On 29/10/2012, Craig Breaden wrote:

> Derek, I'm a firm believer in doing what we can to get our mountains
> of tape digitized, and sometimes (and in fact, most times) that means
> working with limited resources. I think, as Richard suggested, that
> given a caring steward, effective digitization can happen with good
> results in institutions that do not have audio engineers on staff. In
> fact, it happens all the time. The greatest lesson I learned in my
> professional training was from a colleague who told me, "We have to do
> the best we can with what we have." Time marches on, and putting aside
> projects while waiting for outsource funding can be a liability (for
> the tape, certainly, but also for the end users), particularly if you
> have a capable and well-thought-out rig in-house, with a good workflow
> and good people. I think a question that is worth addressing is how
> the economics work out best for your institution. Outsourcing versus
> doing it in-house is an question that will have different outcomes
> depending on budgets and programs individual to institutions and
> situations.
> 
I think we should distinguish between spoken word tapes such as oral
history, where good sound is desirable but a slightly wrong setting is
not fatal, and music recordings direct from microphones, 
which do need to be reproduced with the highest possible fidelity.

Off-air tapes I am not sure about.
> 
> Craig Breaden
> Audiovisual Archivist
> Duke University
> David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
> Smith Warehouse, 114 South Buchanan Blvd
> Bay 11, Box 90767, Durham, NC  27708
> 919-684-6229
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Association for Recorded Sound
> Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Derek
> Jackson Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 12:27 PM To:
> [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] compact audio
> cassette questions
> 
> Thank you for all the suggestions and help... please keep it coming. I
> am still sifting through all of Richard Hess's suggestions and the
> threads that stem from them. I have my copy of Marvin Camras' book on
> the way too. However, I wanted to clarify my second question, about
> institutions digitizing their own cassettes, and I apologize in
> advance because I suspect this question is naive. Nonetheless, I
> didn't mean to suggest that anyone with a tape deck and a PC should
> start digitizing cassettes. Rather I was wondering if folks on the
> listserv thought that there was some middle ground and if audio
> cassettes might be a part of that middle ground? So I guess a better
> way to state the question is: WIth some modest investment in
> equipment, resources and training do folks on this listserv believe an
> archive/museum/historical society could responsibly digitize (for
> preservation) its own audio cassettes of spoken word materials? or
> even more dynamic content like music? Or is this just something that
> should only be done by professionals in a professional environment?
> (and Mr. Hess did answer this in his response, but I wonder what other
> opinions might be.)
> 
> Best,
> -Derek
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> 
>> 
Regards
-- 
Don Cox
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