Data archaeology
Encyclopedia
Data archaeology refers to the art and science of recovering computer
data
encrypted in now obsolete media or formats
. Data archaeology can also refer to recovering information from damaged electronic formats after natural or man made disasters.
The term originally appeared in 1993 as part of the Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue Project
(GODAR). The original impetus for data archaeology came from the need to recover computerized records of climatic conditions stored on old computer tape, which can provide valuable evidence for testing theories of climate change
. These approaches allowed the reconstruction of an image of the Arctic that had been captured by the Nimbus 2
satellite on September 23, 1966, in higher resolution than ever seen before from this type of data.
NASA
also utilizes the services of data archaeologists to recover information stored on 1960s era vintage computer tape, as exemplified by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
(LOIRP).
after natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, or even hurricanes. For example, in 1995 during hurricane Marilyn
the National Media Lab assisted the National Archives and Records Administration
in recovering data at risk due to damaged equipment. The hardware was damaged from rain, salt water, and sand, yet it was possible to clean some of the disks and refit them with new cases thus saving the data within.
Humidity can cause tapes to become unusable as they begin to deteriorate and become sticky. In this case, a heat treatment can be applied to fix this problem, by causing the oils and residues to either be reabsorbed into the tape or evaporate off the surface of the tape. However, this should only be done in order to provide access to the data so it can be extracted and copied to a medium that is more stable.
Lubrication loss is another source of damage to tapes. This is most commonly caused by heavy use, but can also be a result of improper storage or natural evaporation. As a result of heavy use, some of the lubricant can remain on the read-write heads which then collect dust and particles. This can cause damage to the tape. Loss of lubrication can be addressed by re-lubricating the tapes. This should be done cautiously, as excessive re-lubrication can cause tape slippage, which in turn can lead to media being misread and the loss of data.
Water damage will damage tapes over time. This often occurs in a disaster situation. If the media is in salty or dirty water, it should be rinsed in fresh water. The process of cleaning, rinsing, and drying wet tapes should be done at room temperature in order to prevent heat damage. Older tapes should be recovered prior to newer tapes, as they are more susceptible to water damage.
.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
data
Data
The term data refers to qualitative or quantitative attributes of a variable or set of variables. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be the basis of graphs, images, or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as the lowest level of abstraction from which...
encrypted in now obsolete media or formats
Content format
A content format is an encoded format for converting a specific type of data to displayable information. Content formats are used in recording and transmission to prepare data for observation or interpretation. This includes both analog and digitized content...
. Data archaeology can also refer to recovering information from damaged electronic formats after natural or man made disasters.
The term originally appeared in 1993 as part of the Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue Project
Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue Project
The Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue Project, or GODAR Project was established to increase the volume of historical oceanographic data available to climate change and other researchers...
(GODAR). The original impetus for data archaeology came from the need to recover computerized records of climatic conditions stored on old computer tape, which can provide valuable evidence for testing theories of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. These approaches allowed the reconstruction of an image of the Arctic that had been captured by the Nimbus 2
Nimbus program
The Nimbus satellites were second-generation U.S. robotic spacecraft used for meteorological research and development. The spacecraft were designed to serve as stabilized, Earth-oriented platforms for the testing of advanced systems to sense and collect atmospheric science data...
satellite on September 23, 1966, in higher resolution than ever seen before from this type of data.
NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
also utilizes the services of data archaeologists to recover information stored on 1960s era vintage computer tape, as exemplified by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project
The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project is a project funded by NASA, SkyCorp Inc, SpaceRef Interactive, Inc., and private individuals to digitize the original analog data tapes from the five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft that were sent to the Moon in 1966 and 1967.-Background:The images taken by the...
(LOIRP).
Recovery
It is also important to make the distinction in data archaeology between data recovery, and data intelligibility. You may be able to recover the data, but not understand it. For data archeology to be effective the data must be intelligible.Disaster Recovery
Data archaeologists can also use data recoveryData recovery
Data recovery is the process of salvaging data from damaged, failed, corrupted, or inaccessible secondary storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data are being salvaged from storage media such as internal or external hard disk drives, solid-state drives , USB flash drive,...
after natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, or even hurricanes. For example, in 1995 during hurricane Marilyn
Hurricane Marilyn
Hurricane Marilyn was the fifteenth tropical depression and thirteenth named storm of the unusually busy 1995 Atlantic hurricane season, following closely on the heels of Hurricane Luis. Hurricane Marilyn was the most powerful storm to hit the Virgin Islands since Hurricane Hugo of 1989.Marilyn...
the National Media Lab assisted the National Archives and Records Administration
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
in recovering data at risk due to damaged equipment. The hardware was damaged from rain, salt water, and sand, yet it was possible to clean some of the disks and refit them with new cases thus saving the data within.
Recovery Techniques
When deciding whether or not to try and recover data, the cost must be taken into account. If there is enough time and money, most data will be able to be recovered. In the case of magnetic media, which are the most common type used for data storage, there are various techniques that can be used to recover the data depending on the type of damage.Humidity can cause tapes to become unusable as they begin to deteriorate and become sticky. In this case, a heat treatment can be applied to fix this problem, by causing the oils and residues to either be reabsorbed into the tape or evaporate off the surface of the tape. However, this should only be done in order to provide access to the data so it can be extracted and copied to a medium that is more stable.
Lubrication loss is another source of damage to tapes. This is most commonly caused by heavy use, but can also be a result of improper storage or natural evaporation. As a result of heavy use, some of the lubricant can remain on the read-write heads which then collect dust and particles. This can cause damage to the tape. Loss of lubrication can be addressed by re-lubricating the tapes. This should be done cautiously, as excessive re-lubrication can cause tape slippage, which in turn can lead to media being misread and the loss of data.
Water damage will damage tapes over time. This often occurs in a disaster situation. If the media is in salty or dirty water, it should be rinsed in fresh water. The process of cleaning, rinsing, and drying wet tapes should be done at room temperature in order to prevent heat damage. Older tapes should be recovered prior to newer tapes, as they are more susceptible to water damage.
Prevention
To prevent the need of data archeology, creators and holders of digital documents should take care of digital preservationDigital preservation
Digital preservation is the set of processes, activities and management of digital information over time to ensure its long term accessibility. The goal of digital preservation is to preserve materials resulting from digital reformatting, and particularly information that is born-digital with no...
.