[78-L] FW: Study of the state of recorded sound preservation in the United States

[Stewart, Joseph R]

This was just sent by Thom Pease of the Library of Congress to the Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio list...

Randy Stewart
KSMU Arts Producer


**************************

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWbPXwrI_pVezgCscRYYzbCuyGoQD9IHKLJ83?docId=D9IHKLJ83

Study: Audio recordings of US history fading fast

By BRETT ZONGKER (AP) - 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON - New digital recordings of events in U.S. history and
early radio shows are at risk of being lost much faster than older
ones on tape and many are already gone, according to a study on sound
released Wednesday.

Even recent history - such as recordings from 9/11 or the 2008
election - is at risk because digital sound files can be corrupted,
and widely used CD-R discs only last three to five years before files
start to fade, said study co-author Sam Brylawski.

"I think we're assuming that if it's on the Web it's going to be there
forever," he said. "That's one of the biggest challenges."

The first comprehensive study of the preservation of sound recordings
in the U.S. being released by the Library of Congress also found many
historical recordings already have been lost or can't be accessed by
the public. That includes most of radio's first decade from 1925 to
1935. [continued at the above link]

The full study can be found at
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub148/pub148.pdf   (PDF, 181 pages).