Introduction
- Physical object is a broad class of data objects that can be acquired by the Dalhousie Libraries and managed as part of its circulating collections or the Archives Permanent Collection.
Physical object can include analog media and digital storage devices.
Physical object is a “Transfer Object Type” that can be referenced in Transfer Object Type descriptors.
- The Libraries maintains a master list of physical objects that records information about each type of physical Data Object found in the Archives Permanent Collection and other library collections.
- The purpose of the master list of formats is to:
- Establish an authoritative list of Data Objects
- Provide a controlled list of format types to be used in the register of digital storage devices
- Support the Preservation Planning activities of the Libraries' Preservation Committee
- Support digitization activities performed in accordance with the Digitization Handbook and digital forensics activities carried out in the Digital Forensics Lab Manual.
Information in the master list of physical formats
The following table defines the information elements in the master list of media formats
| Information Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Identifier | Unique identifier for the media format descriptor. Used as the Data Object Type ID. |
| Format | Enter the specific type of digital storage device. Link to relevant format page when available. |
| Type of storage device | Enter the general format of the storage device (e.g., hard disk drive, magnetic disc, magnetic tape, optical disc, solid state drive) |
| Dimensions | Enter the dimensions of the digital storage device (if applicable). |
| Typical maximum storage in MB | Enter the typical maximum storage size of the storage device in megabytes (MB). |
| Typical maximum run time in minutes | For audio and video formats, enter the typical maximum run time in minutes |
| Manufacturing notes | Provide notes about any known issues with the manufacturing of the format. |
| Notes about hardware requirements | Provide notes about any general hardware requirements for accessing and preserving data stored on the format. |
| Functioning hardware for playback? | Yes/No checkbox to indicate if the Dalhousie Libraries has functioning hardware for playback. |
Analog formats
| Identifier | Format | Type | Dimensions | Typical maximum storage (MB) | Typical maximum runtime (min.) | Manufacturing notes | Hardware requirements | Functioning playback equipment? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audio cassette tape | /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/706641967 | Yes | ||||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/204669167 | Magnetic video tape | Released by Sony in 1982. | No | |||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/204669167 | Magnetic video tape | Replaced Betacam, superceded by Digital Betacam. | No | |||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/320471066 | Film | |||||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/320471062 | Film | |||||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/320340003 | Film | |||||||
| IBM 2403 magnetic tape | Magnetic tape | N/A | IBM 2400-series magnetic tapes were designed to work with the IBM System/360 "Administrative Terminal System" | |||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/213221401 | Phonograph | 12 in. diameter | 12 inch 78 rpm records were introduced in 1903. 10 inch 78 rpm records were popular at the beginning of the 20th century. | |||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/204669167 | Magnetic tape | 21.9 x 13.7 x 3 cm (8 5/8”x 5 3/8”x 1 3/16 in.) | ||||||
| /wiki/spaces/TW/pages/204669167 | Magnetic tape | 187 mm x 103 mm x 25 mm (7 3⁄8 × 4 1⁄16 × 1 in.) cassette |
Digital formats
| Identifier | Format | Type | Dimensions | Typical maximum storage (MB) | Typical maximum runtime (min.) | Manufacturing notes | Hardware requirements | Functioning playback equipment? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 mm data cartridge (Data8) | Magnetic tape | 40,000 | Pioneered by Exabyte Corporation. First form of helical scan tape used commercially for data storage. | No | ||||
| BD (Blu-ray Disc) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 25,000 | Yes | ||||
| BD-DL (Blu-ray disc - double layer) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 50,000 | Yes | ||||
| BD-R (Blu-ray disc recordable) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 25,000 | Yes | ||||
| BD-R DL (Blu-ray disc recordable double layer) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 50,000 | Yes | ||||
| BD-RE (Blu-ray disc recordable erasable) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 25,000 | Yes | ||||
| BD-RE DL (Blu-ray disc recordable erasable double layer) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 50,000 | Yes | ||||
| BDXL (Blu-ray disc extra large capacity) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 128,000 | BDXLs that store 100 GBs have three layers (triple-layer disc) and BDXLs that store 128 GB have four layers (quad-layer disc). | Yes | |||
| Bernoulli Box II disk | Magnetic disc | 13.6 cm wide, 14 cm long and 0.9 cm | 150 | N/A | Released by Iomega. Superceded by Iomega zip disk technology. | Requires Bernoulli Box II system. | No | |
| Betacam IMX | Magnetic tape | Introduced by Sony in 2001. | No | |||||
| CD-Digital Audio | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 700 | Yes | ||||
| CD-Interactive | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | Yes | |||||
| CD-R (Compact Disc recordable) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 700 | Older CD players could not play CD-R and CD-RW formats, but most modern CD players can play audio CDs as well as CD-Rs and CD-RWs. | Yes | |||
| CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 700 | Yes | ||||
| CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable) | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 700 | Older CD players could not play CD-R and CD-RW formats, but most modern CD players can play audio CDs as well as CD-Rs and CD-RWs. | Yes | |||
| CompactFlash (CF) - Type I | Flash memory solid state storage device | 43 mm × 36 mm × 3.3 mm | 512,000 | Introduced in 1994 by SanDisk. Intended for portable devices such as cameras and video recorders. CompactFlash remains popular and is supported by many professional devices and high-end consumer devices. | No | |||
| CompactFlash (CF) - Type II | Magnetic disc | 43 mm × 36 mm × 5 mm | 512,000 | Most Type II devices are Microdrive devices (hard disks). Some flash-based Type II devices were manufactured. Support for type II CF and Microdrives is rapidly disappearing. | No | |||
| DAT (digital audio tape) | Magnetic tape | 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm (4 mm tape) | No | |||||
| Digital Betacam | Magnetic tape | (1/2 in. tape) | Launched in 1993. Supercedes Betacam and Betacam SP. | Can only be accessed or preserved with Betacam deck connected to computer via SDI. Specialized software required. | No | |||
| DTRS (Digital Tape Recording System) audio tape | Magnetic tape | 23,431.68 | DTRS (Digital Tape Recording System) tape was commonly used in the DA-88 digital multitrack recording system introduced by TASCAM in 1993. | DTRS tape systems use Hi8 video cartridges. 16-track and 24-systems were available. | No | |||
| DV (Digital Video) | Magnetic tape | Released in 1995. Can store digital video recorded in DV, DVCAM, HDV, and other encoding formats | Can only be accessed or preserved with MiniDV deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | Yes | ||||
| DVCPRO | Magnetic tape | 13,000 | Can only be accessed or preserved with DVCPRO deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | No | ||||
| DVCPRO 50 | Magnetic tape | 50 Mbps format | Can only be accessed or preserved with DVCPRO deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | No | ||||
| DVCPRO HD | Magnetic tape | 100 Mbps format | Can only be accessed or preserved with DVCPRO deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | No | ||||
| DVCPRO P | Magnetic tape | Progressive scan version of the DVCPRO format | Can only be accessed or preserved with DVCPRO deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | No | ||||
| DVD+R | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 4,700 | Yes | ||||
| DVD+RW | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 4,700 | Yes | ||||
| DVD+RW DL | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 8,500 | Yes | ||||
| DVD-R | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 4,700 | Yes | ||||
| DVD-ROM | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 4,700 | |||||
| DVD-RW | Optical disc | 12 cm diameter (4.7 in.) | 4,700 | |||||
| Floppy disk (3.5 inch) | Magnetic disc | 9 x 9 cm (3.5 x 3.5 in.) | 1.44 | Requires 3.5 inch floppy drive with FC5025 controller or KryoFlux controller. | ||||
| Floppy disk (5.25 inch) | Magnetic disc | 14 x 14 cm (5.25 in.) | 1.2 | Requires 3.5 inch floppy drive with FC5025 controller or KryoFlux controller. | ||||
| Floppy disk (8 inch) | Magnetic disc | 21 x 21 cm (8 in.) | 0.8 | Requires 8 inch floppy drive. Unsupported format at this time. | ||||
| Hard drive (external Firewire) | Magnetic disc | External hard drives with | Requires Firewire cable. | |||||
| Hard drive (external USB) | Magnetic disc | May encounter external drives with USB 1.0, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0 connections | ||||||
| Hard drive (SATA) | Magnetic disc | Requires TC4-8-R2 cable found in adapter box %23 1 in digital forensics lab supply area | ||||||
| Hard drive (solid state) | Flash memory solid state storage device | Requires Asus UX31 UX21 ADATA XM11 XM11ZZB5 SSD to 2.5 Inch SATA adapter card | ||||||
| MiniDisc | Magneto-optical disc | 68 × 72 × 5 mm | 1,000 | Sony brand audio players were on the market from September 1992 until March 2013. | ||||
| MiniDV | Magnetic tape | Can hold digital video recorded in DV, DVCAM, HDV, and other encoding formats. | Can only be accessed or preserved with MiniDV deck connected to computer via Firewire. Specialized software required. | |||||
| MMC (MultiMedia Card) | Flash memory solid state storage device | 24 mm × 32 mm × 1.4 mm | 512,000 | Introduced in 1997 by SanDisk and Siemens AG. | Typically used for storage in portable devices, such as digital cameras and camcorders. | |||
| SD (Secure Digital) | Flash memory solid state storage device | 4,000 | 2 GB maximum is more common. Also known as SDSC (Secure Digital Standard Capacity). | |||||
| SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) | Flash memory solid state storage device | 32,000 | Introduced in January 2006 and defined in version 2.0 of the SD specification. SDHC cards shipped preformatted with the FAT32 file sytem. | |||||
| SDXC (Secure Digital eXtended Capacity) | Flash memory solid state storage device | 2,000,000 | Introduced in 2009. All SDXC cards use Microsoft's exFAT file system as a mandatory feature. | Can only be accessed or preserved with operating systems that support the exFAT file system. | ||||
| USB flash memory | Flash memory solid state storage device | |||||||
| Zip disk | Magnetic disc | 7 x 10.2 x 10.2 cm | 100 | Newer zip disks can store up to 750 MB of data. Format introduced by Iomega in 1994. Fell out of favour in early 2000s. |