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This article was written on January 12, 2024 from Cassandra
Cassandra Crossing 569/ Archivismi: Cassandra and the mine
Archiving for centuries requires uncommon but overall simple technologies. But where, exactly, can such an archive be created?
In 10 episodes of the first campaign Archivists we reported on the archiving of 566 issues of Cassandra Crossing on the Internet Archive, which by the way also had it yesterday promoted to Collection; the second campaign, that of archiving the 106 videos of A chat with Cassandra however, it was barely mentioned in the previous episode because it's too simple and fast. We were really good!
We have then told the most durable digital recording technology on the market today, while also hinting that the certified room temperature shelf life can be further extended by lowering the storage temperature.
How can rolls of photographic film, well protected in specially designed containers, and then sealed in bags of protective material, be stored at temperatures well below our ambient temperature of around 20 degrees?
Spoiler: the solution is not to equip yourself with large refrigerators, but to find a suitable "room temperature”.
Luckily, you don't have to be a pioneer; just follow what the pioneers of a different kind of did archiving, which many have never heard of.
And once again Cassandra must ask the 24 diehard readers for patience, because it is once again necessary to rewind the tape (here we could say the film), even if only for about forty years. And we won't have to talk about data storage, but about archiving of seeds; yes, seeds and genetic samples.
In 1984, the Nordic Gene Bank created a safety seed storage facility in a disused coal mine in Svalbard. The permafrost (permanently frozen ground), available infrastructure and cooperation with the coal company Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani allowed the creation of a structure that would store a collection of seeds in a steel container inside the coal mine n . 3 in Longyearbyen, a mine that extends 300 meters into the mountain's permafrost.
In 2001 the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), which envisaged the establishment of a global system including rules for accessing and sharing the benefits of these resources across the board.
However, a study in 2004 revealed that permafrost — which maintains a constant temperature of around -3.5°C — was not optimal for preserving genetic heritage; furthermore, storing the seeds in a coal mine exposed to a high level of hydrocarbon gases was not genetically safe.
The Norwegian government then considered the creation of a more suitable structure and, in October 2004, committed to financing and implementing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, creating a construction dug into carbon-free permafrost, equipped with an active cooling system to further lower the temperature to -18 °C, i.e. standard conditions for gene banks.
The Global Seed Vault in this new structure it was inaugurated on February 26, 2008; even today, however, many think that it is instead located in the abandoned coal mine, and not in a new structure, dug specifically. This virtual tour allows you to visit the new structure.
But then what if there are only seeds in Svalbard — the 24 annoyed readers will say — where is the data?
Easy answer. Remember that the first seed dump made in 1980 was located in Coal Mine No. 3 in Longyearbyen? Well, with the creation of the new structure the mine became vacant again, and a small Norwegian company, created specifically by the aforementioned Piql, saw fit to take it over and create the first data repository in the Arctic, theArctic World Archive. A yuppie would say Technology + logistics = innovative service.
Of course, the futuristic bunker look of the Global Seed Vault isn't here; The look is more similar to that of mine Of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, with an added touch of Post-Bomb Chronicles.
But down there, at the end of a tunnel made accessible by props and metal safety nets, a stainless steel container peeks out...
…full of containers wrapped in what appears to be foil, but are actually sealed bags. Most of these envelopes house Github's first archiving campaign.
The Github Archive Program in 2000 archived a copy of all active projects (including the e-privacy site!) in 186 film containers and stored them in Mine No. 3, naming the initiative the Arctic Code Vault; subsequently there was a further archiving campaign, and a subsequent one is expected on a date not yet set.
But where did Cassandra end up? — nervously interjects the most undisciplined of the 24 readers — It's all interesting, but let's get to the point!
Well, the point… will be in the next episode of Archivismi.
Marco Calamari
Video column “A chat with Cassandra”
Cassandra's Slog (Static Blog).
Cassandra's archive: school, training and thought
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