29th June 2007, 05:14 PM
Geodan said:
"An ostrich like curatorial approach to a pressing issue can only result in confusion and dissent.
Stability of digital archives, migratability, suitable format, funding for storage media etc. - yes complex issues - but ignoring the inevitable won't make it go away and it's going to come around and bite us - maybe sooner than we think."
In response to Geodan's comments, I don't believe most curators (I presume you are talking about those setting the briefs etc, not the archivists) are being ostrich like. I have spent a significant time myself researching archiving digital photography, going on digital archiving training courses etc etc, and I have heard/taken part in various discussions with other curators regarding this issue. I have also spent several hours on the phone to all of the local (and further afield) archives trying to discover one which has an appropriate strategy for dealing with data generated from digital photography. I didnât find a single one, although they are all actively trying to resolve this.
I think you will find that it is not that most curators are unaware of the issues, it's more that they are very aware of the complexity of digital archiving, and that a lot of the issues have yet to be resolved.
Until some of the fundamental questions have been answered - the main one being will the record of this work that is being approved survive in the long term - we would not wish to take a risk by relying on storage mediums which have been proven to be unstable.
"An ostrich like curatorial approach to a pressing issue can only result in confusion and dissent.
Stability of digital archives, migratability, suitable format, funding for storage media etc. - yes complex issues - but ignoring the inevitable won't make it go away and it's going to come around and bite us - maybe sooner than we think."
In response to Geodan's comments, I don't believe most curators (I presume you are talking about those setting the briefs etc, not the archivists) are being ostrich like. I have spent a significant time myself researching archiving digital photography, going on digital archiving training courses etc etc, and I have heard/taken part in various discussions with other curators regarding this issue. I have also spent several hours on the phone to all of the local (and further afield) archives trying to discover one which has an appropriate strategy for dealing with data generated from digital photography. I didnât find a single one, although they are all actively trying to resolve this.
I think you will find that it is not that most curators are unaware of the issues, it's more that they are very aware of the complexity of digital archiving, and that a lot of the issues have yet to be resolved.
Until some of the fundamental questions have been answered - the main one being will the record of this work that is being approved survive in the long term - we would not wish to take a risk by relying on storage mediums which have been proven to be unstable.