Materials Created and
Recorded in Digital Technology
Introductory Remarks
Kazimierz Schmidt (NDAP)
Archiwa i nietradycyjne nośniki informacji
XI Międzynarodowa Konferencja Archiwalna z cyklu “Colloquia Jerzy Skowronek Dedicata”
Toruń, 20-21 Maja 2005
the end of medium era?
• from professional dictionary:
„Słownik encyklopedyczny terminologii
języków i systemów informacyjno-
wyszukiwawczych.
Red. Bożenna Bojar. Warszawa 1993 s. 35
• „record" - recorded information
with recording medium, where it
has been recorded”
electronic document imaging
medium? file?
or what is visible?
example story (motion)
to save
16mm 1” Betacam LTO library
to save
1” DLT library
? HDD DVD
?
example story (still image)
to save
35mm HDD
CD WORM CD library
?
recording medium description
• number, status (original, copy), format (16mm, 35mm) type of film
base (acetate, polyester) , features (optical soundtrack, magnetic
soundtrack, negative image) picture format (4:3),sound standard
(mono, stereo), length in meters, length in minutes, number of
boxes, recording date, archiving date, tape producer, additional
remarks… very important
• number, status (master, copy), format (1”, ½”) type (U-matic,
Betacam) , picture format (4:3), sound standard (mono, stereo),
length in minutes, recording date, archiving date, tape producer
(Maxwell, Sony), initial timecode, final timecode, additional
remarks…
less important
not important
technical metadata are related to content (media file), not
to the medium
Video Media-Types
3gpp [RFC3839] BMPEG[RFC3555] BT656[RFC3555] CelB[RFC3555] DV[RFC3189]
H261[RFC3555] H263[RFC3555] H263-1998[RFC3555] H263-2000[RFC3555] H264[RFC-ietf-
avt-rtp-h264-11.txt] JPEG[RFC3555] MJ2[RFC3745] MP1S[RFC3555] MP2P[RFC3555]
MP2T[RFC3555] MP4V-ES[RFC3016] MPV[RFC3555] mpeg[RFC2045,RFC2046] mpeg4-
generic[RFC3640] nv[RFC3555] parityfec[RFC3009] pointer[RFC2862] quicktime[Lindner]
raw[RFC-ietf-avt-uncomp-video-06.txt] SMPTE292M[RFC3497] …
Image Types
cgmComputerGraphicsMetafile[Francis]fits[RFC-allen-fitsmime-
00.txt]g3fax[RFC1494]gif[RFC2045,RFC2046]iefImageExchangeFormat[RFC1314]jp2[RFC3745
]jpeg[RFC2045,RFC2046]jpm[RFC3745]jpx[RFC3745]naplps[Ferber]png[Randers-
Pehrson]prs.btif[Simon]prs.pti[Laun]t38[RFC3362]tiffTagImageFileFormat[RFC3302]tiff-
fxTagImageFileFormatFaxeXtended[RFC-draft-ietf-fax-tiff-fx-reg-v2-
01.txt]vnd.cns.inf2[McLaughlin]vnd.djvu[Bottou]vnd.dwg[Moline]…
Audio Types
32kadpcm[RFC2421,RFC2422] 3gpp[RFC3839] AMR[RFC3267] AMR-WB[RFC3267]
basic[RFC2045,RFC2046] clearmode[RFC-draft-ietf-avt-rtp-clearmode-05.txt] CN[RFC3389]
DAT12[RFC3190] dsr-es201108[RFC3557] dsr-es202050[RFC-ietf-avt-rtp-dsr-codecs-03.txt]
dsr-es202211[RFC-ietf-avt-rtp-dsr-codecs-03.txt] dsr-es202212[RFC-ietf-avt-rtp-dsr-codecs-
03.txt] DVI4[RFC3555] EVRC[RFC3558] EVRC0[RFC3558]…
http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/
Please imagine...
• Imagine store for electronic documents (MPEG7
files)
• Why to save, and preserve for years information
about carrier? (ie. DVD-R No.115, matte silver,
120mm/1,2mm, 8x, 4,7GB, ACME Co., made
2003, recorded in 2004)
• I think, it is possible, but… is it necessary?
• We are sure that we will move our files if we
need to
And now, please imagine...
• ...store for physical carriers: shelves full of tapes,
film rolls etc.
• Do you save, and preserve for years
information about shelf? (ie. Shelf No.115, solid
pine wood, 1012mm:230mm, ACME Co.,
produced 1967, tape has been put here 1988)
• I think, it is possible, but… not necessary
• we are sure that we will move our tapes if we
need to
Compare information
• DVD-R No.115, • shelf No.115,
• matte silver, • pine wood,
• 120mm/1,2mm, • shelf1012mm:230mm,
• 8x, 4,7GB, • 6 shelfs in unit
• ACME Co., • ACME Co.,
• made 2003, • made in 1967,
• recorded in 2004 • tape has been put here in
1988
• There is no difference:
–If I move paper records or analogue
tapes from one shelf to another, I will
not change the content
–If I move computer files form one
carrier to another, I will not change
the content either
Mass storage schema
robot
Drives for tapes
to network
Mass storage = a bit larger carrier
• I do not care where (in particular DLT tapes)
my footage has been recorded
• If DLT tape breaks down my only one activity
is to replaced it by a good one. The system
will re-record it automatically
• After some years I will copy or export to new
format my media files. I will do the same with
old DLT tapes, what I will do with this
computer hard disk…
temporary storing place
• We’ve spent a lot of time for recognizing
and recording information about carrier
• it was very important in XXth century,
nowadays carrier for digital media files
(see www.iana.org/assignments/media-
types/) plays the same role as shelf for
analogue audio/video tapes – it is a
temporary storing place
ISAD(G)II
fond level - example
• 3.1.1 Reference code(s) CA OTY F0453
• 3.1.2 Title John Smith fonds
• 3.1.3 Date(s) 1951-1994
• 3.1.4 Level of description Fonds
• 3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of
description (quantity, bulk, or size) - 4.8 m
of textual records. – 202 videocassette
tapes. – 3 audio cassette tapes. – 3 boxes of
graphic materials.
