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Why digital files are at risk

If you make podcasts, you are likely creating lots of digital files. Without taking proper preservation action, these files will be at risk of becoming unplayable, disappearing, or both. Why? Because they are dependent on certain things to work, like

Software to create, edit, and play them back

Services to distribute and promote their content

Data to make them findable/recognizable

Storage devices to store them

Electricity and $ to power/run all of the above\

In an instant these things can succumb to failure (power outage), damage (coffee spill), loss (hard drive dies), economic hardship (streaming platform folds), and trends (MP3s go out of fashion)

What can you do to combat risk? Keep reading!

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For a scintillating read re: backup almost-disaster, search for “toy story 2 backup” in your browser!

What podcast technology will succumb first?

That software you use to make project files?

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Edit: podcast_001.ptx

The MP3 or WAV file format?

RSS feeds?

Smart phones???!!! (yeah, you laugh now, but, remember that thing called the iPod shuffle?)

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Great Grandma’s Podcast

That streaming platform you’ve uploaded all your podcasts to?

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Great Grandma’s Podcast Website

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