Charles, Good point about changing technology making data unretrivable...sure which I could retrieve some stuff from a 5 1/2 inch floppy disk I have or some 8 track tapes. OHS has 2 sets of Microfilm. (1) Master copy that they have to remaster, if necessary. (2)And one for the public which gets lots of use. If Jackson Co pays someone to Microfilm documents, those microfilms should be reviewed before final payment because some of the film for early years at OHS are not readable---possibly due to different background lighting for each set of records and not enough adjustment. However, I suspect that camera photography for copying records has changed quite a bit and that should not be a problem but sample checking is still important. Thanks Charles for being understanding regards this topic. If we can help discuss & help solve a problem to preserve our records, this is a good use of the list. One other point, Gallia County did ZEROX their Birth Record #1 and I think one other book, to HELP PRESERVE the originals. Then they make copies for folks off the MASTER ZEROX copy. I think that would help in a couple of the books at Jackson County. I like handling records that are over 150 plus years old but know it's really not in the best interest for longevity of the records. Possibly someone, could look at Birth Record Bk #1 at Jackson County, or whichever one is fraying and growing very dim, and possibly ZEROX it for a MASTER COPY to use for future zeroxing and thus would preserve the original book. Helen > > From: "Charles R. Weese" <[email protected]> > Date: 2004/04/13 Tue AM 09:37:17 EDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: [OHJACKSO-L] CD lifetimes, etc. > > This really isn't on-topic, but people seem to want to talk about computer > subjects on all the mailing lists. > > I don't know how long CD-R's or CD-RW's will last and no one really knows > although there have been several accelerated aging tests done. Do some > searching on the Internet. Most quotations that I have seen give anywhere > from 50 years to well over 100 years for a CD-R. CD-RW's are considerably > less reliable and really shouldn't be used for long term storage. They are > fine for routine backups that probably won't be kept for more than a few > years at most. > > The main point that most people never address is the fact that it really > does not matter if they last 100 years. Do you really think the normal > personal computer of 100 years in the future will be able to read a CD? By > that time there will probably have been several generations of storage > media in use. The future will probably belong to some form of crystalline > or solid state storage. Not many people today have the ability to read > media from just 15 or 20 years ago, like 8 inch or 5 1/4 inch diskettes or > cassette tape storage. > > The point is that if you want to keep data alive and usable in the future, > it will have to periodically be copied to new types of media. If that is > not done because of time or money considerations, then the data will be > unavailable even though the old media is still in good condition. > > The best media for preservation has always been acid-free paper. It can > be read by anyone for hundreds of years in the future, but its storage > costs are very high and accessibility is inconvenient. Microfilm has a > good lifetime, but it can deteriorate with age and shows wear and scratches > with usage. Master copies have to be kept under controlled conditions to > periodically replace damaged films and to create copies for new > distribution. This adds expense and inconvenient availability. Of course, > neither paper or microfilm can be electronically searched. > > ======================================== > Charles R. Weese, 4012 Pardee Rd., Stow, Ohio 44224 > > See http://web.raex.com/~cweese/weese/ > and http://web.raex.com/~cweese/vance/ for my family info. > I maintain the following USGenWeb county sites: > Gallia County Ohio at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohgallia/gallia.htm > Jackson County Ohio at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohjackso/jackson.htm > Vinton County Ohio at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohvinton/vinton.htm > >