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oups.com...

First concern is the availability of current file and data format.

So what would you guys say is the best file type, media format and
media type to use if I want them to be easily accessible for decades?


Welcome to the world of digital image preservation! Sorry that you were hit
so hard by your experience with your "ancient" 8-year-old image files.
Actually, you received a valuable lesson from the School of Hard Knocks, for
which you should be grateful. You learned while you were still able to
correct the problem. Others will not be so lucky.

The short answer to your question is to store files in UNCOMPRESSED TIF. It
is the format of choice for virtually all libraries. Do not compress the
TIF files, because the various compression schemes might become unreadable
by editing programs in the future. Already there are reports of old
compressed TIF files not being able to be opened by modern editing software.
Forget compression on your archived image files.

Use the "Master and Derivative" model for your storage media: in other
words, make TWO "Master Disks." Store one off-site (bank safe deposit box,
relative or friend's home, etc.) Store it in a jewel box, keep it in a dark
place and don't touch it. Store a duplicate "Master Disk" at home, under
the same dark/temperature/humidity optimum conditions.

These "Master Disks" are used only to make derivative copies. If you work
on your images, always work off the expendable Derivative Copy. If the
Derivative ever goes bad, use your on-site Master Disk to make a new
Derivative Copy, and then return the Master Disk back to hibernation. Never
use the Master Disk for any other purpose. If your on-site Master Disk goes
bad, or if it is lost in a fire, flood or theft, then make a NEW on-site
Master Disk from the one you stored off-site, in the Safe Deposit Box.

You might consider including an Index Print along with your Master and
Derivative Disks, just so you (or your descendants) can see what is
contained on them.

This is a far cry from storing negatives in archival plastic pages, and
storing prints in albums (or in shoeboxes).

Even after taking all these precautions, you will have to provide for
migrating the data to the latest file format and media type as time goes on.
Plan on doing this every 7-10 years. This is the Achilles Heel of digital
preservation: you cannot be assured that this migration effort will continue
after your demise. Just think about the proverbial shoebox full of photos
found in Grandma's attic: for one thing, people tend to move more often and
there is less chance that our historical images will be left undisturbed for
generations. And (more importantly) the photos Grandma stored were visible
without any special equipment or software. What if those Mac images that
you had were just a few years older? You might not have had the means to
decode them, and you would have probably discarded them, rather than pay to
have them converted onto a current medium.

Kodak, on their website, even recommends that you consider long-term storage
of your important images by making PRINTS of them, and storing them in
archival albums, in appropriate temperature/humidity/darkness conditions.
The fact is that, for the typical consumer, the lowly PRINT stands the
greatest chance of long-term survival, because it requires little long-term
maintenance.

If you are starting to have reservations about digital file longevity, you
are not alone. I recommend that you have a look at this article, that
discusses the issue better than I can. "Digital's Dirty Little Secret"

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/1513.htm

Even large digital libraries are affected by the need to periodically renew
their digital assets onto newer file formats and storage media. What makes
them different from us consumers is that they have planned for, and budgeted
for, this continual file maintenance and renewal. We ordinary folks must
rely upon our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren to care for our
image files. There is no assurance that they will have any interest in
doing so. More likely, the piles of disks will gather dust until somebody
decides to throw them out, since they can't read them. At least prints have
a chance of surviving, because their historical value is apparent at first
glance. Not so with those CDs or DVDs.

More photos are being taken than ever before, and I believe that a large
number of them will survive. But the question of whether YOUR particular
photos will survive in digital format is uncertain.

My own solution is to do my important stuff on film. I use digital for
short-time-horizons of under 5 years. And on important digital images, I do
have OFOTO make prints on silver halide paper, and I keep them in archival
albums. I have tons of CDs, with digital images on them, and I have no
reason to think that they will survive long-term. It is a pity that this
problem has not been solved yet.