Text 26024, 66 rader
Skriven 2012-06-12 16:49:38 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av MICHAEL LOO
Ärende: the future 776
======================
DS> Hard copy paper-and-board books are the only true means we have
DS> of speaking to the future. I continue to believe that even in 
DS> the face of ever more electronic means of archiving.
 
ML> There is an entire century of literature - the early-mid-19th
ML> onward - that is in danger of going away, as especially in
ML> continental Europe the use of sulfur-bleached paper became the
ML> standard, before it became clear that the stuff degraded horribly.

I noticed that a few years ago, when I was buying and selling old
books. Paper quality took a noticeable dive in books printed in
the 1850's, and many of the volumes I had from that period right
through the 1930's were severely tanned, very brittle, and more often
than not crumbling at the edges. Paper seemed to get better in 
the 1940's which seemed strange to me since so many resources were
being devoted to the war effort yet the quality was so superior
(I would have thought that more corners would have been cut in
times of shortages and rationing.)

ML> I wonder what modern paper technology offers. I know that when it
ML> came time to type my thesis, the requirement was for me to use
ML> Eaton's acid-free archival paper (not that the thing deserved
ML> being archived).

I think the paper quality has been better for some time. In the 1960's
when I was a kid, I had a set of children's books printed in the 1930's
that was already showing tanning and fragile pages.  But nowadays, I
have cheap paperbacks printed in the 1970's (same comparative age)
which are holding up just fine. Something has changed.

ML> If a standard methodology was formulated for re-archiving,
ML> would that help? Especially if more hardened storage
ML> technologies were devised.

Huge data companies with their massive servers and continual
backups offer some hope, I think. Bringing up Google again,
all the books and maps and art and so on that they've digitized
is likely to be preserved because they are performing constant
backups even as they install new storage technology.  It's other
stuff - the small writings and family photos and so on - that
are in the greatest danger.  I know that doesn't sound like it
would be any great loss, but diaries and journals and so on are
valuable for historians and genealogists, and photos have
historical value as well.

Maryanne and I went to a presentation by the Enfield Historical
Society a few weeks ago - a well-to-do family of former
industrial prominence in town had a habit of making home movies
starting in the 1930's using 16mm film (!) and had agreed to 
allow digital copies of the films to be made. It was fascinating
to see how much the town had changed in 80 years (and how much
was still recognizable.) The film was properly cared for and 
playback technology, being mechanical, is still relatively common
and in working condition. But I wonder how long the DVD that the
movies were transferred to will be viable, or how long DVD players
will still be around.



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