Digital storage media are critical for the succesful archival of audio visual assets ion the future, yet for many archives they present an entirely new set of problems. Key amongst these is a radical change in the standards of formats, the tools available to manage their quality, and the ways in which they may fail over time.

The prestospace project commisioned a report from Stream UK to look into these factors, and in this summary we present to you their key findings.

• We break down the various standards that apply, and the authorities that apply and oversee the standards process.
• We take a close look at the different sorts of media and look in particular detail at the way they fail and how, at a very low level, any failures are automatically managed.
• We look at what tools are currently available to allow users of media to keep a grip of the condition of their media.
• We have a breakdown of key media care techniques,
• and finally we have a short case study.

All of these sections can be explored using the buttons below.