Ephemeral Data, Real Need?

“The digital revolution has spawned billions upon billions of gigabytes of data… By 2011 the digital universe of ones and zeros will be 10 times the size it was in 2006.

“But the downside is that much of this data is ephemeral, and society is headed toward a kind of digital Alzheimer's…

“Data is ‘the natural resource for the Internet age,’ said Francine Berman, director of the San Diego Supercomputer Center... But, she added, ‘digital data is enormously fragile.’ …

“For all their qualities, electrons can seem awfully feeble when compared with a good old-fashioned book. ‘With the right kind of paper and the right kind of stewardship,’ Dr. Berman said, ‘you can keep a book for 100 years or more.’ The interface is as simple as it gets: open the book and look at the page...

“No one is suggesting that we try to hold on to every bit of data lingering in every obsolete corner. Choices must be made about the kind of material that should be kept fresh and accessible for 5 years, or 50, or 1,000 …

“Dr. [Brian] Lavoie said… ‘you can have the most elegant technological solution to the digital-preservation problem, but if there's no economics underpinning it, then there's no solution at all.’ …

“Dr. [Margaret] Hedstrom said, ‘the issue is about losing the ability, in a systematic way, of being able to preserve anything.’ … People think that because the cost of storage is dropping ‘we can save everything,’ she said. ‘But that's based on a naive view of what 'everything' actually is.’ …

“She said she was thrilled, therefore, to see serious projects coming from the National Science Foundation and heartened that many approaches were being considered. ‘If everybody's doing the same thing, we might all be making the same mistake’.”

(“In Storing 1's and 0's, The Question Is $” John Schwartz. The New York Times. April 9, 2008. pg. 1)

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