The report Peter provided a link to on the stability of CD's states:
It is demonstrated here that CD-R and DVD-R media can be very stable (sample
S4 for CD-R and sample D2 for DVD-R). Results suggest that these media types
will ensure data is available for several tens of years and therefore may be
suitable for archival uses.

Several tens of years!  Does this not worry you!  My goodness that is not a
long time in the world of archives/records management!

Long live paper.  You need no machines to read it, with the exception of
maybe a pair of glasses or a magnifying glass.  You don't have to worry
about the availability of technology or obsolescence, as again you do not
require a machine to read it.

As I had mentioned some time ago in a previous posting, one of the major
concerns of our National Archivist here in Canada, is having the machines to
read the media and the parts to fix these machines when they break.  As
well, this paper only exacerbates the risks of the types of media we store
our information on.

As long as I have been in this field, the old reliable microfilm is also
still around.  Maybe we as RM/IM practitioners need to rethink our
strategies for creating, storing and archiving our corporate
information/documents/media/records...  One small magnet can erase the
history of a person's life, if stored on differing media.

We are one disaster away from losing so much as well.  How many times have
we seen this happen this year alone?

I am glad we here are at least talking about it.  Thanks for letting me
ramble.

John A. Gervais
Program Manager
Policy and Standards Section
Information Policy and Governance Division
Intergovernmental and International Affairs Directorate
Policy and Planning Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
25 Nicolas Street, 16th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0L5

' 1-613-688-9302
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"  http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/

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