The British Library's race to save old audio recordings

[Ducatista47]

The British Library is in the process of digitising its 6.5 million sound recordings.
The audio is in more than 40 different formats from wax cylinders to MiniDiscs so staff are having to hunt down old machines to play back the audio.
Some recordings are also degrading and could be lost within 15 years unless they are digitised.



http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technolog...io-recordings#

[DavidF]

The British Library is in the process of digitising its 6.5 million sound recordings.
The audio is in more than 40 different formats from wax cylinders to MiniDiscs so staff are having to hunt down old machines to play back the audio.
Some recordings are also degrading and could be lost within 15 years unless they are digitised.



http://www.bbc.com/news/av/technolog...io-recordings#

Given my personal progress in converting various media to digital this seems like a Herculean effort. The need to transfer, test, document and catalog seems like more than some overtime on a couple of weekends.