[JayOlliver]

I've been thinking of a world Post-SHTF ... Been thinking a lot about the Preservation of Knowledge Sources. I have a number of sources of information for my BOB. But was thinking, what kind of information would you want to preserve for future generation (not just survival information), possibility Engineering manuals, medical textbooks, science book ... ???

What information would you preserve for future generations ?

 

[OLDWarrior64]

Castlemom came up with a 'binder system' of keeping info that may be what you're talking about.

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=23401&highlight=castlemom

 

[felicia]

I have prepper binders from cooking, recipes, gardening, seed saving, medical manuals, diy projects such as building a root cellar, building and out house, drilling a shallow well.

 

[Robot]

What information would you preserve for future generations ?

The Bible :thumb:

Even if you dont believe in God, it is a great source of learning for the perpetual folly of man.

 

[TheFittest]

Remember 2 is 1 and 1 is none...

If you're going to keep a manual, you probably should keep a copy somewhere else, and keep it safe. Probably wouldn't hurt to have a digital copy as well.

While our memories can be great, we can't remember everything. That's why I think it important to store as much knowledge as you can while you can.

Another great thing about stored knowledge on paper etc, is that it can be accessed by others who can use the knowledge. When you die, your knowledge dies with you...

Einstein didn't memorize his own phone number... he said "Why should I memorize something I can so easily get from a book?"

 

[swamppapa]

thought about getting a group together to defend condense the university library. I don't see a reason to retain the tax code section. ala "day after tomorrow"

 

[TheFittest]

thought about getting a group together to defend condense the university library. I don't see a reason to retain the tax code section. ala "day after tomorrow"

Might make good toilet paper... It's already full of crap :thumb:

 

[IamZeke]

Just start collecting downloads from the web and get a file converter to make everything a PDF.

Then just start collecting. Have a low power blank and white reader that you can recharge via solar array. Make sure the reader accepts high volume SD or mini SD cards.

I set out on that path several years ago and now I have some ten thousand PDF's, mostly books from the public domain and military manuals. Engineering, medicine, science, power generation, chemistry and distilling, survival, construction, machine shop manuals, gunsmithing, homesteading, farming, philosophy, communications, education, pioneering/bushcraft, etc, I've got tons of stuff. All organized and prepped in a small pouch that fits in a cargo pocket. Enough reading to last a lifetime.

I keep real books as well, but I know I won't be stuffing any into my packs. Every time I see a survival manual in someone's BOB list I just want to scream READ THAT NOW! My books will stay on my shelves for a bug in situation. I do have the most handy ones clumped together just in case I have both a vehicle and time to load them for a major bugout, but if I can't I know I can grab my reader and train a small town's worth of specialists with it.

 

[cwi555]

Any attempt at storage of data should take into account the potential term of it's storage. Especially if you have old books around. For instance, nearly every book in print is made from some form of pulp, rice, wood, etc. wood being by far the most predominant.
Wood pulp paper has come a long way in the last three decades, but not all paper archives. Specifically, acid free pulp paper will last a long time. Museum quality archival paper is made of cotton rather than wood pulp.

Electronic storage means are problematic as well. For records considered as lifetime records for certain things like nuclear plants, mission critical documents, etc, the maximum confirmed lifetime is 50 years. Given that some hard copy books made from cotton paper are still around centuries later.

CD's are 25 years, Flash drives fail in ~20-50 years depending on it's type, hard drives can push those limits, but I am unaware of any electronic medium that doesn't degrade over time.

Another consideration for electronic media is the readers for that data. Their format changes with time. Whatever media that is chosen to store with, should also store a stand alone means of reading it as it will not likely be the same in three decades.

One possibility to get around the above, is to store data on multiple hard drives, copying them every 6 months to each other.
Another would be multiple flash drives, refreshing the data in the same manner every 6 months.

In all, it would suck to lose all your data if it was not needed 'until' some time in the future, or if it all fell apart tomorrow and stayed that way for a few decades.

Just a few thoughts to consider.

