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reposting here for people who do not subscribe to ARCAN-L.

Iona McCraith, Preservation Consultant
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 For any institution considering a digitization program, or for anyone
looking for a reminder of basic principles, Guidelines on the Production
and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects (TC-04) is an essential
introduction and outline of all of the key elements of the audio
digitization process.
 Published by the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual
Archives (IASA), Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital
Audio Objects (TC-04) was prepared by IASA's renowned Technical Committee,
and edited by Kevin Bradley of the National Library of Australia.  The
Guidelines present a structured summary of current thinking and best
 practices regarding the digitization and preservation of audio materials.
Written in a clear precise manner, this publication will be invaluable for
any archive, library, museum or organization faced with the challenges of
digitizing audio materials.
 These Guidelines have been endorsed by the Sub-Committee on Technology of
the Memory of the World Programme of UNESCO.  They were also praised and
frequently cited at the 2005 Association for Recorded Sound Collections
conference in Austin, Texas.

 The Guidelines can be ordered through the IASA web site
http://www.iasa-web.org at a cost of 35 Euro per copy plus 5 Euro for
postage. Alternatively, it can be ordered through the North American
distributor Nauck's Vintage Records http://www.78rpm.com/ at a price of
$50.00 (U.S.) plus shipping. Nauck's accepts most major credit cards.

The Guidelines provide an excellent introduction to all aspects of digital
reproduction including:
Key Digital Principles and Standards
Metadata
 Unique and Persistent Identifiers
 Signal Extraction for Originals
 Reproduction of Historical Mechanical and other Obsolete Formats
 Reproduction of Vinyl LP records
 Reproduction of Analogue Magnetic Tapes
Reproduction of Digital Magnetic Carriers
 Reproduction of Optical Disk Media (CD and DVD)
 Preservation Target Formats and Systems
 Data and Audio Specific Storage Technology
 Digital Mass Storage Systems (DMSS)
Data Tape Types and Formats
 Hard Disk Drives (SDD)
 Small Scale Manual Approaches to Digital Storage Systems
Optical Disks: CD/DVD Recordables
 Magneto-Optical (MO) Disks

The discussion within each of these sections is comprehensive and includes
such topics as selection of best copy, cleaning and carrier restoration,
replay equipment, speed, replay equalization, various tape formats,
alignment, noise reduction, practical aspects of data protection strategies,
monitoring of data tape media, backup and migration, and, perhaps the most
important of all, costs.  There is also a bibliography.

 For more information contact:

 Ilse Assmann ( [log in to unmask] ), Editor: IASA or
 Kurt Nauck ( [log in to unmask]  )