Only three days, and the question is resolved... THANKS for all the responses.
Short version: the Zips didn't have a chance... not a single voice in favor
of Zip for image storage - for lots of good reasons, including deterioration
and other archival issues as well as space limitations. And no, I do not
work for Iomega... in fact, my Zip clicked to death last summer...
I've attached a summary of all responses as a .txt file - let me know if you
can't open it and I'll send the whole thing in an e-mail message.
Thanks again - I feel so much more confident choosing between all the options
out there.
Laura Bajuk, ED
Los Gatos Museum Assn.
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Sample response:
From: [log in to unmask] (Tom Judd)
A Zip drive is way too small for storing image files. You will fill it up
very quickly.
There are 3 alternatives:
1. Jaz drive, either 1 or 2 Gig.
The least hassle, works just like a hard drive. Expensive media. Not
entirely safe for archiving, because it can be erased. Also, the cartridges
are mechanical so subject to failure. However, I have used Jaz for several
years with excellent results.
2. CDR
Very cheap media. 650 meg enough for most purposes. Universal format,
especially ISO9660 format. Best for archiving because they can't be erased.
Get a good writer such as Plextor.
3. CDRW
Media now about the same as CDR. Not as good for archiving because can be
erased. Problem to read on some machines.
I use Jaz for short-term backups and storage. CDR for long-term.
CD-Rom vs. Zip Drive
Responses to the Question
THE QUESTION: From: Laura Bajuk
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2000 2:35 PM
Subject: Image Storage - CD or Zip?
Hi all - I'm another non-registrar having to answer a question in coll. mgt. - I'll also check the archive for previous inquiries...
Situation: We're buying a new computer - PC - and need to decide how to store large - esp. image - files. To use a writeable CD-rom or a Zip drive... that is the question Does anyone have any advice before we buy equipment? Please shoot me a note - or vote - off-list at [log in to unmask] - I'll be happy to accumulate the results and pop a master tally back to the whole list.
Many thanks... Laura Bajuk, ED
Los Gatos Museum Assn.
PO Box 1904, Los Gatos, CA 95031
408.395.7375
August 13, 2000
From: [log in to unmask] (Lucy Sperlin Skjelstad)
I was talking to my computer "genius" grandson the other day about just this subject. He said CD is definitely preferable because virtually everyone receiving a file from you can read it, whereas lots of folks don't have zip drives. He has both and uses the CD now almost exclusively.
Lucy Sperlin - Chico, CA
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From: [log in to unmask] (Arthur H. Harris)
My inclination is to go with both--zip while you're accumulating and working with the images and CD-Rom for long-term storage. We're working with a fair number of images at the moment and Zip disks are handy for organizing into some semblance of order and having them handy for editing, etc. On the other hand, if you have a large-enough hard drive to be able to assemble a CD's worth of images without cramping you for space, you can do all of that on the hard disk and then to dead storage on the CD.
August 14-15, 2000
From: [log in to unmask] (Rhode, Michael G.)
I would also say go with the CD but for a different reason. We're scanning 50+ images for a book reproduction and the image either fills a 100 meg zip disk (at $10-15 each) or won't even fit on one. So the project is stalled right now while I'm waiting for the CD-RW drive to come in.
Michael Rhode, Archivist
Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine
Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
Washington, DC 20306-6000
202-782-2212; FAX 202-782-3573
http://natmedmuse.afip.org/
http://natmedmuse.afip.org/collections/archives/archives.html
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From: [log in to unmask] (Kois, Dennis)
Definitely CD- not only (as someone intelligently pointed out on-list) because they are more common, but because they are as archival as computer storage media gets, while ZIP disks are most definitely not.
ZIP's are magnetic media (and proprietarily compressed at that), and therefore slowly degrade over time, just like those 10-year-old cassette tapes you have in your car. Typically magnetic media will drop 5-7% of the data originally written in a 20-year period. I'm sure you've heard all those stories about NASA having lost valuable data from the moon missions because they left it on magnetic computer tape reels too long. Additionally (personal experience here), ZIP's are highly prone to complete failure if they are dropped even a moderate distance (like off your desk), and all the data on them becomes irretrievable.
CD's also degrade, but much more slowly, and are expected to hold 100% data for approximately 100 years.
Additional suggestion- make sure you save your files as either uncompressed or using lossless compression (for example, as LZW compressed TIFF files, which do not "toss out" any of your original data). Don't use lossy compression (gif, jpeg, etc.).
Good luck with your project... Dennis
Dennis Kois
Assistant Manager of Design, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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From: [log in to unmask] (Tom Judd)
A Zip drive is way too small for storing image files. You will fill it up very quickly.
There are 3 alternatives:
1. Jaz drive, either 1 or 2 Gig.
The least hassle, works just like a hard drive. Expensive media. Not entirely safe for archiving, because it can be erased. Also, the cartridges are mechanical so subject to failure. However, I have used Jaz for several years with excellent results.
2. CDR
Very cheap media. 650 meg enough for most purposes. Universal format, especially ISO9660 format. Best for archiving because they can't be erased. Get a good writer such as Plextor.
3. CDRW
Media now about the same as CDR. Not as good for archiving because can be erased. Problem to read on some machines.
I use Jaz for short-term backups and storage. CDR for long-term.
___
From: [log in to unmask] (Harold Needham)
Well said, Tim McShane!
The ZIP and other drives of this sort were developed to overcome the storage limitations of 3.25" diskettes, principally for moving around large graphic files (If you have ever done work in your museum with graphics, you'll know what a common problem this has become!).
