> On Mar 3, 2025, at 10:23 AM, Noah Adebanjo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Dear Code4Lib Community,
> 
> I'm a graduate assistant working at the Center for Arkansas History and
> Culture archives, currently processing the born-digital materials from the
> Winthrop Rockefeller Institute collection. Among these materials, I've
> discovered several IBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter) tapes
> that date from the late 1960s/early 1970s.
> 
> As these are relatively uncommon media formats now, I'm reaching out for
> advice on a couple of things;
> 
>   1. Best practices for preserving these magnetic tapes
>   2. Recommendations for recovering/accessing the data they contain
>   3. Whether any institutions have experience with similar materials and
>   would be willing to share their workflows
>   4. References to vendors or specialists who might be able to assist with
>   data recovery
>   5. or any documentation about the IBM MT/ST file formats and technical
>   specifications



> ...


I remember years ago reading about a guy in Pennsylvania who was offering to buy old tape drives as he was trying to have one of every manufacturer & model as he ran a data recovery business, but I don't know if there are stand-alone drives for Selectric tapes.

If the tapes are in good enough condition, it might be easier to find someone with a working typewriter, have it print out the document, and then OCR it.

-Joe

(no affiliation)