Minimum Viable Station Documentation

Hello, internet of people!

Something I’ve been thinking about for a long time and have started working on is the creation of documentation for people who want to set up their own analog audiovisual media digitization stations (called elsewhere as memory labs, personal archiving labs, transfer stations, et al). Aside: I’m also super influenced by my goal of supporting an in-the-works Southeast U.S. Transfer Station by any (remote) means possible. 2017 goals!

I’m specifically interested in this documentation’s ability to facilitate realistic fiscal expectations so budgets can be adequately prepared for before getting started (or for the purposes of asking for funding from an organization or using crowdsourcing methods).

Here’s the thing, though… I need your help and expertise. I am not an expert in this, I do not do this full-time (or even significantly part-time). And even if I were an expert – it’s bullshit for any person to think that they know more than many people working together. So, I ask you.

Here is the document.

This is the goal: Provide what the options are, then give a recommendation. If possible, give a tiered recommendation like “$$$ / $$ / $” for “if ya got a bit of cash” to “if you need a bare-bones minimal setup.” Note that a minimal setup does not correlate with “archival quality” standard but rather a “getting this stuff off of an obsolete format before it is no longer possible to realistically or inexpensively to do so.” We don’t have time for that shit.

Here is the document again!

P.S., N.B.: Don’t let best practices block progress.

P.P.S.: Part two – recipes