Long term storage for photographs?

[Jojjan]

My new job is to preserve very old photographs by scanning them into a digital format. It is very important that these photos can be saved for the future.
I know that there is no guarantee that any media will hold "for ever" but i would like to hear from you what´s the smartest thing to do.
My plan is to use a good dvd burner and to use Verbatim DVD discs.
Or is it better to use DVD-RAM discs?

I personaly use Verbatim DVD+R and i have never had any problems with them concerning burn or playing quality.

Let me know your thoughts about this.

[RabidDog]

Speak to the british Library or BBC, Congress. They will tell you that the MOST durable way of storing information is on stone, followed by parchment. Neither of those are any use in a digital age.. I would suggest hard disk's and dvd and tape backups. ANd pick the most popular formats. they are most likely to be around in 10 years. Oh and buy a backup reading device for all three .. gets expensive don it? And dont forget microfiche, 35mm slides..

[joeg04]

I would use magneto optical disks. They should last for about 30 years. One 2.3 GB MO-disk costs about 22 €. A drive for 2.3 GB disks is for example Fujitsu MCR3230AP.

[vitualis]

The problem isn't just the media.

Even if the medium works fine in 100 years, will there be a method of READING it?

It's a big dilemma.

If it's important, I would recommend mutiple redundancy. For example, onto DVD-R, an achival HDD (e.g., in an enclosure) and on the net on a server somewhere. That way, even if your house/facility burns down (taking your physical media with it), you still have a copy elsewhere.

Regards.

[Bodysurf]

My new job is to preserve very old photographs by scanning them into a digital format. It is very important that these photos can be saved for the future.
I know that there is no guarantee that any media will hold "for ever" but i would like to hear from you what´s the smartest thing to do.
My plan is to use a good dvd burner and to use Verbatim DVD discs.

Create PAR/PAR2 files of the photographs of a large percentage, then burn them to (several) Verbatim MediDiscs

that are kept in different locations.

I would also archive them to a large removable ATA hard drive as a further backup.

[Jojjan]

Thanks for your answers.

Well, there are about 4000 photos to be copied as a backup to the originals. This should take around two years to complete.
The backups will then probably be placed in a safe place.

[lordsmurf]

Many copies on several kinds of media stored in several locations.

[Bodyslide]

I have one dedicated External Hard Drive. I also have the same photos on DVD-R. The DVD-R's were burned at 4x. I have 2 copies of these. The DVD-R's are stored in a safe at work and at my bank in a Safety Deposit Box.

[joeg04]

If you want digital data to last forever, you should plan to re-copy it on a regular basis from old to new media and then throw away the old media. For example every 10 years.

Some differences between analog and digital archiving:
Analog:
- media can last for several 100 years under good storing conditions,
- lossless copying is not possible,
- picture quality will degrade over time.
Digital:
- media last short (10 to 100 years),
- lossless copying is possible,
- picture quality does never degrade, if re-copying is done often enough and you checked that it was done error-free (lossless).

[Jojjan]

Thanks again.

The hardest and most time consuming work is to scan all the pictures.
Making backups on different media after that is "easier"

Regarding to your answers it´s probably best to make three types of copies.
1) DVD-R copy.
2) Hard drive copy.
3) Analog tape copy.

Some of the backups will then be placed in a safe deposit box in a bank.

[vcdforme]

As far as storing to an optical type disc, it's my
belief that long term reliability of DVD has not
been proven.
Extensive testing of CD dye however is another story.
I would suggest staying with CDR and the CDR's which
use the dye PhthaloCyanine.
I agree with all the posts suggesting multiple formats,
as well as extra readers for backup. I really doubt you'll
find an interface for today's Harddrives 10 years from now,
except from an old rig. Dvd, CD, who knows.....
Anyway....consider CDR as well, along with the other
formats.
For long term storage, stay away from any dye's with the
AZO formulation.

[lordsmurf]

Multiple DVD-R copies.

And I totally disagree with the previous statement.

While some studies have shown AZO to supposedly deteriorate in "accelerated" aging environment, cyanine-based media sucks. It's not very reflective and only the crappiest media makers use it. CD-R media is barely a decade old, only has about a 5-year advance over DVD-R, so it's not really "proven" either.

Metal AZO dyes in DVD-R are some of the best media you can buy (MCC, MXL, etc). Cyanine-based is some of the worst crap you can buy (Princo, etc).

TY and Maxell CD-R is best (made in Japan).
www.nomorecoasters.com for best DVD-R media

[vcdforme]

sigh.........don't take my word for it.
Read alot, learn, and at least....
at least do some investigation.

[Bodysurf]

TY and Maxell CD-R is best (made in Japan).
www.nomorecoasters.com for best DVD-R media

Ever think about putting a CD-R section in your NOMORECOASTERS website?

It might be helpful, even if the number of CD-R makers is limited and the list would be fairly static.

Just a thought.