Digital Initiatives at LAC

Guidelines for Physical Digital Storage Media

Version 1.0

Library and Archives Canada in collaboration with Archives of Ontario and Saskatchewan Archives Board

© Library and Archives Canada (2011)
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Table of Contents

• 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 Preface
  • 1.2 Purpose
  • 1.3 Target audience and use
  • 1.4 Scope
  • 1.5 Summary of recommendations
    • 1.5.1 General recommendations and best practices
    • 1.5.2 Optical discs
    • 1.5.2.1 CD-R
    • 1.5.2.2 DVD-R, DVD+R
    • 1.5.3 Magnetic tape
    • 1.5.4 External hard disk drives
    • 1.5.5 Solid state drives (Flash)
• 2 Environmental Scan Overview
  • 2.1 Optical disc categories
    • 2.1.1 Storage capacity
    • 2.1.2 Performance
    • 2.1.3 Longevity and obsolescence
    • 2.1.3.1 Physical media degradation
    • 2.1.3.2 Media playback obsolescence
    • 2.1.4 Extent to which media has been formally standardised
    • 2.1.5 Care and handling
    • 2.1.5.1 Recording techniques - Error rates and recording software
    • 2.1.5.2 Storage and handling
  • 2.2 Magnetic media
    • 2.2.1 Storage capacity
    • 2.2.2 Performance
    • 2.2.3 Longevity and obsolescence
    • 2.2.3.1 Physical media degradation
    • 2.2.3.2 Media playback obsolescence
    • 2.2.4 Extent to which media has been formally standardised
    • 2.2.5 Storage and handling
  • 2.3 External hard disk drives
  • 2.4 Solid state drives (Flash)
• 3 Bibliography