 

[sluggyslugworth]

I'd stick to physical books if possible, due to any event that cripples society in such a way, may run the risk of an EMP, or permanent destruction of the power grid. Solar chargers are nice and all, but if you have 20 people wanting to read books, I'm not sure a single solar charger could keep up with that many electronic devices.

History books are an excellent thing to collect. Hypothetically, if all other knowledge type books disappeared, their knowledge could, and most likely would be rediscovered by future scientist. However, history would be lost for all time - minus the few artifacts that would give a minor glimpse into the past.

My list of book types to collect would be History, Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Anatomy, Mathematics, Physics, Astrophysics, Engineering, Medical Text, Astronomy, Psychology, Pharmacology, English, Geology, Architecture, Metallurgy

As well as primitive information type books:

How to forge metals, plant identification, tool building

I'm sure I missed a ton, and if I think of anymore I'll edit my post.

 

[PSYOP Soldier]

A set of encyclopedias, bible, constitution/bill of rights, "dare to prepare," and "the way things work,"

lots of other stuff too, medical references, manuals...very overwhelming.....

 

[IamZeke]

I'd stick to physical books if possible, due to any event that cripples society in such a way, may run the risk of an EMP, or permanent destruction of the power grid. Solar chargers are nice and all, but if you have 20 people wanting to read books, I'm not sure a single solar charger could keep up with that many electronic devices.

History books are an excellent thing to collect. Hypothetically, if all other knowledge type books disappeared, there knowledge could, and most likely would be rediscovered by future scientist. However, history would be lost for all time - minus the few artifacts that would give a minor glimpse into the past.

My list of book types to collect would be History, Biology, Microbiology, Chemistry, Anatomy, Mathematics, Physics, Astrophysics, Engineering, Medical Text, Astronomy, Psychology, Pharmacology, English, Geology, Architecture, Metallurgy

As well as primitive information type books:

How to forge metals, plant identification, tool building

I'm sure I missed a ton, and if I think of anymore I'll edit my post.

Physical books are nice, providing you don't expect them to last more than half a century at best. Wood pulp books will not outlive you unless you buy them when you are old, and then they won't outlive your children. Cotton paper books work nicely but you basically cannot buy many useful books printed on premium paper. And you can never expect to carry them.

If you have to bug out on foot your books aren't coming with you.

But my data will make the trip just fine. EMP's? It isn't that hard to make a small Faraday cage. An old cash box or portable file cabinet in the metal variety will hold a lot of small gear. Just line the metal box appropriately. The chances are extremely remote that you would suffer a disaster big enough to evict you AND then get an EMP later while you are on the move. Even then a foil wrapped heavy duty anti-stat bag holding your gear should give good protection.

Flash memory is very stable. Reading doesn't really degrade it. Writing over it constantly will......so don't do that. Every few years make another copy. I'm up to my 3th copy and they all still fit in the palm of my hand. It costs me $20 to pick up a new 32gig flash drive that holds as many books as an urban branch library.

I see a lot of people avoiding digital memory because they are worried about EMP or loss of power or whatever reason. But answer this question before you stick with your old plan. Seen many new bookstores lately?

Yeah, used books stores are still around but for new books you are down to what is sold in big box stores (fiction mostly) and Barnes & Noble. Some regionals exist but they are all suffering, including B&N. Physical "new book" stores are going away. Amazon has killed them. Amazon is pushing digital prices down and physical book prices up. The physical books are being printed far less often now and they are still printing them on wood pulp that crumbles in about 50 years max.

It may bother you to accept that you need to embrace digital media, but the market is pushing you there anyway. The sooner you get on the bandwagon the sooner you will have a solid, safe, and portable library that can be updated, duplicated, and stand the test of time.

 

[Jerry D Young]

What to store: Look at a full set of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gather and store information on every subject they have, from every source you can access.

How to store: Every thing in hard copy stored in a 'museum preservation' quality system, everything converted to electronic forms in several formats, and then stored in multiple sets of identical copies, on all types of electronic storage media, along with multiple readers for each type.

Where to store: In multiple places. Away from as many natural hazards as possible, earth sheltered, environmentally controlled structures, with high security.

Just my opinion.

