[game_preservation] Archivist's Burden

[Rachel "Sheepy" Donahue]

dd works. If you want to save a tiny bit of space,  you might also look at  
using something to create a sparse image (empty sectors are not copied..  
probably less of a problem with CDs than HDDs). Ddrescue can do this:

http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Ddrescue

I would say getting a full image is first, before worrying about  
separating the audio and data.

When/if you do decide to preserve the audio separately, the International  
Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives
recommends WAV or BWF. Regardless of format, they and ARSC recommend a  
sampling rate of at least 96 kHz with 24 bit resolution.

These may be of interest:


The ARSC Technical Committee's preservation statement
http://www.arsc-audio.org/pdf/ARSCTC_preservation.pdf

and

Essential Resources for Audio Preservation
http://www.arsc-audio.org/pdf/ARSCTC_resources.pdf

Formats, Evaluation Factors, and Relationships
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/intro/format_eval_rel.shtml

I can't think of a good reason _not_ to use FLAC, but I'm happy to bug a  
few A/V archivists I know if we think it's necessary.

DEFT or BackTrack may come preloaded with imaging automation.
http://www.deftlinux.net/
http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack.html