[Pasig-discuss] Write-blocking a RAID

[David Rosenthal]

On 11/05/2012 10:05 AM, Mark Fitzsimmons wrote:
> Hi Cory,
> 
> Great point. You are absolutely right, file formats will become obsolescent.
> 
> This will happen over time to particular formats that you have copies of. 
> 
> You will inevitably need to convert/preserve the content of those files to
> an accessible media type. 
> 
> An inventory of the files you have and by type will provide the reference
> point you need to track the impending migration of them ahead of
> obsolescence.

Whether or not at some point in the future there is a risk of format
obsolescence, the files need to be extracted and put some place
reasonably safe, as soon as possible. At this stage, worrying about
formats is a waste of time and effort. Worry about formats after
you have all the bits safe.

It is truly amazing how each and every discussion of digital
preservation gets hijacked by the "OMG format obsolescence" meme.

See http://blog.dshr.org/2012/10/formats-through-time.html

	David.