ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


134 /  C &R L  News

below the noise floor of the analog master. In other 
words, the chances of losing any p art of the in­
tended information-bearing signal during digital- 
to-analog transfer is extremely rem ote. On the 
other hand, during the analog-to-analog transfer 
process, sonic information is added to the original 
signal in the form of tape hiss, obscuring poten­
tially information-bearing frequencies. Professor 
Pohlmann also points out in his book Principles of 
Digital Audio (Indianapolis: H oward W. Sams & 
Co., 1985, p. 179) th at “w ith analog storage, there 
is no opportunity for error protection processing: if 
the recorded signal is disrupted or distorted, then 
the signal is irrevocably damaged. W ith digital 
storage, the nature of binary data lends itself to re­
covery in the event of dam age.”

To those who might find these technicalities ar­
cane, consider this example: Imagine making fifty 
duplicate generations of a source tape—tape one 
the master for tape tw o, two for three, and so on— 
by an analog process. The last tape would of course 
sound terrible compared to the original tape. Using 
RD AT, the last tape would be absolutely indistin­
guishable from the first. The ability of DAT to be 
cloned adds a measure of security to the APS proj­
ect. Should it become necessary at some point in the 
future to duplicate the collection again, no signal 
will be lost at all.

Of course other sound archives were consulted in 
the initial stages of this project, including the Li­
brary of Congress. In fact, much thought was 
given to having LC ’s specialists do the entire job, 
but this course was reluctantly abandoned for the 
reasons given in the article. A tour of L C ’s audio 
conservation area was particularly inform ative 
and helped to identify some of the equipm ent th at 
would be required to undertake the project.

T hat RD AT is an unconventional approach to 
audio conservation is undeniable. In this respect, it 
is not surprising th at this p art of the APS project is 
inconsistent w ith the recommendations of ARSC 
(of which we are well aware). However, we are 
satisfied th at the process is reversible, and th at the 
risks have been minimized. We do not agree that 
because a preservation technique is new and there­
fore unconventional, it is inappropriate. Much 
thought and research about the options available 
convinced us th at the risks in adopting RD AT were 
w orth taking.

The APS project was conceived as a  m edium- 
range solution th at will keep our options open for 
the future. Most im portantly, systematic and posi­
tive action has been taken th at will facilitate access 
an d  stem  th e  d ecay  of th e  L ib r a r y ’s au d io  
collections.—Martin L. Levitt, American Philo­
sophical Society Library, Philadelphia, PA. ■ ■

ACRL executive summary

Professional development
The final reporting for the NEH H um anities 

Workshop Project was prepared and submitted to 
the National Endowm ent for the Humanities. The 
new project, for historically black colleges and uni­
versities, moved along w ith applications from p a r­
ticipants coming in at m onth’s end.

Enhancing library service capability
The ACRL office continued to provide advisory 

services and free distribution of standards.

Advocacy and liaison
Bill Moffett will develop this them e for his presi­

dential year.
A fourth draft of the Accreditation Manual, by 

P at Sacks and Sara Lou W hildin, has been sent to 
ALA Publishing.

Research and publication
A special design will mark the issues in the Fifti­

eth Anniversary year of College & Research L i­
braries, beginning in January. Look for the gold 
covers, discreetly marked “1939-1989.”

Arthuree W right agreed to chair the Research 
Committee and is eager to settle on a clearer mis­
sion for the Committee by the 1989 Annual Confer­
ence in Dallas. At Midwinter, the Committee dis­
cussed th e  w o rk  of th e  U .S. D e p a rtm e n t of 
Education’s Office of Library Programs in the area 
of research, Charles Martell’s “Research Perspec­
tive” editorial in C&RL, and possible new direc­
tions for themselves.

Jo An Segal visited the Choice offices, which 
have been recently autom ated. Choice will host an 
awards ceremony in honor of the publication of 
Rooks fo r College Libraries, 3d ed., and the auto­
mation of their magazine’s production. The first 
tape version of Rooks fo r College Libraries has been 
sold.

Strategic management directions
The major activity of the month was preparing 

the 1990 O perating Plan and Budget. Staff also 
brainstormed on work reorganization, hoping to 
improve both the quality of service and worklife at 
ACRL. — Jo A n S. Segal. ■ ■