• 3.2.1 Name of creator(s) Smith, John, 1943-
ISAD(G)II
dokument level (here
document=videocasete=carrier)
• 3.1.1 Reference code(s) CA OTY F0453 S1014.1
3.1.2 Title The Boys of St. Vincent [videorecording]
3.2.1 Name of creator(s) Les Productions T l -Action
Inc. in co-production with the National Film Board of
Canada, in association with the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (Producers). Canada :
Productions T l -Action, Inc.
3.1.5 Extent and medium of the unit of description
(quantity, bulk, or size) 1 videocassette (92 min.) :
sd., col. ; 2 in.
ISAD(G)II
dokument level - continuation
• 3.3.1 Scope and content Performers: Henry
Czerny, Brian Dooley, Philip Dinn, Johnny
Morina. – Directed by John N. Smith ; director of
photography, Pierre Letarte ; edited by Werner
Nold. – VHS.
Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired. –
Item is a fictional account of the emotional and
sexual humiliation experienced by boys in a
Newfoundland orphanage run by the All Saints
Brothers. Tells the story of ten-year-old Kevin
who rebels against the authoritarian rule.
3.7.3 Date(s) of descriptions August 8, 1999
when somebody says...
• ... video has been saved on CD (ca 100 copies) and
will be distributed by the authors self in May (HYPER-FILM
Video Hyper-Media Production Project Number IST-1999-20306)
• This pack has been saved on CD for you to simply print
and use (http://teachingsheets.co.uk KS1 Science Pack 1 CD-SCI-K1)
• Developed negative may be saved on CD (in every photo
service)
• With COOLPIX Remote Control, images taken remotely
can be saved directly to the computer's hard disk
drive; there is no need for concern about changing the
camera’s CompactFlash memory card during remote
shooting (from PictureProject COOLPIX Remote Control)
What iscarrier vs. file format
more useful nformation?
carrier computer file
• I saved my photos on • I saved my photos in
SecureDigital memory JPEG format
cards • I saved this
• I saved this presentation in
presentation on hard Microsoft Office ppt
disk, CD-R, and file and in OpenOffice
Compact Flash Card sxi files
• I saved all my articles • I saved all my articles
on DVD-R in Adobe PDF files.
why information about file format
• In 1992 I saved all my texts on 5,25” floppy disks
in Edytor Tekstu TAG files *.tag
• First or last I have to move my articles to
another carrier (I did!), but I can save the same
file (*.tag)
• I transfered my *.tag files to Microsoft Word 2.0
*.doc files in 1995
• Information about previous carriers are not so
important (it has no influence on the content),
like information about previous file formats…
why information about file format
• There are no difference:
– If I move paper records or analogue tapes
from one shelf to another I will not change
the content
– If I move computer files form one carrier to
another I will not change the content either
• But, if I change file format, I will
probably do the same like change
paper to scan
conclusions
• in digital world carrier is not important
• carrier-oriented attitude has to be changed
to content-oriented
• rather add temporary information about
carrier(s) to content, than otherwise
• does content-oriented mean file-oriented?
if carrier is not important...
... probably file?
preserve media files in native format?
• Is it possible to save it for 100 years?
• I do not think so…
• … it is subject for another presentation
Three types of information
• Temporary about carrier or computer file
– Number or name, status, carrier format or file
type, sound standard, duration, recording
date, archiving date, tape producer,
timecodes etc.
• Permanent about content
– title, creators, performers, subject, coverage,
production date, producer etc.
• Accumulative about using
– broadcasting dates, ratings, rights etc.
why for engineers?
• RFC 3640 Transport of MPEG-4 Elementary
Streams November 2003 For example: m=audio
49230 RTP/AVP 96 a=rtpmap:96 mpeg4-
generic/16000/1 a=fmtp:96 streamtype=5;
profile-level-id=14; mode=CELP-cbr; config=
440E00; constantSize=27;
constantDuration=240
• APTN Connect is fully compliant with applicable
MPEG, and analogue video specifications
including, if applicable, MPEG 4.2.0/4.2.2 and
RS-250B. Our MPEGII service offering meets
ETR 290 specifications
What should be left for archivists?
Nothing…?
Obviously not, but rather
organize information than
produce it
take description instead of
prepare description
My advice for born-digital
• Concentrate on permanent information about
content
• Leave technical problems (medium, file) for
computer professionals
• Think about close cooperation with creators –
give them useful software tools to collect, during
creation, as much information as possible
• The aim: Limit to minimum operations after
transfer to archive
Thank you for your attention
kschmidt@archiwa.gov.pl or schmidt@webmedia.pl