One thing which worries me about TH-cam is how if the site was to ever shut down then there'd be no way to preserve all the videos. This website is the biggest library of media there is, it has just about everything. It's important that we make efforts to preserve it.
My mother knows so much interesting details of the old images she's kept in the closet. Any way I could attach her voice to the image explaining the image to save for posterity?
Hi, thank you for your question! Kate had this reply, which we hope is helpful: "I think this could be accomplished using video editing software, where an audio recording could be synced with a slideshow of images. A freelance video editor could help with this, I would think. For those with some computer savvy and DIY preference, one could figure out how to do this with a program like Powerpoint or iMovie. TH-cam may be a good resource for tutorials. I would recommend keeping the photos as separate image files as well, though, as they will be compressed as a video. One could also use file naming to relate an image file and an audio file. Use the same or similar file names for each and store them together. Of course, no guarantee that the files wouldn’t get separated eventually but this could be an ok compromise and a good way to organize at first before a video slideshow could be made. Hope this provides some ideas!'
@@DenverArtMuseum yes, this DID provide me with ideas!! I just searched some key terms you use in your response and I was led to a fantastic little app that will allow me to take a picture of the old photo while recording Mom is telling me who's depicted therein. It will be processed as an mp4. OMG this is just wonderful. Thank you so much!!! Oh, the app is called, "Picvoice"
Excellent video. I am a retired senior systems analyst for servers, both Unix, Linux, and Microsoft. Also, responsible for backups, archives, and recoveries. Do you have a video of photographing important documents and pictures? I am still leary of the Cloud.
Nice summary. Is it OK to get rid of VHS tapes and negatives after they had gotten converted into digital form? In digital form they will be easier to access and search for, but at the same time, you don't want to create a copy and have to manage both of them. Especially considering that some of them will degrade over time anyway.
Hi, thank you for your question. Kate provided this response: In museums, we take a very conservative stance and tend to keep the originals in case of any mistake or error in the reformatting that isn’t caught right away, in case of better reformatting technology that may come along, and as an additional back-up. For your personal archive, it is your decision, and I recommend you do your own risk assessment. You could take into consideration if you are happy with the quality of the digital version you now have, how confident you feel in your digital preservation strategies, and how important the material is to you and your family. It is true that the originals will eventually degrade and become inaccessible, but they could be useful in the meantime should something go wrong with your digital versions. I hope that helps!
Hi, thank you for your video. I was hoping to get information on how to safely archive photos and videos where the original quality will be preserved. My external hard drive has failed after a couple years despite optimal storage. I hear others talk about M disks and tapes. The options you presented can fail. Optimal, safe file storage seems to be like a needle in a haystack. I'm considering DVDs as movies I have from the 90s are still in perfect shape, unlike the modern external hard drives. They are expensive and unreliable.
Thank you so much for your question, Irma. You are correct that there is no single storage option that will be completely reliable. This is why having your data stored on multiple devices and regularly checking to make sure you can access it is so important. These strategies are more important than the type of storage device that you use. That said, I would recommend sticking with external hard drives over DVDs. The writable type of DVDs are a lot less stable than the type used for commercial movies, and DVD drives for computers are not as common as they once were. If there was important data on your drive that failed, you might consider taking it to a data recovery service. Often it is a connector or mechanical part of the hard drive that fails while the data itself is fine. You might even start with trying a new USB cable to connect your drive or try connecting it to a different computer as the USB port on your computer could also be the problem.
@@DenverArtMuseum Hello Kate, Thank you very much for your reply. I agree that storing items in various areas, AND checking them on a regular basis (schedule) is the way to go. I have not had success with the drive I have used but do have flash drives that are still great after over 10 years! I think the brand is important. So.e drives failed from certain companies (ex PNY). I'm going to continue to search for the best options for my needs. Appreciate your help.
One thing which worries me about TH-cam is how if the site was to ever shut down then there'd be no way to preserve all the videos. This website is the biggest library of media there is, it has just about everything. It's important that we make efforts to preserve it.
