Remko, From expereience, although DVD-Rom is preferred, oftentimes in a business/museum environemtn, DVD drives might still be a rarity. You will need to assess just who would be accessing the discs/drives. If its just you and a DVD burner, I recommend that way. If its the library who only has a Cd-rom drive, Cd-Rom is the way. In regards to physical storage, I have had some problems with retreival. Thus, I developed a database in concert with the thicker/older style jewel cases. Simply, a specific file was burned onto a disc, the disc given a unique number. The ID number was then labelled onto the CD spine. The libaray then becomes similar to a book shelf. Thus, a quick run through, I use the database to find the file, which then tells me which disc its on, I find the disc with the right number and wala! That's the poor man's process of which I am. However, recent developments have led to pretty nead disc managers. Here a cd-changer is connected to a PC. A database sofwtare works like my little process above, but is directly linked to the changer. You find the disc, click and out jumps the disc. Imitation makes one here: http://www.imation.com/products/disc_stakka/ Unfortunately with the millions of Cd towers out there searching for others (and there are) is pretty frustrating, especially finding the right keywords to weed out everything else. Also, you may want to take a look at IOMEGA, they make a small scale server that may work. One word of waring in regards to any storage system, again from experience. Store 2 copies, either in different formats, etc. I had a pretty bad episode assuming my one copy of some material was guarantted. North Carolina ECHO sums up a lot of additional material and concerns that is definitely worth brushing up on. If you have any more questions, please contact me directly at [log in to unmask] . Cheers, Brad --- "Jansonius, Remko (Vizcaya)" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > After a year on the job I have collected loads of > digital images - > scanned, shot, donated. It's time to put the master > files in storage. > > Is there a general consensus on what materials to > use? What type of CDs? > Is there a specific pro or con to use CD envelops > (compacter) or jewel > boxes (more rigid)? Does anyone have good > experiences with specific CD > drawers/boxes/cabinets? Is there anything I am > overlooking here? > > > > Any and all comments are appreciated! > > > > ... and a good new year to all! > > > > Remko Jansonius > > Collections and Archives Manager > > Vizcaya Museum & Gardens > > 3251 South Miami Avenue > > Miami, FL 33129 > > t: 305-860-8433 > > f: 305-250-9117 > > www.vizcayamuseum.org > > > > miamidade.gov > > "Delivering Excellence Every Day" > > > > Miami-Dade County is a public entity, subject to > Chapter 119 of the > Florida Statutes concerning public records. E-mail > messages and their > attachments are covered under such laws and thus > subject to disclosure. > All e-mail sent to and received at this address is > captured by > Miami-Dade County servers and kept as a public > record. > > > > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may > obtain detailed information about the listserv > commands by sending a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the > message should read "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one > line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] > . The body of the message should read "Signoff > Museum-L" (without the quotes). > __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).