Media preservation has reached a crisis point for content carried on physical audio and video formats as the world has transitioned to the digital age. Archival media collections could soon be considered highly endangered. It might help to invoke the power of narrative to aid in understanding the critical issues facing media archives and to spark us to imagine solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Outside of the fairytale, in our own world, the signs are ominous. This is a PDF version of an article that originally appeared in the International Association of Sound & Audiovisual Archives Journal No. 44, January 2015. Published here with permission from Mike Casey, the Director of Technical Operations for the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative at Indiana University.
[…] Why Media Preservation Can’t Wait: The Gathering Storm by Mike Casey […]
[…] on how long they will remain usable. But even liberal estimates put most library VHS collections in a rather urgent position. With the end of VCR manufacturing and the rate of physical decay inherent to the format, libraries […]
[…] the clock to avoid clear and present risks. These risks are well documented and widely known. In “Why Media Preservation Can’t Wait: The Gathering Storm,” Mike Casey succinctly lays out the […]