 

[elmojo]

I have a 750 gig portable drive. It holds pdfs of military manuals on nearly every subject that you can imagine, medical and pharmaceutical manuals including "where there is no doctor" and "where there is no dentist", books on farming, gunsmithing, manuals with exploded diagrams of almost every firearm that you can name. I have the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, the Bill of Rights. I have pdfs on mechanics and auto repair, boat building, blacksmithing, mining, smelting, chemistry, engineering, math, history, psychology, text books and on and on. I have over 400 classic novels and books just for fun, the complete Shakespeare, all of Poe, all of Kipling, all of the Foxfire books, The Lord of the Rings, tons of S. King, tons of Robert Heinlein, Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, The Oz books and many more. I have just under 200 digital movies and adding more all of the time. I have tons of U-tube how-to videos and adding to those all the time.
Portions of my library are also copied onto Data Cards for use in either a Galaxy Tab or an Eotac e-reader that is old but works very well in black and white. I am getting a terrabyte drive to copy everything onto so its not all on one device.
We have a Dell mini Insperion that lets us view anything on the large drive. Its not fast but can be charged in the field, its light and compact. Great for reading files or watching movies.
The most difficult part is keeping all of this information organized. I consider this "SPARC" drive, Survival and Preparedness Archive (not my idea but I love the title) to be one of the most useful survival tools that I have. Friends have added to, edited and organized it. Its compilation was a lot of work and is ongoing daily.

 

[IamZeke]

The most difficult part is keeping all of this information organized. I consider this "SPARC" drive, Survival and Preparedness Archive (not my idea but I love the title) to be one of the most useful survival tools that I have. Friends have added to, edited and organized it. Its compilation was a lot of work and is ongoing daily.

I named mine too, but I never mention it because since I gave a few copies out I can check the web in case one of my family or friends gets stupid and uploads it I can search for the file title.

Yeah, it took me the best part of a year in my spare time to come up with an organizing system and roll it all in there. You just cannot amass that much info and hope to organize it fast. Better just to keep it an ongoing thing, imo.

 

[elmojo]

I found it easiest to categorize in broad generalities ie medical, farming, energy, water, etc and find duplicates in that process. The newest additions can be plugged into these easily and used to create sub-categories as well. The hard part is playing catch-up because I didn't start off with this organization. I still have loads of stuff to go through and I work on it all the time because until its easy to find its kind of worthless info. I figure everything will be well done by X-mass this year.

 

[elmojo]

ps I have a friend working on a "search by keyword" program to make the library more efficient to use.

 

[jhughes3281]

The complete works of Obamacare.

I honestly think anything that will tell the story of how America was formed and they way it should have been had the founding fathers visions been followed.

 

[Happy Joe]

I store hard copy on shelves and soft copy in the computer, on removable backup drives and on 32 Gb SDHC cards for my e-reader. Since print is obsolete, and not easily portable in large quantities, I rarely add to the hard copy library but do download quite a bit of knowledge from internet sources and occasionally scan hard copy.
I usually convert PDFs to epub before storing on SDHC cards, but some PDFs work better in thieir original form... I have support software and encoded personal info on a thumbnail drive to assure epub and PDF readability on any computer that will accept SD cards.

I am always looking for 18th, 19th & early 20th century (and current appropriate to 3rd world) technological support information including but not limited to; machining, livestock, farming, gardening, cooking, camping, expedition & travel, blacksmithing carpentry, medical and veterinary information, producer and methane gas generation, electrical generation and support, foundry/forging/metal casting, glass manufacture, spinning weaving, coopering, wheel making, carriage manufacture, weapons, amour, tactics, fortifications, field gear, archery, bow making, fletching, home cyclopedias, formularies, engineering, leather work, harness making, Sci-fi adventure and mystery stories for recreation, etc, etc.

http://archive.org/details/texts
Is one of my better/most used sources.

Enjoy!

 

[IamZeke]

(and current appropriate to 3rd world)

3rd World tech?

Oh yeah, I can hook you up.

http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/cd3wd/index.htm

Hundreds of links to effective 3rd World tech.