Dark Ages II

• Civilization at risk: Is our most important information about to vanish?
• Here today, gone tomorrow: Disappearing Web sites, unproven storage technologies, obsolete data formats
• Specific, realistic solutions for individuals, organizations, and society

Dark Ages II shows why our data is at far greater risk than we've ever imagined—and envisions a frightening future, where so much critical information is lost that civilization itself could collapse. Bryan Bergeron examines how we're storing our most precious data: on Web sites and email servers that could disappear tomorrow; on unproven magnetic and optical media; and in document formats that become obsolete virtually overnight. After projecting the potential impact of massive data loss, Bergeron offers step-by-step techniques you can use to solve the problem in your own home, organization, or enterprise.

• Why your disks aren't as reliable as you think
• Who owns your data—and what happens when they stop taking care of it?
• What's happening to civilization's "paper trail"?
• Why backups aren't nearly enough
• Why "pervasive computing" will only make the problems worse
• What you can do now to ensure the survival of your digital information—and everyone's

Contents

Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction.

I. HISTORY.
1. Language, Writing, and the Collective Memory.

II. TECHNOLOGY.
2. Digital Media and Machines.
3. Rust Never Sleeps.
4. Digital Data Management.

III. ECONOMICS.
5. The Digital Economy.
6. Spin Control.

IV. SOCIETY.
7. Pervasive Data.
8. The Socio-Technologic Future.

V. SOLUTIONS.
9. Ensuring the Survival of Digital Data.

Bibliography.
Resources.