I agree with Joel.

To keep the original tape as a backup is a very good idea. And I believe most people do that.
I also copy the finished project back to a new tape as a backup.

One thing to consider is that when you re-use tape, you can accidentally erase good footage. (I've done this once.)

Alright, so I've decided, I'm going to be using minidisc for all my rough recordings, and when I do proper ones/final ones I will be doing so straight onto my camera. Thanks for all the advice.

Dennis

Tape is an very cost and space efficient way to archive video. You get 1 hour ov video (equivalent to 13 GB of file space) on a tiny cassette. Beats CDs and DVDs (as data media) hands down.

Good luck.

Dennis