The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

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oscan1@yahoo.com

The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av oscan1@yahoo.com » 09 okt 2007 06:22:27

I'm certain that everyone who uses this newsgroup has their own
archive of data that they use for researching their interests be they
historical, genealogical, scientific, etc. I'd like to pass along
something I learned the hard way in hope that you can avoid a similar
situation.
After a recent hacker attack that effectively destroyed the hard drive
of my laptop, I began the tedious job of reconstructing my files from
the CD backups I had made. In doing this I have made a couple of
unfortunate discoveries that I would like share. First, if you have
used CD-RWs (that is, CDs which can be erased and reused) for long
term storage, transfer your data ASAP to CD-Rs (CDs that cannot be
erased). The coating on erasable CDs deteriorates at a much faster
rate than on the non-erasable type. Once the surface degrades, the
data is lost permanently. As far as data stored on CD-Rs, the
deterioration still occurs but at a slower rate. It is recommended
that data should still be transferred to new CD-Rs every five years or
so to avoid data loss. I can vouch for this recommendation; I had far
better recovery of the data stored on the CD-Rs than on the CR-RWs.
The second "discovery", one I am sure that many of you are familiar
with, is that just because data becomes available on the internet, it
does not necessarily remain that way. I had hoped to reconstruct some
of the lost data by going back to the websites I had originally
utilized. This has also proven to be a frustrating experience. Large
databases that were once available has disappeared or become
restricted. I had downloaded a large amount of data a few years ago
for genealogical study of Italian immigrants who settled in California
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Birth and Death Indexes
available online at the time have since been removed. A California law
designed to combat identity theft ordered the databases to be removed
from the web. Despite the pleas from local historians and
genealogists, even old records were removed despite the fact that they
could not be used by identity thieves.
Other sites, many here in the U.S., as well as in Italy, where I have
gathered information have also disappeared with all their treasures
into the never-never land of lost internet sites.
There is one last "discovery" I made that is perhaps the most
frustrating of all. Much of the data I had gathered earlier were notes
from books and magazines from three libraries within a few miles of my
homes. At all three of these establishments, I discovered that many of
the sources I had used were gone. Shelves once full of volumes on
history and others social sciences, humanities, and liberal arts had
been culled. Books on western culture had been particularly hard hit.
Oh well, they were only books weren't they? All that information is
now safely preserved on the internet and on CDs so there isn't
anything to worry about.
So to sum up. Remember that just because we live in the age of High
Tech, never assume that our data is safe and accessible. We have to be
diligent in preserving our data because it may not otherwise be there
the next time we need it.

Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us

Gjest

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av Gjest » 09 okt 2007 06:46:19

Dear Robert,

With respect to the online sites that have seemingly vanished, if you
know the original URL, you may be able to make good use of this web
archival site:

http://waybackmachine.org

Enter the URL of the vanished website and waybackmachine will present
you with a series of digital snapshots of the site with working links,
images, etc. I had to use it just today for a website I had
recommended to my students, a site which, alas, had gone the way of
the proverbial dodo.

Most valuable! I hope that you will find it useful for your
predicament.

Best regards,

Judy
http://www.katherineswynford.net
http://katherineswynford.blogspot.com

oscan1@yahoo.com wrote:
I'm certain that everyone who uses this newsgroup has their own
archive of data that they use for researching their interests be they
historical, genealogical, scientific, etc. I'd like to pass along
something I learned the hard way in hope that you can avoid a similar
situation.
After a recent hacker attack that effectively destroyed the hard drive
of my laptop, I began the tedious job of reconstructing my files from
the CD backups I had made. In doing this I have made a couple of
unfortunate discoveries that I would like share. First, if you have
used CD-RWs (that is, CDs which can be erased and reused) for long
term storage, transfer your data ASAP to CD-Rs (CDs that cannot be
erased). The coating on erasable CDs deteriorates at a much faster
rate than on the non-erasable type. Once the surface degrades, the
data is lost permanently. As far as data stored on CD-Rs, the
deterioration still occurs but at a slower rate. It is recommended
that data should still be transferred to new CD-Rs every five years or
so to avoid data loss. I can vouch for this recommendation; I had far
better recovery of the data stored on the CD-Rs than on the CR-RWs.
The second "discovery", one I am sure that many of you are familiar
with, is that just because data becomes available on the internet, it
does not necessarily remain that way. I had hoped to reconstruct some
of the lost data by going back to the websites I had originally
utilized. This has also proven to be a frustrating experience. Large
databases that were once available has disappeared or become
restricted. I had downloaded a large amount of data a few years ago
for genealogical study of Italian immigrants who settled in California
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Birth and Death Indexes
available online at the time have since been removed. A California law
designed to combat identity theft ordered the databases to be removed
from the web. Despite the pleas from local historians and
genealogists, even old records were removed despite the fact that they
could not be used by identity thieves.
Other sites, many here in the U.S., as well as in Italy, where I have
gathered information have also disappeared with all their treasures
into the never-never land of lost internet sites.
There is one last "discovery" I made that is perhaps the most
frustrating of all. Much of the data I had gathered earlier were notes
from books and magazines from three libraries within a few miles of my
homes. At all three of these establishments, I discovered that many of
the sources I had used were gone. Shelves once full of volumes on
history and others social sciences, humanities, and liberal arts had
been culled. Books on western culture had been particularly hard hit.
Oh well, they were only books weren't they? All that information is
now safely preserved on the internet and on CDs so there isn't
anything to worry about.
So to sum up. Remember that just because we live in the age of High
Tech, never assume that our data is safe and accessible. We have to be
diligent in preserving our data because it may not otherwise be there
the next time we need it.

Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us

Gjest

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av Gjest » 09 okt 2007 06:59:08

Sorry to hear that.

They saved my sorry backside today ;-) It's still worth a try...

Judy
http://www.katherineswynford.net
http://katherineswynford.blogspot.com

On Oct 8, 10:53 pm, WJhonson <wjhon...@aol.com> wrote:
In a message dated 10/08/07 22:50:11 Pacific Standard Time, katheryn.swynf...@gmail.com writes:http://waybackmachine.org

Enter the URL of the vanished website and waybackmachine will present
you with a series of digital snapshots of the site with working links,
images, etc.

-------------------
Sort-of.
The Way Back machine has proven that they are next to worthless by allowing individual site owners to "opt-out". So they aren't really "archiving the net" or whatever their original hype was.

In addition it appears they don't really archive *everything* even if you don't opt out.

I'm not happy with them.

Will

oscan1@yahoo.com

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av oscan1@yahoo.com » 09 okt 2007 07:03:17

Thank you for the information. I'll give the way back machine a try. I
have a number of URLs to check on and anything I find will be a great
help. Much Appreciation.

Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us


On Oct 8, 10:46 pm, katheryn.swynf...@gmail.com wrote:
Dear Robert,

With respect to the online sites that have seemingly vanished, if you
know the original URL, you may be able to make good use of this web
archival site:

http://waybackmachine.org

Enter the URL of the vanished website and waybackmachine will present
you with a series of digital snapshots of the site with working links,
images, etc. I had to use it just today for a website I had
recommended to my students, a site which, alas, had gone the way of
the proverbial dodo.

Most valuable! I hope that you will find it useful for your
predicament.

Best regards,

Judyhttp://www.katherineswynford.nethtt ... ogspot.com



osc...@yahoo.com wrote:
I'm certain that everyone who uses this newsgroup has their own
archive of data that they use for researching their interests be they
historical, genealogical, scientific, etc. I'd like to pass along
something I learned the hard way in hope that you can avoid a similar
situation.
After a recent hacker attack that effectively destroyed the hard drive
of my laptop, I began the tedious job of reconstructing my files from
the CD backups I had made. In doing this I have made a couple of
unfortunate discoveries that I would like share. First, if you have
used CD-RWs (that is, CDs which can be erased and reused) for long
term storage, transfer your data ASAP to CD-Rs (CDs that cannot be
erased). The coating on erasable CDs deteriorates at a much faster
rate than on the non-erasable type. Once the surface degrades, the
data is lost permanently. As far as data stored on CD-Rs, the
deterioration still occurs but at a slower rate. It is recommended
that data should still be transferred to new CD-Rs every five years or
so to avoid data loss. I can vouch for this recommendation; I had far
better recovery of the data stored on the CD-Rs than on the CR-RWs.
The second "discovery", one I am sure that many of you are familiar
with, is that just because data becomes available on the internet, it
does not necessarily remain that way. I had hoped to reconstruct some
of the lost data by going back to the websites I had originally
utilized. This has also proven to be a frustrating experience. Large
databases that were once available has disappeared or become
restricted. I had downloaded a large amount of data a few years ago
for genealogical study of Italian immigrants who settled in California
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Birth and Death Indexes
available online at the time have since been removed. A California law
designed to combat identity theft ordered the databases to be removed
from the web. Despite the pleas from local historians and
genealogists, even old records were removed despite the fact that they
could not be used by identity thieves.
Other sites, many here in the U.S., as well as in Italy, where I have
gathered information have also disappeared with all their treasures
into the never-never land of lost internet sites.
There is one last "discovery" I made that is perhaps the most
frustrating of all. Much of the data I had gathered earlier were notes
from books and magazines from three libraries within a few miles of my
homes. At all three of these establishments, I discovered that many of
the sources I had used were gone. Shelves once full of volumes on
history and others social sciences, humanities, and liberal arts had
been culled. Books on western culture had been particularly hard hit.
Oh well, they were only books weren't they? All that information is
now safely preserved on the internet and on CDs so there isn't
anything to worry about.
So to sum up. Remember that just because we live in the age of High
Tech, never assume that our data is safe and accessible. We have to be
diligent in preserving our data because it may not otherwise be there
the next time we need it.

Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

a425couple

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av a425couple » 09 okt 2007 16:31:25

<oscan1@yahoo.com> wrote
I'm certain that everyone who uses this newsgroup has their own
archive of data that they use for researching their interests be they
historical, genealogical, scientific, etc. I'd like to pass along
something I learned the hard way in hope that you can avoid a similar
situation.
After a recent hacker attack that effectively destroyed the hard drive
of my laptop, I began the tedious job of reconstructing my files from
the CD backups I had made. In doing this I have made a couple of
unfortunate discoveries that I would like share. First, if you have
used CD-RWs (that is, CDs which can be erased and reused) for long
term storage, transfer your data ASAP to CD-Rs (CDs that cannot be
erased). The coating on erasable CDs deteriorates at a much faster
rate than on the non-erasable type. Once the surface degrades, the
data is lost permanently. As far as data stored on CD-Rs, the
deterioration still occurs but at a slower rate. It is recommended
that data should still be transferred to new CD-Rs every five years or
so to avoid data loss. I can vouch for this recommendation; I had far
better recovery of the data stored on the CD-Rs than on the CR-RWs.
The second "discovery", one I am sure that many of you are familiar
with, is that just because data becomes available on the internet, it
does not necessarily remain that way. I had hoped to reconstruct some
of the lost data by going back to the websites I had originally
utilized. This has also proven to be a frustrating experience. Large
databases that were once available has disappeared or become
restricted. I had downloaded a large amount of data a few years ago
for genealogical study of Italian immigrants who settled in California
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Birth and Death Indexes
available online at the time have since been removed. A California law
designed to combat identity theft ordered the databases to be removed
from the web. Despite the pleas from local historians and
genealogists, even old records were removed despite the fact that they
could not be used by identity thieves.
Other sites, many here in the U.S., as well as in Italy, where I have
gathered information have also disappeared with all their treasures
into the never-never land of lost internet sites.
There is one last "discovery" I made that is perhaps the most
frustrating of all. Much of the data I had gathered earlier were notes
from books and magazines from three libraries within a few miles of my
homes. At all three of these establishments, I discovered that many of
the sources I had used were gone. Shelves once full of volumes on
history and others social sciences, humanities, and liberal arts had
been culled. Books on western culture had been particularly hard hit.
Oh well, they were only books weren't they? All that information is
now safely preserved on the internet and on CDs so there isn't
anything to worry about.

So to sum up. Remember that just because we live in the age of High
Tech, never assume that our data is safe and accessible. We have to be
diligent in preserving our data because it may not otherwise be there
the next time we need it. Robert S. Rizzolo researchitaly.us

Interesting. Thanks.
Seems very valid to me.
Although at a level far below yours (I'm sure), I've experienced
much of the same.
Sites disappear. Also, storage outside my domain gets corrupted.
Storage on one of my computers, gets semi-unusable on 'upgrade',
(or especially on failure of 'old' ((?!)) computer).
Also (probably just with my limitations) at times stuff stored on
disks gets mostly/totally unusable on 'upgrade'.
And probably for me, one of the worst problems is that I saved
much on first the 'floppy disks', then the 3.5 Diskettes.
Really beyond my non librarian brain to keep properly organized.
For whatever reason, the knowledge I have in the old fashioned
printed books seems for me to stay more easily accessable.

oscan1@yahoo.com

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av oscan1@yahoo.com » 09 okt 2007 19:09:54

On Oct 9, 8:31 am, "a425couple" <a425cou...@hotmail.com> wrote:
osc...@yahoo.com> wrote





