The only effective way to preserve is to transcribe. Think of it - how many ancient texts survived because we found papyrus in a jar in some cave? The Ancient

The only effective way to preserve is to transcribe. Think of it - how many ancient texts survived because we found papyrus in a jar in some cave? The Ancient Greek works and other things were mostly preserved by monks and others making copies over time. I consulted with an archive a few years ago. They had acquired from records to be preserved from another entity - delivered on circa 1997 DAT tapes. That was challenging to recover circa 2017, in 2030 it will be very difficult and expensive. Ditto for MDisc.