WelcomeandWorkshopBackground

Purpose• Provideyouwithresourcesandtoolstohelpyou

tostoreyourresearchoutputssafelyandsecurely.

Context• WorkshopSeries:PreservationandCurationof

ETDResearchDataandComplexDigitalObjects• Othertopics:DataOrganization,FileFormats,

Metadata,Storage,VersionControl• https://educopia.org/research/etdplus

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LearningObjectives

• Understandtherangeofthreatstostoragestabilityinthedigitalenvironmentsyouareusingforyourresearchoutputs.

• Learnhowtoweightheprosandconsofdifferentapproachestoresearchcontentstorage.

• Gainfamiliaritywithstoragefundamentals,includingthecurrentandemergingstorageoptionsfordigitalresearchoutputs.

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WhyStoringCopiesinMultipleLocationsMatters…

Viruses

File Corruption

Physicaldisasters

Theft

Storage device malfunctions

Accidental erasure

Malicious deletion

Overwritten files

Lost password or key

Hacking

Back-up

Acopyofyourdigitalcontent,ideallystoredinadifferent

locationfromtheoriginal,usuallymadetopreventdataloss.

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Commonstorageoptions

• Laptop• Desktop• Externalharddrive(spinningorSSD)• Flashdrive• The“cloud”

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Storagerecommendations

• Maintainatleastonelocal(i.e.,non-cloud-based)copyofyourcontent.

• Maintainatleastthreeseparatecompletecopiesofyourresearchcontent.

• Maintainatleastoneofthosecopiesinadifferentgeographiclocation.

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Storagerecommendations(cont.)

• Maintainahistoryofchangesinatleastonelocation(e.g.,usinga“TimeCapsule”softwarepackagetoautomaticallybackupyourcontentontoanexternaldrivewithoutdeletingoldercopies).

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Preservation:The“seriesofmanagedactivitiesnecessarytoensurecontinuedaccesstodigitalmaterialsforaslongasnecessary”

-DigitalPreservationCoalition

ManagedActivitiesandPreservation

• Produceandmaintainaninventoryofallofyourcontent,documentingfilenames,sizes,locations,types,and“checksums”.

• Createandregularlycheck“checksums”foryourmostimportantresearchfiles.

• Employatoollike“Fixity”toscanspecifiedfoldersordirectoriesonaregularbasisandreportchangestoyouviaemail.https://github.com/avpreserve/fixity

ManagedActivities(continued)

• Systematizeyourfolder- andfile-nameconventionsusinghuman-identifiablenames.

• Usenamingconventionstomarkversionsoffiles(e.g.,MusicofSocialChange-v12.csv).

• Makesureyourfilenamesarefollowedbythecorrectfileextension(e.g.,.txt,.csv).

• Avoidusingspecialcharactersinallfileandfoldernames(e.g.,\?:*?<>{}[]&$,;.!).

KeyResources• JesusVigo,“WorldBackupDay:BestPracticesto

BackupYourData,”TechRepublichttp://www.techrepublic.com/article/world-backup-day-best-practices-to-backup-your-data/

• Forgeneralinfoonarchivingandbackingupcontent,seethePersonalDigitalArchivingresources.http://digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/

StorageBack-up:Acopyofyourdigitalcontent,ideallystoredinadifferentlocationfromtheoriginal,usuallymadetopreventdataloss.Preservation:The“seriesofmanagedactivitiesnecessarytoensurecontinuedaccesstodigitalmaterialsforaslongasnecessary”.–DigitalPreservationCoalition

Whereandhowyouchoosetostoreyourresearchmaterialsandwritingswilldeterminehowlongtheysurvive.Tomitigateagainstloss,makeyourownback-upsonaregular,formalizedschedule(e.g.dailyorweekly).

Threatstostorageenvironments:• Naturaldisaster• Humanerror• Humanmalice• Drivefailure• Formatobsolescence• Mediaobsolescence• Bitrot• Businessfailure• Softwareorhardwareerror

Advancedrecommendations:1. Produceandmaintainaninventoryofallof

yourcontent,documentingfilenames,sizes,locations,andtypes

2. Createandregularlycheck“checksums”ordigitalsignaturesforyourmostimportantresearchfiles.Checksumscanbegeneratedbyseveralopensourcetoolsandutilitiesandtheycanbestoredinyourinventory.

3. Monitoryourcontenttoensuremissing,moved,andrenamedfilesareautomaticallybroughttoyourattention.Atoollike“Fixity”canscanspecifiedfoldersordirectoriesonaregularbasisandreportchangestoyouviaemail.

Resources1. For“back-up”advice,seeJesusVigo,

BestPracticestoBackupYourData2. Formoreoncloud-basedbackups,pleasesee

CharlesBeagrieLtd.HowCloudStoragecanaddresstheneedofpublicarchivesintheUK

3. Forgeneralinformation,seealsoPersonalDigitalArchiving

Basicrecommendations:1. Maintainatleastonelocal(i.e.,non-cloud-

based)copyofyourcontent2. Maintainatleastthreeseparatecomplete

copiesofyourresearchcontent3. Maintainatleastonecopyinadifferent

geographiclocation4. Maintainahistoryofchangesinatleastone

location(e.g.,usinga“TimeCapsule”softwarepackagetoautomaticallybackupyourcontentwithoutdeletingoldercopies)

5. Documentinatextfilehow,when,andwhereyoustoreandbackupyourmaterials

6. Systematizeyourfolder- andfile-nameconventionsusinghuman-identifiableinformation

7. Usenamingconventionstomarkversionsoffiles,e.g.,usingconsecutivenumberstotrackafilethroughalleditsandrevisionsthattakeplacetoit.(e.g.,filename-v12.txt)

8. Makesureyourfilenamesarefollowedbythecorrectfileextension(e.g.,.txt,.csv)

9. Avoidusingspecialcharactersinallfileandfoldernames(e.g.,\?:*?<>{}[]&$,;.!)

10. Documenttheformatsyouaremanagingandthepotentialsustainabilityissues

11. Saveacopyofyourresearchfilesinnonproprietaryformats,sothatyoudon’tneedasoftwarelicensetorenderandusethem.

Activity

• Takeoneprojectyouareworkingonnow,anddevelopa spreadsheet-basedinventoryfortheassociatedfiles indicatingfilenames,sizes,types,andstoragelocations.

• Establisharegularroutineforbackingupyourcontentinat leastoneadditionallocation.Makesuretheroutineincludes aregularschedule,awayofstoringcontentorganizedbythe dateofabackup,andawaytomaintainmultiplebackups simultaneously.

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