The People Rescuing Forgotten Knowledge Trapped On Old Floppy Disks (bbc.com)
- Reference: 0179746568
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/10/10/1754212/the-people-rescuing-forgotten-knowledge-trapped-on-old-floppy-disks
- Source link: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251009-rescuing-knowledge-trapped-on-old-floppy-disks
> At one point in technology history, floppy disks reigned supreme. Files, pictures, games, everything was put on a floppy disk. But technology doesn't stand still and as time went on disks were replaced by CDs, DVDs, thumb drives, and now cloud storage. Despite these changes, floppy disks are still found in long forgotten corners of businesses or stuffed in boxs in the attic. What is on these disks is anyone's guess, but [2]Cambridge University Library is racing against time to preserve the data . However, lack of hardware and software to read the disks, if they're readable at all, poses unique challenges.
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> Some of the world's most treasured documents can be found deep in the archives of Cambridge University Library. There are letters from Sir Isaac Newton, notebooks belonging to Charles Darwin, rare Islamic texts and the Nash Papyrus -- fragments of a sheet from 200BC containing the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew.
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> These rare, and often unique, manuscripts are safely stored in climate-controlled environments while staff tenderly care for them to prevent the delicate pages from crumbling and ink from flaking away.
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> But when the library received 113 boxes of papers and mementoes from the office of physicist Stephen Hawking, it found itself with an unusual challenge. Tucked alongside the letters, photographs and thousands of pages relating to Hawking's work on theoretical physics, were items now not commonly seen in modern offices -- floppy disks.
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> They were the result of Hawking's early adoption of the personal computer, which he was able to use despite having a form of motor neurone disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, thanks to modifications and software. Locked inside these disks could be all kinds of forgotten information or previously unknown insights into the scientists' life. The archivists' minds boggled.
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> These disks are now part of a project at Cambridge University Library to rescue hidden knowledge trapped on floppy disks. The Future Nostalgia project reflects a larger trend in the information flooding into archives and libraries around the world.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~smooth+wombat
[2] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251009-rescuing-knowledge-trapped-on-old-floppy-disks
Imaging them off, I imagine (Score:1)
I imagine the are going to just have them imaged off as .vfd files for the "standard" 3.5" & 5.25" floppies and call it a day (for the data on the disks part, I did that with my own years..huh...decades ago? Crap, time flys). Maybe some high rez pictures of any that are labeled by people (especially if by Mr. Hawking). I have no idea on those Amstrad Floppy disk variants (compatibility wise)....oh, just read the linked article "3-inch Treasures: Transferring Material from Amstrad Floppy Disks", yup, loo
Greaseweazle (Score:2)
I do this kind of stuff all the time. Get a Greaseweazle and spend a few days imaging the disks. It's not difficult
If it's important write it down. (Score:2)
Perhaps with a chisel and hammer. Not on something that relies on rust (floppy/HD) or a reaction to intense light that also can suffer corrosion over time (CD/DVD).
I guess what I'm saying is, if it's important - record it on vinyl?
Hey! (Score:2)
Don't copy that floppy!
Re: (Score:2)
it's the archivists who can retrieve the data and pass it along, physicists are neither trained, equipped nor experienced at the job of information retrieval from old media. Specialization is a thing in science.