The need to digitize and preserve media is a problem libraries are well aware of. In addition to a real need to migrate floppies and CDs to newer media, there'

The need to digitize and preserve media is a problem libraries are well aware of. In addition to a real need to migrate floppies and CDs to newer media, there's also an urgent need to move substantially older and one-of-a-kind media (i.e., 8mm film reels, LPs; think rare interviews with celebrities and luminaries from the 30s and 40s). For digital media in particular, the Internet Archive is pretty zealously ripping older media [1]. [1] https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/785zmx/jason-scott-is-archiving-cd-roms-and-floppy-discs-from-closets-around-the-world https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/785zmx/jason-scot... [edit] A few interesting examples of the sorts of problems that preservationists encounter in dealing with pre-digital formats can be seen here: https://www.nyu.edu/tisch/preservation/program/05fall/physical-properties.pdf https://www.nyu.edu/tisch/preservation/program/05fall/physic...