An Alternative Method of Very Long-term Conservation of Digital Images and their Historical Context for The Archive, University College, Oxford

The fragility of digital data as a means of storing our images, texts and finances, is well-known to anyone who has ever experienced a failed hard drive, with vital work still to be backed up. Curators worldwide are charged with finding means of safely preserving all the born digital and digitised material in their collections. Yet the likelihood that technologies and generally accepted methods for data preservation utilised at the start of their time in post, are likely to be vastly different in every way, later in their career. We are already aware of many of the technical issues faced in longer-term digital preservation, redundant software and file formats, data storage hardware failure, bit rot literally breaking down data over time, to name but a few. However, these may be the least of the issues facing our particular digital works in any archive, supposing there is no funding for further vital migration, or the archive has newer material that is considered more important, or simply that our, yet unborn, great-great-grandchildren have very different aesthetic tastes and do not like or value our particular collection. This paper proposes an alternative approach to very long-term digital preservation where our most important and significant works of art can be safely preserved for centuries into the future, by utilising a proven technology many thousands of years old.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Graham Diprose

Michael George

Robin Darwall-Smith

Conference

Publication date: July 2018

Publication date (Print): July 2018

Pages: 48-55

Affiliations

[0001]Photographer, Author

13 Heathfield Drive

Redhill, RH1 5HL, UK

[0002]Photographer, Author

2 Monterey Close

Bexhill-on-Sea, TN39 3SZ, UK

[0003]University College, Oxford

High Street

Oxford OX1 4BH, UK

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.10

SO-VID: a801d6e3-7d9b-4712-af7b-225e22fc4cf3

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 9 - 13 July 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Product

Product Information: 1477-9358BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.10

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

REFERENCES

R. Darwall-Smith 2008 A History of University College, Oxford Oxford University Press
G. DiproseC. CraigM. Seaborne 2009 London's Changing Riverscape: Panoramas from London Bridge to Greenwich Frances Lincoln London
G. DiproseJ. Robins 2007 The River Thames Revisited: In the Footsteps of Henry Taunt Frances Lincoln London
M. GeorgeP. Bowe 1986 The Gardens of Ireland A New York Graphic Society Book/Little, Brown & Company Boston
Image Permanence Institute 2018 Acetate Film Base Deterioration – The Vinegar Syndrome Rochester Institute of Technology New York http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/resources/newsletter-archive/v12/vinegar-syndrome (retrieved 5 January 2018)
Library of Congress 2018 How Long Will Digital Storage Media Last? http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/documents/media_durability.pdf (retrieved 19 March 2018)
J. McKendrick 2012 Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Distrusts the Cloud: Is He Right? Forbes, 5 Aug 2012 http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/08/06/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-distrusts-the-cloud-is-he-right/ 6049724e6042
M. OrtizV. MikkilineniK. Aravind 2007 Paper Inkjet Forensics Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lafayette, Louisiana USA http://engineering.purdue.edu/~prints/outreach/EDEWG06.pdf (retrieved 19 March 2018)
B. Van der Werf 2011 Bit Rot & Long Term Access Open Preservation Foundation http://openpreservation.org/blog/2011/02/28/bit-rot-long-term-access/ (retrieved 19 March 2018)
Wilhelm Imaging Research 2007 HP Design-jet Z3100 Print Permanence Ratings 26 December 2007 Wilhelm Imaging Research http://wilhelm-research.com/hp/Z3100.html (retrieved 19 March 2018)

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Comment on this article

[1] R. Darwall-Smith 2008 A History of University College, Oxford Oxford University Press

[2] G. DiproseC. CraigM. Seaborne 2009 London's Changing Riverscape: Panoramas from London Bridge to Greenwich Frances Lincoln London

[3] G. DiproseJ. Robins 2007 The River Thames Revisited: In the Footsteps of Henry Taunt Frances Lincoln London

[4] M. GeorgeP. Bowe 1986 The Gardens of Ireland A New York Graphic Society Book/Little, Brown & Company Boston

[5] Image Permanence Institute 2018 Acetate Film Base Deterioration – The Vinegar Syndrome Rochester Institute of Technology New York http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/resources/newsletter-archive/v12/vinegar-syndrome (retrieved 5 January 2018)

[6] Library of Congress 2018 How Long Will Digital Storage Media Last? http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/documents/media_durability.pdf (retrieved 19 March 2018)

[7] J. McKendrick 2012 Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Distrusts the Cloud: Is He Right? Forbes, 5 Aug 2012 http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2012/08/06/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-distrusts-the-cloud-is-he-right/ 6049724e6042

[8] M. OrtizV. MikkilineniK. Aravind 2007 Paper Inkjet Forensics Purdue University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lafayette, Louisiana USA http://engineering.purdue.edu/~prints/outreach/EDEWG06.pdf (retrieved 19 March 2018)

[9] B. Van der Werf 2011 Bit Rot & Long Term Access Open Preservation Foundation http://openpreservation.org/blog/2011/02/28/bit-rot-long-term-access/ (retrieved 19 March 2018)

[10] Wilhelm Imaging Research 2007 HP Design-jet Z3100 Print Permanence Ratings 26 December 2007 Wilhelm Imaging Research http://wilhelm-research.com/hp/Z3100.html (retrieved 19 March 2018)