With today's fleeting email communications, what steps are big dealers, like QDB, taking to preserve

Longacre

In another thread, I mentioned that QDB took out a full page ad in the Whitman Tokens and Medals book inviting correspondence on a bunch of matters involving those items. Although numismatics is a gentleman's pursuit, even your very own Longacre uses email to correspond with his preferred dealers, rather than lovingly penning a letter and sending it by post.

I fear that the correspondence files of BIG dealers, like QDB, is fleeting, given that probably most of his correspondence is in email form. Does anyone know if QDB or any other big dealers are taking steps to preserve their correspondence for future generations? Even if most of today's writings are in email form, it is possible to archive emails (or even print them out) so that future numismatists can benefit from the information that passes through the people in the know.

I think this issue is important enough for someone to possibly drop a note to QDB and ask what his standard procedures are for maintaining his files. I think he probably has too much information that could be lost if steps are not taken to preserve things. What do you think?

seanq

<< <i>I think this issue is important enough for someone to possibly drop a note to QDB and ask what his standard procedures are for maintaining his files. I think he probably has too much information that could be lost if steps are not taken to preserve things. What do you think? >>



I would suggest someone other than Longacre send the email, as I'm sure QDB has long ago set up a filter for Longacre's address.


Sean Reynolds

fc

if you wish to use email and other digital forms of communication.. the users should
invest a wee bit of time on how to use other more reliable forms of long term storage
for it. As in a back up hard drive that archives email and on occasion burn it to dvd and
set it on your shelf with your numis books.

otherwise it is no different the letters in many respects. water damage, fire, etc.. all
can destroy paper just as easily as a computer. for paper, many people scan it into the
computer and store as a pdf.. then archive.

the reverse can be done too. print out the good emails every month and throw in a box.

adamlaneus

Very few folks run a triple-redundant storage scheme. But that is the only way you can give yourself a close to 100% assurance you will not lose your data.

Some folks store in a single location and are one step away from a total loss. Most folks are in this boat.

Some folks rely upon CD/DVD backups and are five years away from discovering that those inks fade with time, and one of those CD/DVDS will become unreadable even if properly stored. Most of the folks that aren't in the first boat are probably in this one.

A few folks store the same data in two locations, but on the day of failure, you are temporarily reduced to one copy of your data. A scary place to be if you care for your data. Two copies is better than one, but when you have one failure...think what happens when you are replacing that second copy...you are using your only copy of the data as a source and are very near a total loss.

If you are truly concerned about your computer data, you will have three copies of it and you will compare that data after a copy to assure it copied perfectly. Very, very few folks do this. Because of natural disasters, one of those three storage units needs to be kept off site away from the other two.

It also requires a periodic process of auditing and updating to maintain these three good copies of the data. It's not enough just to have the hardware sitting around.

You might think these measures are extreme. But if you are going to keep you data indefinitely, you need to think about equipment failure and natural disasters and how your data will survive things like a lightning strike, fire, theft, etc.

I am maintaining about 1.2TB in this way; my image library mostly.
I do not want to ever, ever, ever lose any of my photos. I consider my image library to be permanent and I take these steps.

My storage units...two computers and one "infrant" hard drive array.

RWB

All my emails are archived in ASCII. (That’s a small town in central Pennsylvania.)

Once a year, I burn some DVDs and send them to a Buddhist monastery in the eastern part of Nepal. There, after appropriate prayers and the burning of incense made from recycled pixels and lost terabytes, the monks transcribe each character to archival sheepskin. They work tirelessly and with amazing accuracy under the watchful eye of their Master Terton Tenzin Gelong (aka Taxay). The characters are minuscule and it is amazing how quickly they can convert a few gigabytes into real words.

If I ever need messages, a quick email to Master Tenzin results in a full and complete reply including notarized affidavits.

jfoot13

YEAR 2108

While perusing the Numismatic Wing of the world famous Longacre Estate the curator made a fantastic discovery. During a remodeling of the reading room a small hidden space was found behind the display of nonsmoking smoking jackets, contained in this space was an antiquated laptop believed to be owned by this numismatic giant. The laptop contains email corresponence with his contemporary peers QDB and one Doug Winters along with a listing of several million unanswered questions of the peroid.
Current numismatic researchers are working themselfs into a frenzy at the prospect of bidding on this previously unknown wealth of information. The hammer price is expected to be in the 20-25 million dollar range.

numisma

<< <i>All my emails are archived in ASCII. (That’s a small town in central Pennsylvania.)

Once a year, I burn some DVDs and send them to a Buddhist monastery in the eastern part of Nepal. There, after appropriate prayers and the burning of incense made from recycled pixels and lost terabytes, the monks transcribe each character to archival sheepskin. They work tirelessly and with amazing accuracy under the watchful eye of their Master Terton Tenzin Gelong (aka Taxay). The characters are minuscule and it is amazing how quickly they can convert a few gigabytes into real words.

If I ever need messages, a quick email to Master Tenzin results in a full and complete reply including notarized affidavits. >>



That is rich! Thanks for the laugh.

RWB

And collectors thought no one knew where Dan Taxay was hiding out!

numisma

I am not a "big dealer," but I am concious about upholding the traditional methods of correspondence. For example, I will sometimes send a **gasp** handwritten letter to a customer or fellow numismatist. Depends on the purpose and importance of the information. If I am simply making dinner plans with someone, an email or phone call is most convenient.

Longacre

<< <i>YEAR 2108

While perusing the Numismatic Wing of the world famous Longacre Estate the curator made a fantastic discovery. During a remodeling of the reading room a small hidden space was found behind the display of nonsmoking smoking jackets, contained in this space was an antiquated laptop believed to be owned by this numismatic giant. The laptop contains email corresponence with his contemporary peers QDB and one Doug Winters along with a listing of several million unanswered questions of the peroid.
Current numismatic researchers are working themselfs into a frenzy at the prospect of bidding on this previously unknown wealth of information. The hammer price is expected to be in the 20-25 million dollar range. >>




I like the sounds of this.

CaptHenway

The government is currently building an underground depository just outside of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for used electrons. Starting in 2010, all old e-mail messages will be deposited in this site on a weekly basis.

Quarternut

<< <i>And collectors thought no one knew where Dan Taxay was hiding out! >>



I thought his name was "Don"?

QN