At 01:09 PM 2/9/03 -0500, David H. Bailey wrote: >And you can always put the pdf reader on each CD as you archive your >files so that as long as there is a computer that can run the code you >will have access to your files, even if Adobe has gone the way of the >dodo bird.
This is just not that simple, but then I might also predate some of you in computerdom. :) For years (1978-91) my writing was done on a TRS-80 Model I. It was saved on tapes and then diskettes. I was lucky enough to transfer considerable book material to PC (without formatting, unfortunately, because the software parameters and typesetter fonts were not recognized). But the machine then died, and the media slowly became unreadable (as will the PC media, even the CDRs and hard drives). The remainder is lost. Yes, the articles and books were published, and most printed copies exist in my library. But (as I was mentioning in a private email), some of my early writing (both music and words) has gained interest as 'historical' (ahem) material. I was able to recover one of my books are re-issue it in another format on CD-ROM, but the rest is at best a pile of photocopies and unsuitable for republication on the web or on CD-ROM (or at best, unlikely because of the time required to do it). As the informal archivist for several nonprofits, and as the official archivist for an early 20th century playwright, I've come face-to-face with the tribulations of recovering tapes, or negatives, or slides, or photos, or records, or films, or videotapes, or, or or... Likewise, as mentioned in the article I referenced (http://maltedmedia.com/books/papers/sl-archv.html), it's not always as easy as updating software or hardware when working with sophisticated representations -- plus it becomes an ever-demanding task as one continues to be creative and invent new material. Even with the best of those efforts (and my awareness of archiving issues), complete works of mine that depended on specific hardware and software can never be done again. A little disquieting at best, especially as there has been interest, 30 years later, in presenting this again. 30 years is *not* a long time. Yes, great fires might destroy manuscripts, but the idea that (to return to the thread) both paper *and* digital copies might evaporate within one's own lifetime (read: "my own lifetime") is --- despite any self-Zen-izing -- not a little disquieting. :) :( Dennis _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