Thanks very much! This is a great summary touching on all the most important areas.
My mother knows so much interesting details of the old images she's kept in the closet. Any way I could attach her voice to the image explaining the image to save for posterity?
Hi, thank you for your question! Kate had this reply, which we hope is helpful: "I think this could be accomplished using video editing software, where an audio recording could be synced with a slideshow of images. A freelance video editor could help with this, I would think. For those with some computer savvy and DIY preference, one could figure out how to do this with a program like Powerpoint or iMovie. TH-cam may be a good resource for tutorials. I would recommend keeping the photos as separate image files as well, though, as they will be compressed as a video.
One could also use file naming to relate an image file and an audio file. Use the same or similar file names for each and store them together. Of course, no guarantee that the files wouldn’t get separated eventually but this could be an ok compromise and a good way to organize at first before a video slideshow could be made.
Hope this provides some ideas!'
@@DenverArtMuseum yes, this DID provide me with ideas!! I just searched some key terms you use in your response and I was led to a fantastic little app that will allow me to take a picture of the old photo while recording Mom is telling me who's depicted therein. It will be processed as an mp4. OMG this is just wonderful. Thank you so much!!! Oh, the app is called, "Picvoice"
Excellent video. I am a retired senior systems analyst for servers, both Unix, Linux, and Microsoft. Also, responsible for backups, archives, and recoveries. Do you have a video of photographing important documents and pictures? I am still leary of the Cloud.
@SB-dg8hq - Sounds good. What drive and disks do you advise using?
Nice summary. Is it OK to get rid of VHS tapes and negatives after they had gotten converted into digital form? In digital form they will be easier to access and search for, but at the same time, you don't want to create a copy and have to manage both of them. Especially considering that some of them will degrade over time anyway.
Hi, thank you for your question. Kate provided this response: In museums, we take a very conservative stance and tend to keep the originals in case of any mistake or error in the reformatting that isn’t caught right away, in case of better reformatting technology that may come along, and as an additional back-up. For your personal archive, it is your decision, and I recommend you do your own risk assessment. You could take into consideration if you are happy with the quality of the digital version you now have, how confident you feel in your digital preservation strategies, and how important the material is to you and your family. It is true that the originals will eventually degrade and become inaccessible, but they could be useful in the meantime should something go wrong with your digital versions. I hope that helps!
Since when is a file format becoming obsolete ever announced on the news? People just forget..
Hi, thank you for your video.
I was hoping to get information on how to safely archive photos and videos where the original quality will be preserved. My external hard drive has failed after a couple years despite optimal storage. I hear others talk about M disks and tapes. The options you presented can fail. Optimal, safe file storage seems to be like a needle in a haystack.
I'm considering DVDs as movies I have from the 90s are still in perfect shape, unlike the modern external hard drives. They are expensive and unreliable.
Thank you so much for your question, Irma. You are correct that there is no single storage option that will be completely reliable. This is why having your data stored on multiple devices and regularly checking to make sure you can access it is so important. These strategies are more important than the type of storage device that you use. That said, I would recommend sticking with external hard drives over DVDs. The writable type of DVDs are a lot less stable than the type used for commercial movies, and DVD drives for computers are not as common as they once were. If there was important data on your drive that failed, you might consider taking it to a data recovery service. Often it is a connector or mechanical part of the hard drive that fails while the data itself is fine. You might even start with trying a new USB cable to connect your drive or try connecting it to a different computer as the USB port on your computer could also be the problem.
@@DenverArtMuseum Hello Kate,
Thank you very much for your reply. I agree that storing items in various areas, AND checking them on a regular basis (schedule) is the way to go. I have not had success with the drive I have used but do have flash drives that are still great after over 10 years! I think the brand is important. So.e drives failed from certain companies (ex PNY). I'm going to continue to search for the best options for my needs. Appreciate your help.
Geeze, the background music is overpowering, hard to listen to