subject: Different types of offsite media storage [print this page] Different types of offsite media storage Different types of offsite media storage
Offsite media storage is popular among many production and media companies because it offers key benefits for the long-term storage of original and final-edition material. As well as the obvious benefits of alleviating the physical pressures of storage space within business property, which is often needed for current work, it reduces the risks of media corruption, destruction or loss.
Of course depending on the format of the media, different practises are required for offsite media storage. Some of these even offer benefits unique to the media format, others share the universal benefits of moving storage to a separate location. Here is how it can benefit the two most popular forms of media:
Film/Audio tape storage
Storing audio or film tape in the long term requires certain things that will likely be beyond the average working environment, particularly in regards to the oldest standards of cellulose nitrate. First of all - and particularly when storing original source material for film productions - it requires a great deal of space. Secondly and most importantly though, it requires a great deal of space within a controlled environment. Even the most advanced forms of magnetic tape are far from immune to degradation.
Over time, this degradation will corrupt every form of media, starting with minor losses of quality to eventual complete destruction of the storage medium. This is inevitable - nothing lasts forever and many of these items are particularly susceptible to changes in temperature or humidity. By controlling these aspects of the environment to the optimum level, these items can be kept for hundreds of years without any perceivable degradation. Obviously this is longer than is likely needed but without this control, the shelf life can be reduced to a mere handful of years - or a single incident can destroy it instantly.
Storing paper documents
Paper documents are a hugely important part of the media industry - whether its the direct products of magazines, newspapers and periodicals or the complementary materials of promotional posters, tie-ins, briefing documents or scripts - and are arguably archived more than any other medium. Although in the short-term it may seem as though these items will last forever if merely left undisturbed, they are just as vulnerable as any other item to changes in environmental conditions and can be destroyed utterly if care isn't taken.
Paper materials are vulnerable to not just relative humidity and temperature changes but also to damage from lighting and even pollutants, dust and pests. Imperceptible by human standards they may be but trace acidic elements or exposure to UV light can make carbon paper illegible in relatively short order. Paper documents can even be destroyed by their proximity to other, identical documents, which can have a harmful PH over long term exposure.
An offsite media storage facility will keep paper documents in perfect condition by the use of chemically optimised storage mediums (Alkaline mats or folders) and acidic materials such as newspaper will be isolated from one another. They will have the space to store paper items flat - preventing the potential damage caused by folding and unfolding - and humidity and lighting levels will be kept to the optimum conditions. In this way even the most cheaply made print can be preserved for several decades at the very least.
