13, 2007 12:16 PM, <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Good morning Histarch-ers.
>>>
>>>After 25 years operating a small business we are out of space and faced
>>> with
>>>a dilema. We have accumulated tons of material. Excavation
>>> fieldnotes,
>>>level records, etc. are filed with the collection at archives but we
>>> also
>>>have
>>>copies in house. On a survey level we have all the pencilled site
>>>records and
>>>maps from the field effort and notes, although the information is
>>>included
>>>in reports that are filed at various places and copies of fieldnotes
>>> are
>>>with
>>>agencies who contracted with us in the first place. Getting a storage
>>>locker
>>>to stick boxes in isn't really feasible. Trying to scan 25 years of
>>>projects also isn't feasible, and who knows how long the e-data will
>>> last
>>>on a cd?
>>>We have two schools of thought here. One is that since copies of
>>>excavation
>>>data are with collections we can dispose of the in-house duplicates by
>>>shredding. The survey material is no where but here, but was
>>> reproduced
>>>in reports
>>>that are filed at various agencies or repositories so can also be
>>>shredded.
>>>The other "school" screams PRIMARY DATA - DO NOT DESTROY!!!
>>>Suggestions?
>>>
>>>Mary L. Maniery
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>************************************** See what's new at
>>>http://www.aol.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
|
