The Museum of Obsolete Media: Tech evolution and the need for continuous data migration

Abstract

With the digital universe growing exponentially and the recognition that, with the advancement of technology, all physical media will eventually become obsolete, it is essential for archivists and the developers of archive technologies to acknowledge the fundamental necessity of data migration. Unfortunately, the migration of archives is a costly and burdensome process, and as such frequently postponed until it becomes urgent. This paper proposes a simpler model of ongoing and semi-automated migration, where the process becomes part of the daily activity and workflow of an archive, cutting costs and guaranteeing its continuity and longevity. To this end, the paper argues that digital archives should take advantage of datacentre technologies, especially object-based storage, with the goal of creating highly dynamic and abstracted from physical media object archives.