Those (In)destructible Disks; or, Another Myth Exploded
| Date | 01 March 1989 |
| Published date | 01 March 1989 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047761 |
| Pages | 7-28 |
| Author | Larry N. Osborne |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Those (In)destructible Disks;
or, Another Myth Exploded
Larry N. Osborne
The characteristics of the ubiquitous 360K 5 1/4
inch floppy disk are described. Based on personal
experience, and subsequent related experiments,
the author details steps to be taken to salvage
disks which have been damaged by spilled
substances such as coffee with cream and sugar,
Classic Coke, hamburger and french fries, and
hand cream.
It was the stuff of which nightmares are made.
I had been invited to deliver a paper in Kyoto,
Japan. Of course that implied that I would write
a paper to deliver. Now, that in itself was hardly
a nightmare. Writing papers is part of my business.
Nor was it a nightmare that I had procrastinated
to the point where, even if I backdated the cover
letter and used an international courier service,
the manuscript still would be two weeks late.
No,
submitting a major paper only two weeks
past the deadline was cause for celebration. As
I pulled the disk that contained the masterpiece
and its backup out of the drive and threw it onto
my desk, I reached to toast successful completion
with my favorite writer's elixir: a pint mug full
of strong coffee (for caffeine), lots of sugar (to
keep up the energy), and plenty of milk (to bind
the tannin and make the mess palatable). Maybe
it was the fact that the clock had just struck 3:30
A.M.; maybe it was all that caffeine; maybe it was
a bead of wayward sweat that chose that instant
to run into my eye; maybe God was mad at me.
Anyway, my hand, rather than going around the
mug, ran directly into it. A wave of thick brown
goo swept over the precious disk like a tidal wave
over Hilo. And that's a nightmare if I ever had
one.
Pause to indicate a short period of panic and
depression.
There are people who never feel panic of
this sort. They are the ones who always pay their
insurance premiums on time, who never accept rides
with strangers, who memorize the seven warning
Osborne is with the Graduate School of Li-
brary Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
ISSUE 27 7
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