I'm cribbing this from the DH+LIB site, but the direct link to the diatribe, uh, sorry, impassioned plea, is here:
http://www.avpreserve.com/blog/for-gods-sake-stop-digitizing-paper-2/ POST: For God’s Sake, Stop Digitizing Paper 18 Sep 2014 | dh+lib review · Post Joshua Ranger has written a post on the AVPreserve blog that calls on archivists (and others) to examine their digitization practices and priorities. Arguing that audiovisual materials are in greater danger of obsolescence, Ranger declares, “We should agree to stop digitizing paper and other stable formats for a set period because, in a way, it is bad for preservation.” Though his focus in on audiovisual materials, Ranger draws attention to the underlying rationale for digitization in general. He notes: [A] lot of digitization work is essentially a wasted effort if it needs to be done again for access, or future preservation work, if files, access portals, metadata, and digital humanities projects are lost. And I’m not just saying lost as in the fretting about the unreliability of digital files, but lost due to human failure in managing servers, migrating data, or letting websites go dead. <blockquote> </blockquote> ============== Randal Baier Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197 (734) 487-2520 [email protected] tweets @rbaier – skypes @ randalbaier “... do not all strange sounds thrill us as human till we have learned to refer them to their proper source?” -Thoreau, mss., Journal 9: 1854-1855.
VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