I'm certain that everyone who uses this newsgroup has their own
archive of data that they use for researching their interests be they
historical, genealogical, scientific, etc. I'd like to pass along
something I learned the hard way in hope that you can avoid a similar
situation.
After a recent hacker attack that effectively destroyed the hard drive
of my laptop, I began the tedious job of reconstructing my files from
the CD backups I had made. In doing this I have made a couple of
unfortunate discoveries that I would like share. First, if you have
used CD-RWs (that is, CDs which can be erased and reused) for long
term storage, transfer your data ASAP to CD-Rs (CDs that cannot be
erased). The coating on erasable CDs deteriorates at a much faster
rate than on the non-erasable type. Once the surface degrades, the
data is lost permanently. As far as data stored on CD-Rs, the
deterioration still occurs but at a slower rate. It is recommended
that data should still be transferred to new CD-Rs every five years or
so to avoid data loss. I can vouch for this recommendation; I had far
better recovery of the data stored on the CD-Rs than on the CR-RWs.
The second "discovery", one I am sure that many of you are familiar
with, is that just because data becomes available on the internet, it
does not necessarily remain that way. I had hoped to reconstruct some
of the lost data by going back to the websites I had originally
utilized. This has also proven to be a frustrating experience. Large
databases that were once available has disappeared or become
restricted. I had downloaded a large amount of data a few years ago
for genealogical study of Italian immigrants who settled in California
in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. The Birth and Death Indexes
available online at the time have since been removed. A California law
designed to combat identity theft ordered the databases to be removed
from the web. Despite the pleas from local historians and
genealogists, even old records were removed despite the fact that they
could not be used by identity thieves.
Other sites, many here in the U.S., as well as in Italy, where I have
gathered information have also disappeared with all their treasures
into the never-never land of lost internet sites.
There is one last "discovery" I made that is perhaps the most
frustrating of all. Much of the data I had gathered earlier were notes
from books and magazines from three libraries within a few miles of my
homes. At all three of these establishments, I discovered that many of
the sources I had used were gone. Shelves once full of volumes on
history and others social sciences, humanities, and liberal arts had
been culled. Books on western culture had been particularly hard hit.
Oh well, they were only books weren't they? All that information is
now safely preserved on the internet and on CDs so there isn't
anything to worry about.
So to sum up. Remember that just because we live in the age of High
Tech, never assume that our data is safe and accessible. We have to be
diligent in preserving our data because it may not otherwise be there
the next time we need it. Robert S. Rizzolo researchitaly.us

Interesting. Thanks.
Seems very valid to me.
Although at a level far below yours (I'm sure), I've experienced
much of the same.
Sites disappear. Also, storage outside my domain gets corrupted.
Storage on one of my computers, gets semi-unusable on 'upgrade',
(or especially on failure of 'old' ((?!)) computer).
Also (probably just with my limitations) at times stuff stored on
disks gets mostly/totally unusable on 'upgrade'.
And probably for me, one of the worst problems is that I saved
much on first the 'floppy disks', then the 3.5 Diskettes.
Really beyond my non librarian brain to keep properly organized.
For whatever reason, the knowledge I have in the old fashioned
printed books seems for me to stay more easily accessable.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I was in the "book industry" for a number of years. For several
decades during the 20th Century, most books were printed on acid-based
paper. They have a very poor shelf-life as well. They literally burn
away. So be sure to check on the "old-fashioned printed books" as well
to see how they are holding up over time. Too bad that there doesn't
seem to be any modern media that equals the durability of good old
stone tablets and parchment. If I may be a little facetious, I think
the ancients may have had it right all along when is comes to long-
term record storeage.
Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us

Gjest

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av Gjest » 09 okt 2007 20:56:27

On Oct 9, 11:09 am, "osc...@yahoo.com" <osc...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Too bad that there doesn't
seem to be any modern media that equals the durability of good old
stone tablets and parchment.

Maybe not, but I have worked with some books printed before the acid-
paper era (for example, in the early 18th century) and they look
barely different than they would have come off the press. This is
certainly a case where modernization of the printing process resulted
in a step backwards. That being said, it is perhaps not a misfortune
that some printed works will decay to dust.

taf

oscan1@yahoo.com

Re: The need for protecting your data in the Digital Age

Legg inn av oscan1@yahoo.com » 09 okt 2007 21:35:33

On Oct 9, 12:56 pm, t...@clearwire.net wrote:
On Oct 9, 11:09 am, "osc...@yahoo.com" <osc...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Too bad that there doesn't
seem to be any modern media that equals the durability of good old
stone tablets and parchment.

Maybe not, but I have worked with some books printed before the acid-
paper era (for example, in the early 18th century) and they look
barely different than they would have come off the press. This is
certainly a case where modernization of the printing process resulted
in a step backwards. That being said, it is perhaps not a misfortune
that some printed works will decay to dust.

taf

I believe that back in the 1980s that a documentary was produced
regarding the deterioration of much of collection in the US National
Archives. If I remember correctly, it was titled something like
"Burning Archives." It dealt with the emergency measures that were
being taken to try to save books and documents that had been printed
on acid-based paper. There was a fair large percentage of the
collection that had become so fragile that it would crumble to the
touch. Does anyone else remember anything about this project and how
successful is has been? For private collections I know that there are
techniques that can utilized to counteract the effects of acid-based
paper. It is also important to be careful not to use any folders,
sheet protectors, etc. that are acid-based. Some documents that might
otherwise have survived have been lost because the wrong materials
were used to store them.

Robert S. Rizzolo
researchitaly.us

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