Report of SC-03-04 Working Group on Storage and Handling of Media, of the SC-03 Subcommittee on the Preservation and Restoration of Audio Recording meeting, held in conjunction with the AES 113th Convention, Los Angeles, CA, US, 2002-10-05
Chair T. Sheldon convened the meeting.
The agenda and the reports of the previous meetings at the 111th Convention in New York and at the 112th Convention in Munich were approved as written.
Open projects
AES22-R Review of AES22-1997 AES recommended practice for audio preservation and restoration - Storage of polyester-based magnetic tape
While no action is contemplated to change this recommended practice in the ISO/I3A Joint Technical Commission, the AES standard must be reaffirmed in 2002. The chair will commence the process by asking WG members to review the recommended practice and report objections to reaffirmation. If no objections are received, the chair will recommend that the document be reaffirmed by 2003-1.
AES28-R Review of AES28-1997 AES standard for audio preservation and restoration - Method for estimating life expectancy of compact discs (CD-ROM), based on effects of temperature and relative humidity
Again, no action is contemplated in the ISO/I3A Joint Technical Commission, but this AES standard must be reaffirmed in 2002. The process for reaffirmation as described for AES22-1997 will be initiated by the chair.
AES35-R Review of AES35-2000 AES standard for audio preservation and restoration - Method for estimating life expectancy of magneto-optical (M-O) disks, based on effects of temperature and relative humidity
No action was taken.
AES38-R Review of AES38-2000 AES standard for audio preservation and restoration - Life expectancy of information stored in recordable compact disc systems�Method for estimating, based on effects of temperature and relative humidity
No action was taken.
AES-X51 Procedures for the Storage of Optical Discs, Including Read Only, Write-once, and Re-writable
The current document is an ISO standard under the auspices of TC 100, and is more than three years old. Contributions from people who presented at the 2002 AES Budapest conference will be sought to update the document. The draft of the earlier standard will be posted on the Web site.
AES-X54 Magnetic Tape Care and Handling
The newly revised draft was received by the WG from the ISO/I3A Joint Technical Commission. This draft contains significant organizational and content revisions compared with previous drafts. The draft will be reviewed at the Boston meeting of the ISO/I3A Joint Technical Commission in November 2002. The current draft will then be posted on the Web site. Any suggested revisions will be reported to the WG by 2002-12.
AES-X55 Projection of the Life Expectancy of Magnetic Tape
This project was discussed at the 2002-04 meeting of the AES/I3A Joint Technical Commission and will again be reviewed in that group in 2002-11. The search continues for reliable methods to measure the life expectancy of various formulations of magnetic recording tapes. Effective methods to measure the life expectancy of magnetic tape formulation would greatly enhance the ability of archives to make timely preservation copies of content stored on magnetic tape. However, several manufacturer's representatives consistently have maintained that effective measurement of life expectancy is not feasible. Several promising methodologies currently are being investigated, but no scientifically verifiable conclusions have been reached.
The project will be reviewed at the next meeting.
AES-X80 Liaison with ANSI/PIMA IT9-5
The review of this liaison relationship is continuing. The Joint Technical Commission serves as the embodiment of the relationship. It was noted that the liaison now operates with I3A, a consortium of imaging manufacturing associations one of which is the Photographic Image Manufacturers Association (PIMA). Hence, the title of the liaison should be updated to read "AES-X80 Liaison with ISO/I3A WG5." This liaison will be reviewed at the next meeting.
New projects
The chair reported on initial inquiries within the Joint Technical Commission regarding new magnetic media that might require the attention of the WG.
New business
There was no new business.
The next meeting is scheduled to be held in conjunction with the AES 114th Convention in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
