Contents:
- Introduction
- Logical Structure
- ISO9660
- Joliet/HFS
- UDF
- CD-DA
- Applications in Preservation Workflows
- Future Research
- Appendix
- References
This article provides a broad overview of optical media in the context of archival migration. It begins by introducing the logical structure of compact discs, providing the context and language necessary to discuss the medium. The article then explores the most common data formats for optical media: Compact Disc Digital Audio, ISO 9660, the Joliet and HFS extensions, and the Universal Data Format (with an eye towards DVD-Video). Each format is viewed in the context of preservation needs and what archivists need to be aware of when handling said formats. It concludes with some preservation workflows and concerns for successfully migrating data away from optical media, as well as directions for future research. The appendix provides brief specific workflows for each optical media type described. The article appeared in the Code4Lib Journal, Issue 24, 2014-04-16.
This article offers a valuable introduction to optical media preservation and rightly emphasizes the exploding challenge ahead for archives who may have used such media as a preservation format years ago. It emphasizes the complexity of the problem and admits that a full explanation of how to deal with such media requires more research with real use cases and more detailed guidance. Despite that it provides enough information and reference material for an archive to get on with the business of confronting this preservation challenge.