It seems that the zip and similar drives have been overtaken, like many data cartridge backup drives, by the CD, now that you can buy a "burner" for under $300 and writable CDs in bulk. Indeed, the expensive item has become the "jewel case" in which to store the CD!
Tim says it all - greater access, much greater storage capacity - why not go for the CD-R? A word of caution: if you intend to fill them with audio tracks, the transfer process can be VERY time-consuming, unless all the audio tracks are on the host computer to begin with.
Harry
"Those who play with cats must expect to get scratched" - Cervantes, "Don Quixote"
Harry Needham, M.A., CFE, etc.
President, Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc. - Training & consulting services for heritage institutions - and others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata, Ontario K2L 1H1 - Canada
email: [log in to unmask]
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412
----- Original Message -----
From: Tim McShane <[log in to unmask]
IMHO, definitely go for the CD-ROM. As pointed out in an earlier posting, CD drives are considerably more common these days than ZIP drives, so it's easier to move data around that way. Also, blank CDs are cheaper than ZIP disks, and hold more information (650 MB for a CD as compared to 100 MB or 250 MB, depending on the type of ZIP drive you get). When you're dealing with large files, or many image files, the larger storage capacity is a definite plus!
Tim McShane, Collections Manager, West Parry Sound District Museum
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From: [log in to unmask] (Richard Urban)
I'd concur with the other posters that a CD-write drive will be more useful for passing data to other non-zip equipped users. In terms of storing image files you can squeeze 650 Mbs. on a CD-R that costs $1.00 per CD versus 100 Mbs. on a $30 Zip disk.
The extra upfront cost of a CD writer will be saved over the long run because the CDs are cheaper. Note that not all computers can read CD-RW (read-write which allows you to rewrite the CD like a regular floppy disk). If you're passing information on to others put it on a CD-R (write once-read only after that).
Here's a question. Has anyone done a conservation study on the lifespan of CD-R or CD-RW disks? They are sufficiently different from regular CD's that we know don't last forever.
Thanks,
Richard Urban
Web-site Coordinator, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
www.hsp.org
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From: [log in to unmask] (Scott Hankins)
We use the zip to store our archive file for images. We are planning to convert to CD in the future. There are two reasons why. First is storage space. CD's provide more storage space than the zip. Second, CD's will allow us to have better access and easier retrieval of the images for future use on our web site.
Scott R. Hankins
Assistant Registrar
The Newark Museum
49 Washington Street
P.O. Box 540
Newark, NJ 07101
[log in to unmask]
___
From: [log in to unmask] (Greta G. Pridham)
I think I would go with the CD writer...I have a zip drive at home and to buy zip disks it costs a lot like around $15 per disk! it only holds 100 MB of info and you can only use it on a computer that has a zip drive.....however if you do it with CD's, they can hold around 600 MB of info they are a whole lot cheaper than zip disks I think it was about $2 per CD or so and you can use them on any CD rom drive :) it just makes sense to me to go the CD way :) I happen to think ZIP drives are useless!
Also: Yes with the audio tracks you can always download this free software called musicmatch and convert your audio in to MP3 which is a considerably smaller file! but then you will need to have an MP3 player to play these so you probably won't be able to play them off the computer unless you own an MP3 player
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From: [log in to unmask] (Adrienne DeAngelis)
Another consideration: ZIP disks are famously fallible. One ate the final version of my dissertation; now all I get when I put it in the machine is the "click of death."
A. DeAngelis
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From: [log in to unmask] (Olivia S. Anastasiadis)
Go CD-RW! It'll hold 650 MB of info, zip drives I've seen hold up to 250 MB (there may be bigger ones but they might be costlier). If you've got the bucks, add both; you can back up text files onto a zip disk, and keep your images for the CD-RW drive.
The only thing with the CD is that you have to backup your files in a particular way, which drives me nuts. You need to make a "mirror" file of what you want to dump into the CD disk, then you activate the write feature. If you don't fill the whole disk with info (let's say you still have 300 MB left), and now you want to fill the rest of the disk, but you've got to figure out how to do that without writing over the info you already have. Since I haven't spent enough time with my CD-RW at home, I can't advise intelligently, but I know you can do it. Regarding the zip disk, it's like a big floppy, so no real "set up" is involved.
I'd still advise going CD.
Olivia S. Anastasiadis, Curator
Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace
18001 Yorba Linda Blvd.
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
(714) 993-5075 ext. 224; (714) 528-0544
__
From: Guenter Waibel <[log in to unmask]
Hey there,
Actually, the question is positively absolutely a no-brainer. Zip discs at best make for risky short-term storage. They corrupt
extremely fast. CD-Rom's are a little bit more of a hassle as far as backing up is concerned, since you will always have to collect files to fill up a whole CD and then burn the thing in one time consuming step (for 4x, about 24 minutes), but they repay by being extremely reliable. They also repay by being a lot cheaper than Zips - Ricoh Platinum CD Rom's with a guaranteed lifespan of 200 years cost about $1.25 - you get a lot of storage (650MB) for your buck. Except for tape storage (slow, hard to access) there is no real alternative to CD-Rom at this point.
Guenter
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From: [log in to unmask] (Jack C. Thompson)
I expect that within a few years Zip drives will go the way of the floppy drive, leaving CD's and DVD's as the primary useful storage/distribution medium.
CD writers are inexpensive these days and the media is very much cheaper than Zip disks.
I've recently conducted a CAP survey at a museum and plan to send a CD with every photograph taken during the survey,
whereas in the past, I selected a few photographs to print in the report. The report will still contain some printed images, but this time the museum will also have all of the images.
Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab.
Portland, Oregon
(503)735-3942 (voice/fax)
http://www.teleport.com/~tcl
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