Kathy... Indeed there are many orphaned formats.  However none of them left the planet without years of dual existance.  i.e. 8" floppies co-existed years with the 3" floppies prior to their extinction.    Same with 2" video, which is still around is some video and duplication facilities to this day.  

This gives one ample time to transfer your archived material from one medium to another.  There will be no overnight surprises.  My 78rpm records of Al Jolson and direct to disk recordings of the 50's and 60's?  Transferred to DAT or burned to CD for archival.  If those formats start being replaced by a new medium, I'll transfer them again - long before DAT and CD players are landfill.  

Since the original question was archiving tapes, my suggestion was to transfer the material to a digital hard drive base medium, CD, DVD or other digital format to preserve the original quality with the least degradation and to avoid generation loss in the process.   Sound and creating and preserving masters of creative material has been my business for over 25 years, so I can only share with you what we in the music and film biz have learned over the years.  

Terri 

On Monday, April 16, 2001, Kathy Mancuso <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Terri, I'm afraid I'm going to have to differ with you.  Orphaned formats
>are a huge problem both in digital and analog media.  For example: the 8
>inch floppy, the 2" videotape, the magnetic belts once used to record
>certain court proceedings, various odd formats/aspect ratios of film (the
>original 68mm Mutoscope format, Lumiere's 75mm, Pathe & Pathe Baby,
>Edison's Home Kinetoscope . . .).  The only reason we don't have too many
>digital orphans yet is that digital formats are too new.  Also, what about
>the huge amounts of streaming video and audio that is broadcast live 24
>hours a day?  When homecamming replaces home video/amateur film, what's
>going to be around for historians 25 years later to study?
>
>For those really interested in this issue, I would recommend asking to tour
>some of the labs and vaults of NARA II or LoC.  It is a truly educational
>experience--and it changed my attitudes towards technology.
>
>Also, I would like to correct David's use of the phrase the "film
>industry's problems were due to . . ." Films are still very much in danger
>because nobody sees the need to make decent archival copies of first run
>films.  As soon as a film is projected in your average commercial theatre,
>it is damaged beyond repair.  I recently went to Washington and was
>appalled at the condition (scratches on both base and emulsion, jerking,
>chemical spots) of the Kirostami films shown at the National Gallery.
>There is one distributor for Kirostami's films outside of Iran because of
>the laws there, and that distributor won't take the time to make and market
>decent copies.  Furthermore, SO much film is degrading in people's attics,
>or in movie theatre back rooms.
>
>I'm sorry I've spent the past two days on a soapbox, but film preservation
>is really, really important to me, and I really want to see more museums
>understand and care about it.
>
>Kathy Mancuso
>USC Orphanistas (friends of orphan film)
>
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