Endangered

Current Portable Solid-State Media

Materials saved to flash drives or other solid-state media in the last five years where the reader devices are still supported and can be integrated easily into hardware infrastructure.

Portable Media

Examples

USB memory sticks; flash cards in cameras; solid state portable hard disks.

Imminence

3/5
Action is recommended within three years, detailed assessment within one year.

Effort

2/5
It would require a small effort to preserve materials in this group, requiring the application of proven tools and techniques.

Hazards

Poor storage conditions; encryption; digital rights management; uncertainty over IPR or the presence of orphaned works; lack of replication; lack of documentation; lack of periodic testing; lack of refreshment pathway; lack of access to readers; out of manufacturer warranty or no warranty; storage in paper files.

Hardware/Media

Mitigations

Regular review and testing; replication; refreshment plan; comprehensive documentation; high quality storage; regular maintenance of readers; multiple readers available.

Bit List History

Added to list: 2019
2024: No change.
2023: No change.

Last Review

2023 Review

The 2019 Jury introduced this entry to ensure that the range of media storage is properly assessed and presented. The 2020 and 2021 Juries, and 2022 Taskforce, agreed with the entry’s assigned risk classification with no noted changes towards increased or reduced risk (no change to trend).

The 2023 Council agreed with the risk classification of Endangered with the overall risks remaining on the same basis as before (‘No change’ to trend).

2024 Interim Review

The 2024 Council agreed these risks remain on the same basis as before, with no significant trend towards even greater or reduced risk (‘No change’ to trend).

Additional Information

This entry is highly dependent on who is looking after the portable media but made more difficult over time. The lack of granularity in the definition means that only general advice can be offered, such as to refresh media. In time, it may yet be more useful to split all storage media (maybe 100 items long) with an indication of how long these can be expected to last. In many cases, specialists can recover obsolete media, but the cost of employing them can become an aggravating condition.

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