Memorial Day
On Memorial Day we visited the Golden Gate National Cemetary near San Francisco. The subject of the service there was, “Freedom isn’t Free”.
That evening, we watched the League of Grateful Sons which I (Steven) had not seen. In all, it was good to remember those who gave their lives serving our country, and made me glad for the work I have been doing to try to remember and preserve family history, geneaology, stories, photos and so on, for future generations (as the Lord calls).
Speaking of 200, 2,000 or 20,000 year plans, one thought I had while watching “The 200-year plan” last year was this: how do we preserve data for our great grandchildren in this digital age? Hard drives wear out, and as well, file formats change. Well, I have some ideas here- reply if you are interested in discussing it.
Janej Said,
June 5, 2010 @ 10:43 am
I might be a luddite but I think that the best way of preserving information for our children let alone our great grandchildren will prove to be old fashioned ink and paper. After all the Doomsday Book is still readable now after over 1000 years, even if the language is archaic, it can be read and the language learnt. Yet I have old spreadsheets and copies of my CV on floppy disk that are less than 10 years old yet completely unreadable because I don’t have access to a floppy disk drive any more and I don’t think the versions of word or excel are compatible with what I have on my machines.
It’s an interesting topic, I’m sure that there will other solutions offered like using flickr and other web based apps for storage, but how long will they last? How will we pass on the “ownership” of such collections to our children?
Cait Said,
June 6, 2010 @ 5:03 am
I’ve begun writing records with stories of my grandparents and all I can remember of my family history, though we’ve failed in numerous attempts to trace our genealogy farther back than our family stories go. I’d love to have printed records, along with scrapbooks and things like these, to pass down, with detailed history and wisdom for great great grandchildren. I think even organizing emails and letters and getting them printed and bound would be worth it in some cases!
I agree with ‘Janej’ that hard copies seem the best to me (also I simply love paper!) but I’d be very interested in ideas for lasting digital records.
D.J. Said,
June 6, 2010 @ 6:27 am
Janej, my thoughts were almost exactly the same as yours. Now I am really curious to see what ideas Steven has! 8-)
Paul Stefan Ort Said,
June 6, 2010 @ 8:29 pm
What are your thoughts on digital archival, Steven?
Jeff B. Said,
June 6, 2010 @ 9:47 pm
My 50-cents (to adjust for inflation since the saying was introduced)
One would have to look at the advantages and disadvantages of each mode of data transfer and even consider how multiple modes might work together to provide greatest effectiveness.
Memory – We could just tell the next generation in such a way so as to make it possible for them to remember it (song, rhyme, repetition, acrostics, etc.).
*Pros*:
-Difficult to destroy, especially when remembered by multiple people.
-Storage space and medium doesn’t cost anything.
-The record is always with those who have it.
-Requires no extra equipment under most circumstances.
-Tranportation poses little risk to it
-It is widely available
-It can be recorded pretty much anywhere
*Cons*:
-Large amount of effort required for every transfer.
-Limited amount of detail that can be stored.
-High risk of losing accuracy through multiple “generations” of storage (literal generations, in this case!).
-Does not transfer images without special training and skills and specific sounds only poorly.
-It would require more exercise of the brain than our civilization is used to, and hence would require retraining. This makes it less likely that people would adopt it.
-It does not have the “real historic thing” advantage (such as paper, stone, etc.)
Paper
*Pros*:
-Using an ink pen, paper is very mobile – one can record to it in many places. However, it is hard to work with while your hands are busy or you are walking somewhere (Memory, for example, can be transferred during both of these activities)
-Using a computer printer, it can accomodate pictures as well as words.
-It can last a very long time (it would be interesting to know more about types of paper and how long they last. Pencil marks on basic notepaper may not last very long.
-It is widely available
-It has the “real historical thing” advantage. If it is hand-written, that increases the advantage (people can touch it and marvel that this was the actual journal of their great-great-great grandfather, and imagine him writing in it).
*Cons*:
-It does not transfer sound.
-It is easily burned, cut, and ruined by water
-After a few hundred years, unless it is stored in excellent environmental conditions, it is likely to disintegrate.
Other ideas for review:
Hard Stone (vs. soft stones like lime stone, etc.)
Markings in wood (you can review it for thoroughness sake, but don’t spend too long!)
Memory Aids (Twelve stones setup by Israelites after crossing Jordan)
Photographs
Digital:
Harddrives
Archival Grade CDs/DVDs
I too am interested to see what Steven has to say.
Jeff
P.S. Greetings from Washington State. It’s been a while! I will have to call you sometime soon!
victoria Said,
June 7, 2010 @ 6:01 am
Okay, Jeff gets the award for really thinking this through. In our house we stick to photo albums and paper and ink. We have all the digital stuff but I guess I’m too old-fashioned to depend upon it. When our older children were born we used camcorders to record their lives. VHS is pretty much gone now. Then we switched to DVD recordings for our younger children; but I think that will probably fade away too. However, I have lots of photos in photo albums and things written down to remember.
Victoria
Deborah Lee Said,
June 7, 2010 @ 8:45 am
Greetings from Bend, Oregon,
As a computer professional for 25 years, whose laptop harddisk crashed this week, I would love to hear your thoughts…
Melody Said,
June 21, 2010 @ 12:26 pm
Yes, Mr. Loomis, we would all enjoy reading your ideas and am sure we would all benefit in some way or other. Another post on the subject perhaps?