Sarah van der Heyden, Creative Services Coordinator
March 2024
Backing Up Your Data
Today, Facebook was down for users everywhere. Luckily, it was restored within an hour. But if Facebook shut down permanently, would you lose all your photos and memories?
Many of us think of the internet as permanent, but websites are just like businesses. Some websites go out of business. Some websites get bought out and merged with larger companies. And sometimes, outages happen. Which is why it’s important to remember the archival “Rule of 3.”
You should have three methods of back up: physical, local back up, and internet back up. Each has their own pros and cons.
Physical Backups
Physical backups are usually the originals and are often referred to as “analog.” These are print photos, VHS tapes, slide negatives, journals, etc. Since so much of our life has become digital, physical copies of our memories are becoming less common.
Many people use social media like Facebook to store photos and keep track of life events and memories. But as we saw today with Facebook’s outage, this is not always the most reliable method. Technology changes. Websites change. Internet and electricity outages happen during storms and natural disasters. So, printing some of your favorite photos and writing down memories in a journal is still a fantastic way to save important moments in your life!
Some of these items – like VHS tapes, camcorder Hi8 tapes, and audio cassettes – require technology that is becoming obsolete. For example, there are no new VHS players being manufactured today. Once the last used VHS player stops working, there will be no way to watch or digitize a VHS tape.
Even with a working device, most of these items have a “shelf life.” The film inside the tapes and cassettes will eventually wear out, break, or become brittle. The average estimated lifespan for most films is about 25 years, but this can vary based on how you store it. If your film is in an attic or basement that gets very cold during winters and very hot and humid during summers, it will ruin the film much faster.
That is why for physical items like VHS tapes, Hi8 tapes, 8mm film reels, and audio cassettes, you should try to digitize them as soon as you can before the technology is obsolete or the film gets ruined. Luckily, the Addison Public Library’s Sound Studio and Library of Things collection has several pieces of equipment for digitizing! Learn more about the digitizing equipment in the Sound Studio: https://www.addisonlibrary.org/digitization
Local Backups
Local backups are digital files that don’t rely on the internet. This can be the camera roll on your smartphone, your computer’s hard drive, or a USB flash drive.
The pro to having digital files is that you can copy, print, upload, and share these files easily. And you don’t need internet access or to pay for extra storage because it is saved directly on your device.
But the files are gone when you lose or break your device. For instance, if you spill coffee on your laptop, your hard drive with all your files will be lost. Which is why many people will recommend having two local backups: one on your laptop and one on a USB flash drive.
There is a chance that as technology advances, these digital files will also become obsolete. For instance, a document written using Word 1997 won’t open on the latest Word 2021 program. It is important to update your files as needed. (I’m still waiting for the day JPEG photos get replaced by holograms!)
Internet Backups
Internet backups are digital files stored online. Most people will use a “cloud storage service” like Google Drive or Photos, Apple’s iCloud, or Microsoft’s OneDrive.
Both the pro and con to cloud storage are that you need internet access, and the company has to stay in business. Going back to Facebook, it is a great tool to store photos and immediately share them with family and friends. But if Facebook shuts down or you don’t have internet at home, then you can’t get to those photos.
However, you can always go to your local library (that's us!) and use the public computers and Wi-Fi to get to your cloud storage.
Google, Apple, and Microsoft are considered reliable cloud storage services because they are tech giants in the industry. However, they each have a limit on how much storage you get for free and then they will charge you for additional storage. And at any time, you can download your cloud files to your computer or USB flash drive. For those worried about losing your Facebook photos and memories, you can download your information by downloading these steps: https://www.facebook.com/help/212802592074644
Want to learn more? Request an appointment with library staff: https://www.addisonlibrary.org/appointments