DDAVISMon, Mar 24, 2008 The main survival factor in information seems to be its continuious use and copying to new formats. Neglect of written archives led to loss through physical decay, with fires, floods etc adding to the toll. Deliberate efforts to destroy knowledge of course were inflicted upon the libraries, with Christian and Moslem fanatics taking turns at burning books over the centuries. A few episodes of deliberate gathering and archiving of literature in pre printing times provided us with much of what we have, other material of practical use was translated for Islamic cultures whose ascendency coorisponded with the decay of Western literacy.
Format changes were a major factor in the loss of ancient literature, as text evolved word spacing and such. The physical medium of reading changed in early Christian times from the scroll to the 'codex' paged book. Both reformattings required recopying of texts for new readers, a labor intensive process which was allocated to what were considered important texts for educational and clerical use. Already we see a similar process in play, as many documents made in earlier digital formats survive today only in printed copies. Digital format changes form a gauntlet beyond which many documents will never pass.
I have the impression that perhaps one out of a thousand books written in Western Classical times has survived, with perhaps 10-20 percent of the KNOWN 'must have' books now available in whole or in part from continuiously copied manuscripts. There are collections of authors names in a few manuscripts, almost all of which are known only from such lists.
What will be the fate of literature if civilization loses it's vitality for a few decades or centuries?
The books of today are generally made of flimsy materials which are vulnerable to decay over the centuries in all but the driest climates. This is compensated for by the mass production of thousands of copies of such books. The 'acid free' papers will last longer. The long term stability of colored inks in illustrations may be a factor, but kept in a dark dry place the better quality illustrated books should be fine for centuries. Newsprint and other cheap papers will crumble into piles of flakes unless a lot of effort is taken such as laminating or photographing them. One can imagine the tiny fraction of such material that can honestly justify such effort, and we thus see the eternal process of decay of information in progress.
Microfilm has attempted to address this and if the film is processed and stored according to specs post Nitrate B&W film is very stable, although microfilm is of poor resolution, only intended to preserve readable text, and such films often show effects of poor treatment and storage.
The survival of information in the event of a lapse of civilization would be greatly biased toward pre digital literature in regions of dry climates away from major cities. The technological base needed to preserve internet hubs could decline due to war, pandemic, and social change to the point of the effective loss of the Internet. Only text that has been printed out would have any chance for survival unless some fraction of readable digital media is preserved in an unplundered vault and read from stored and restored or reverse engineered devices.
There have been suggestions of backing up data in vaults on the Moon. This sounds a little like placing a first aid kit on the top of Mt. Everest-when you need it you may well have lost the ability to reach it.
The main survival factor in information seems to be its continuious use and copying to new formats. Neglect of written archives led to loss through physical decay, with fires, floods etc adding to the toll. Deliberate efforts to destroy knowledge of course were inflicted upon the libraries, with Christian and Moslem fanatics taking turns at burning books over the centuries. A few episodes of deliberate gathering and archiving of literature in pre printing times provided us with much of what we have, other material of practical use was translated for Islamic cultures whose ascendency coorisponded with the decay of Western literacy.
Format changes were a major factor in the loss of ancient literature, as text evolved word spacing and such. The physical medium of reading changed in early Christian times from the scroll to the 'codex' paged book. Both reformattings required recopying of texts for new readers, a labor intensive process which was allocated to what were considered important texts for educational and clerical use. Already we see a similar process in play, as many documents made in earlier digital formats survive today only in printed copies. Digital format changes form a gauntlet beyond which many documents will never pass.
I have the impression that perhaps one out of a thousand books written in Western Classical times has survived, with perhaps 10-20 percent of the KNOWN 'must have' books now available in whole or in part from continuiously copied manuscripts. There are collections of authors names in a few manuscripts, almost all of which are known only from such lists.
What will be the fate of literature if civilization loses it's vitality for a few decades or centuries?
The books of today are generally made of flimsy materials which are vulnerable to decay over the centuries in all but the driest climates. This is compensated for by the mass production of thousands of copies of such books. The 'acid free' papers will last longer. The long term stability of colored inks in illustrations may be a factor, but kept in a dark dry place the better quality illustrated books should be fine for centuries. Newsprint and other cheap papers will crumble into piles of flakes unless a lot of effort is taken such as laminating or photographing them. One can imagine the tiny fraction of such material that can honestly justify such effort, and we thus see the eternal process of decay of information in progress.
Microfilm has attempted to address this and if the film is processed and stored according to specs post Nitrate B&W film is very stable, although microfilm is of poor resolution, only intended to preserve readable text, and such films often show effects of poor treatment and storage.
The survival of information in the event of a lapse of civilization would be greatly biased toward pre digital literature in regions of dry climates away from major cities. The technological base needed to preserve internet hubs could decline due to war, pandemic, and social change to the point of the effective loss of the Internet. Only text that has been printed out would have any chance for survival unless some fraction of readable digital media is preserved in an unplundered vault and read from stored and restored or reverse engineered devices.
There have been suggestions of backing up data in vaults on the Moon. This sounds a little like placing a first aid kit on the top of Mt. Everest-when you need it you may well have lost the ability to reach it.
Don