5.7.5 Transfer and Backup of content in the Field
5.7.5.1 Field recordings remain vulnerable while in the field, and unless back up copies are created, are at risk of being lost. A second copy of a field recording should be made at the time of recording or as soon as possible after the recording is completed. Different workflows and situations make for different approaches, but generally speaking, the workflow selected should offer the best possible safety strategy.
5.7.5.2 Hard disk and solid state recorders offer a file based recording technology either on hard disks or on changeable card media. The recording is generally deleted from either of these media after the wanted file is transferred to another storage environment. This is clearly an area of risk in the use of the new technology and must be managed carefully to ensure no loss of wanted material. The recording medium should be regarded as an original carrier as long as possible. It should be erased only after verifying the correct data transfer into an archival system. In the case where a long field trip requires the management of large amounts of data which cannot be immediately archived, duplicates should be created and stored in the field. In the case of flash card or SD recorders it may be useful to invest in additional storage cards which are used to store recording until recorded content is transferred to a more sustainable storage system. In the case of hard disk or laptop recording devices, portable hard disk storage devices can be used to create backup copies until the data has been successfully transferred.
5.7.5.3 In practice, some devices offer parallel use of internal hard disk and storage cards, or allow the parallel recording to hard disk. This is an advantage as it enables the automatic creation of a safety copy as part of the recording process and should be undertaken whenever possible. Alternately, safety copies can be manually created in the field, using external hard disks, laptops or at least CD/ DVD drives.
5.7.5.4 Some devices create file names automatically when a new storage medium is inserted (automated numbering starting with the same file name on each new medium), so the copy process has to be carefully managed to be sure that files named the same on different carriers can be correctly matched with the correspondent metadata/ field notes etc. In the worst case this can lead to accidental erasure of identically named files and so a careful structure and naming strategy is necessary. Renaming the files after the copy process is recommended, provided that the original file is not changed or manipulated in some other way.
