Libraries and archives are discovering that valuable files—sometimes from major figures—are trapped on formats like floppy disks that modern systems can’t read. Recovering them requires scarce hardware, legacy software, and emulation know‑how, turning preservation into a race against physical decay and technical obsolescence.
— It underscores that public memory now depends on building and funding 'digital archaeology' capacity, with standards and budgets to migrate and authenticate born‑digital heritage before it is lost.
EditorDavid
2026.01.11
90% relevant
This article is a direct, concrete instance of the existing idea: a 9‑track tape containing an early Unix (1974) was found in a university closet and transferred to the Computer History Museum, exactly the kind of discovery that the 'digital archaeology' idea warns about and proposes preparing for (hardware, emulation, provenance, institutional archiving). Named actors in the piece—University of Utah researchers (Flux Research Group), Jay Lepreau’s preserved tape, and the Computer History Museum—map onto the recommended actors and institutions in that idea.
EditorDavid
2026.01.05
90% relevant
This article documents the disappearance of patches, ISOs and vendor support for HP‑UX — exactly the kind of loss 'digital archaeology' aims to prevent. The author’s experience trying (and failing) to obtain HPE patches and installation media maps directly onto the idea that libraries and archives must fund and operate preservation of legacy, mission‑critical software artifacts.
BeauHD
2025.12.03
78% relevant
The article shows public libraries actively acquiring and circulating DVDs, Blu‑rays and physical games as streaming access thins—this is the operational flip side of digital‑archiving concerns (lost formats, disappearing titles) and signals growing need for libraries to perform preservation, cataloging, and lending that digital infrastructures no longer guarantee.
BeauHD
2025.12.02
75% relevant
Both projects convert fragile, dispersed archival material into durable, searchable digital resources. The Medieval Soldier Database is a form of digital‑archaeology: transcribing and standardizing Latin/French muster/pay records into a dataset that preserves evidence and enables large‑N historical and demographic analysis, just as the existing idea argues for rescuing born‑digital and legacy formats.
msmash
2025.10.10
100% relevant
Cambridge University Library’s “Future Nostalgia” project to extract data from Stephen Hawking’s floppy disks among 113 boxes of his papers.