In article <[log in to unmask]>,
"Jerry M. Withers" <[log in to unmask]> writes
>Yes, by all means you should store off-site copies of your critical data
>and every piece of software it takes to access and maintain it.  DAT is a
>fine medium, but use whatever medium is accessible to you.  Copies of
>installation diskettes or cd-roms can be stored off-site.
>
>Off-site locations must be climate controlled, physically secure and media
>must be easily retrievable when needed.  Suitable locations run the gamut
>of an employee's home with fire-proof cabinet to a commercial data storage
>facility.  Making two backups, one for off-site and one to retain on-site
>may be an option.
>
> ...
Climate controlled???? Ok, for a large institution, which can afford to
pay for the fire-proof cabinet, humidifiers and dehumidifiers for an
employee's home, and also to pay the employee for renting the space,
strengthening the floor.  But some museums don't have controlled
climates for their collections, let alone their back-ups!

Co-operating with other museums, especially with larger institutions
which _do_ (or also) have climate controlled storage is a possibility.
This is especially useful for the installation disks - which tend to be
needed years after Mrs So-and-So handed the project on to the Rev This-
and-That, who only has the upgrades.  But 'taking the back-up to X
museum' may be a once-a-month, or once-a-year affair, and shouldn't be
the only back-up: a good motto is 'back up, whenever you would find it
inconvenient to re-do the work since the last back-up'.  Another museum
using the same software is particularly ideal.

--
Pat Reynolds
(at home, with a bug, disasters on her mind)
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at home
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at work
Keeper of Social History, Buckinghamshire County Museum
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Prattchet)