Creating a comprehensive archive of Maltese music on CD

Sant, T

Abstract

Accurately preserving data encoded on an audio CD is a more complex concern than preserving information on a data CD. This complexity is due in part to restrictions imposed upon the format by the music industry, but also to how the data itself is structured. Whilst the audio CD was perfectly adequate as a consumer format, from an archival perspective it has always been a problematic medium. As CD technology marches toward obsolescence, and the carriers themselves become increasingly unstable, now is the time to question whether the complexity of the audio CD preservation problem has been underestimated.


A revised workflow to preserve audio CDs to the highest possible standard was created in 2013 . This workflow package – arcCD – facilitates the cloning of an audio CD as a binary file, migrating data bit-for-bit from a disc to a more secure archival standard storage system. This way, not only is sound data migrated (ostensibly as WAV files), but track timings, ISRC codes and other intrinsic metadata elements are also copied, preserving the audio CD as a complete, reproducible digital object and not just as a series of extracted sound files. However, arcCD is not simply a software solution; it is also a workflow model that can be used in archival contexts concerned with long-term preservation of CD publications.


Since 2014 arcCD has been applied to the preservation of a large collection of Maltese music published on CDs. This work is an archival project of the M3P Foundation and ties in with its development of a wiki-based multimedia catalogue of music and associated arts in Malta.

Citation

Sant, T. (2015). Creating a comprehensive archive of Maltese music on CD. In S. Baker (Ed.), Preserving Popular Music Heritage : Do-it-Yourself, Do-it-Together (114-125). Routledge (Taylor & Francis). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315769882-9

• Online Publication Date: May 1, 2015
• Publication Date: May 18, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 3, 2018
• Pages: 114-125
• Series Title: Routledge Research in Music
• Series Number: 11
• Book Title: Preserving Popular Music Heritage : Do-it-Yourself, Do-it-Together
• ISBN: 9781138781436-(hardback);-9780367231958-(paperback);-9781315769882-(ebook)
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315769882-9
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315769882-9
• Related Public URLs: https://www.routledge.com/Preserving-Popular-Music-Heritage-Do-it-Yourself-Do-it-Together/Baker/p/book/9781138781436; https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315769882
• Additional Information: Funders : Jisc through Digital Preservation Coalition