08. Removable Media Workstations

The Removable Media Workstations (RMWs) are designed to transfer content from various physical storage media to the digital processing backlog. These guidelines are applicable to the following physical formats:

• 3.5" floppy disks

• 5.25" floppy disks

• CDs (data or audio)

• DVDs (data or video)

• Secure Digital (SD) cards

• USB flash drives and external hard drives

• Zip disks

These guidelines are also designed to support media regardless of filesystem (e.g., you'll find a section on the HFS and HFS Plus [or Mac-formatted] file systems). Other removable media formats will need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. These guidelines are not applicable to non-digital physical carriers such as VHS tapes, audio cassettes, film reels, etc.  

These guidelines have five basic steps:

• • Preliminary procedures (common to all items)

  • Transfer from media (unique to each media format)

  • Reviewing content (common to all items)

  • Transfer to backlog (common to all items)

  • Retention and disposal of physical media (unique to each collection)

There's also an FAQ intended to help archivists troubleshoot common RMW issues and a Hardware and Software page detailing the RMWs' equipment. For additional questions and troubleshooting help please see the Archivist for Digital Curation.

Please note that appraisal is as important for digital materials as it is for physical or analog materials. Appraisal tips are included throughout the guidelines.