Message-Id: <199912081507.IAA32746@dns.ccit.arizona.edu> Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 09:50:30 -0500 From: Eileen Mathias <mailto:mathias@ACNATSCI.ORG> Subject: DVD To: mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
The listserve has been fairly quite so just thought I would stir things up a bit. Here is the question:Have any of you migrated to DVD technology yet from CD as an archival storage medium? This is what I have been able to scertain on the current state of affairs (and please correct me if I am wrong):
1) It would seem that for archival purposes, DVD-R disks (write once) are the best way to go since DVD-R disks are more stable than DVD rewriteable disks (as is the case with CD-R vs CD-RW disks). However, read/write drives for DVD-R are s ill very expensive (thousands of dollars) and not readily available (Pioneer only?)
2) DVD-RAM is finally becoming available, and at reasonable prices (less than $1000). However, DVD-RAM disks are not a stable as DVD-R disks.
3) DVD-RW and +RW are still being worked on by some industry heavy-weights (Sony, Philips, HP) and should be available within the next year. Although DVD-RAM is the first to come to market, which gives the DVD-RAM standard an advantage, D D-RW and +RW still have a fighting chance. Who knows which will become the standard in a few years?
So, all this considered, has anyone switched over to DVD? Is anyone using DVD-RAM, and what is your reasoning? Are you comfortable with DVD-RAM as a storage medium??
I would love to hear from anyone out there! If I am greeted with a wall of silence, I will assume that people are still using CDs.
Eileen Mathias
Eileen C. Mathias Information Services Librarian & Coordinator, Alfred M Greenfield Digital Imaging Center for Collections Ewell Sale Stewart Library The Academy of Natural Sciences 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-299-1140 215-299-1144 FAX mailto:mathias@acnatsci.org