Comment
Important considerations not addressed in the article
- Ensuring that working copies of data are not corrupted or modified. If working copies are not read only there is a risk that they will be modified by software that accesses them.
- Ensuring that copies are accurate digital copies of the original using data verification techniques such as checksums. Otherwise a single mistake copying the data from one medium to another means the data will be lost and further efforts will only copy damaged data
- Appropriate cataloguing so that data is easily accessed
I've run into these problems preserving family photos. I have photos dating back to the 1990s but most of my collection starts around 2000. To the best of my knowledge I have not lost a single digital photo yet, but I have been surprised by programs modifying tags etc. when I recently started recording and comparing checksums between copies of my photos.
I intend for my photos to outlive me at the very least.
--
Sammy
posted by Sammy Yousef
February 23, 2010
About once a month at Sigma Xi headquarters, we liven up the lunch hour with an American Scientist Pizza Lunch talk. In these informal lectures, scientists describe new research to nonscientists. The series is light on jargon but heavy on solid science. Each Pizza Lunch offers an in-depth look at its subject, whether it's bedbugs or the smart grid. Click below to read about and download these talks -- and to subscribe!
JSTOR, the online academic archive, now contains complete back issues of American Scientist from its inception in 1913 (as Sigma Xi Quarterly) through 2005.
The table of contents for each issue is freely available to all users; those with institutional access can read each complete issue.
View the full collection here.