Storage and Backup

Digital media is notoriously fragile. Data can disappear from a system due to anything from static electricity to hard disk crashes, and the lifespan of all current forms of digital storage is open to question. In order to prevent the loss of many hours, days, or even years of work, it is crucial for publishers of electronic data to establish regular backup cycles of their publications on stable mass storage media, and probably to engage a second party such as the NLC to provide reliable archiving and storage of such data.

Archival Media

There are many forms of mass storage media available today: removable media (floppy, zip/jaz disks, superdisks, tape drives, CD-ROMs, CD-RW, DVD etc.) and fixed media types, such as hard disks.

Storage Management.org is a 'living appendix' to a book by Jon William Toigo, The Holy Grail of Data Storage Management (Prentice Hall, 1999). The site exists to facilitate the education of technology end users and to provide a vehicle for communicating to the community of vendors the actual requirements and experience of present and prospective storage technology consumers.

The PC Technology Guide's storage page features an extensive outline of the construction, operation and interface standards for all major forms of computer storage.

The Network Storage Buyers' Guide provides information on storage hardware and software. It features a searchable database of products, links to vendor Web Sites, a library of white papers, press releases, resellers information, product presentations, and more.

Version Control

In the world of software development, version control refers to the process of tracking the development of a given piece of software. Each stage or version of a program's development is identified by a 'build number'; initial 'beta' versions typically are represented by decimals under the number one. A stable 'alpha' release is usually version 1.0, and represents the first fully functional version of the software. Subsequent releases incorporating new features and improvements are assigned new values according to the same logic.

In the last few years, developers of corporate intranets and extranets such as Open Text, makers of LiveLink and B2Bscene, have utilized the notion of version control to describe the process of managing a document's evolution in a collaborative environment.

Google's Document management page provides a useful set of links to sites concerned with version control, and to vendors who provide document management products and services.

AIIM, The Association for Information and Image Management, is an international organization made up of people in the information management community. It is the meeting place where users, vendors and solution providers come together to solve problems, present ideas, provide solutions and establish relationships.