Saving and protecting digital writing and documents

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2 Introduction: Why? Saving and protecting digital writing and documents The situation today and future consequences For many reasons we print less and less of the documents we produce. We save them (perhaps we even organize them somewhat!) on internal computer hard drive, or various external media. But computers and other media for saving data can break down. The software that we use to write, create tables, or touch up photographs may become obsolete or no longer recognise previous versions. The records we keep now are at great risk of being lost, destroyed, or made inaccessible. Teams have lost many years of precious history and records in just this way. In order to keep a history of the struggle of people in extreme poverty and what we undertake together, we absolutely must ensure that we can open and access our documents in the long term. (Think not just 10, but 50 or 100 years from now!) Moreover, if we are to take into account the increasing number of digital documents, it would appear to be necessary to create basic rules for naming these digital documents in order to facilitate their use, their archiving and their long-term conservation. The 'naming of files involves giving a standardised name to a digital document. These naming rules are intended to avoid duplication in the tree structure of a computer or server's directories and also to help to conserve documents over the long term. A document that has been correctly named may also prevent a computer being blocked when a copy is made. In this booklet we present guidelines that should help us in our effort to build the memory of the life and the struggle of the poorest members of society and of ATD Fourth World. A question? Need for help or for advice? A proposal to improve this booklet? Jacques Ogier, delegate of the "Digital Archives group" is at your disposal to look and find together solutions: jacques.ogier@atd-quartmonde.org Skype: jacqogier Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 2 / 10

3 Best practice: what we need to do. Take the time to read the following files. They will help you to understand how you can contribute to the history of Fourth World by using digital documents. If you don t have the time to read everything, or if you d like a quick summary of the essential, here are 7 golden rules to remember: The seven golden rules for saving and protecting digital writing and documents Naming a file -1. Indicate the date (year-month-day) in the file name. -2. No spaces in the file name. Use the _ (underscore) or (hyphen) or capitals between words: Example: DigitalBooklet or _digital_booklet -3. Do not use special characters or accents in the file name. -4. Try to give file names or folder names that are short but comprehensible. Organising your computer -5. On your computer, the organisation of your files (also called a tree structure) must be identical to the organisation of your paper files and archives. -6. Make a backup of the contents of your computer on an external drive at least once a week (and if possible on two hard drives one of which is kept in another building). -7. Use freeware and long lasting software. Pirated software often contains viruses and can lead to fines. The following descriptive files will help you to go further into this subject: 1. Naming digital documents 2. Saving and protecting digital writing and documents 3. Using secure and long lasting software Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 3 / 10

4 Joseph Wresinski Centre File names for digital texts 1 Introduction The increasing use of digital texts makes it imperative to employ basic rules in giving them file names. The documents will then be easier to use, easier to archive and more available in the future. The file is given a standardized name to avoid duplicates of the same document or that it gets lost in the directory structure of the computer or server 2. A correctly named document can also avoid the blocking of a computer during a copy 3... The following are guidelines for naming document files, and thus help to preserve important records of the life and struggle most disadvantage in our societies. Basic rules for naming digital files (and directories in the hierarchical view): For your file to be compliant with the accepted standards for conserving digital documents in the long term and for detecting duplicates, a few rules should be respected: - Use alphanumeric characters (ABC... abc ) and [-] or [_] - Spaces between words are not permitted and must be replaced by [-] or [_]. Another way to show the separation of words is to use an upper case letter at the beginning of the next word. For example: FirstDay - Avoid accented characters : (é ó ç à ñ ) - No punctuation or special characters (/ \, " + ) except [-] and [_] Avoid long names for files. The name should not exceed 50 characters (optimal: characters). Include the date at the beginning of the name as follows YYYY-MM-DD- 4 It is advisable to archive digital texts in the format ODT or PDF/A 5. 1 Rules described in this paper are valid for the naming of any digital document as well as that of the directories 2 The sorting of these documents within the hierarchy of the server's files or files of the team's computer is explained in another paper. 3 When copying a file, computer takes into account the path (the parent directory, sub-directories where the file is finally located). The number of characters in the path name plus the number of characters in the file name cannot be more than 255. The problem is that spaces, special characters and accented characters have hidden code characters. For example, the code f%c3%a9licit%c3%a9» (18 characters) is the code for «félicité which is only 8 characters on the screen. Thus using these characters in long path and file names can exceed 255 and block the computer from copying. 4 Example for 14 May 2009: See the document on " the protection and the preservation of the digital documents " Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 4 / 10

5 Additional rules for name digitals texts We can include in the name additional identifying information 6 : the country with 2 upper case characters 7 and/or the location the team and/or the author (in the order of family name first name) subject of the document - (specify in a few key words the contents of the document). Abbreviations are alright if easily understood. If a document exists in several languages, this should be indicated at the end by 2 lower case characters using the code of the language 8 If a document exists in several versions, the version number should be specified: v1, v2,... vf (final version) Here are some examples of file names which apply these guidelines: US-NewYork_ConnorsJill_MensualReport-MayJuly2013.doc GB_NatTeam_MinutesMeeting.odt NamingOfDigitalTexts_en-v1.pdf To reduce the size of the names of files, a list by language of the common abbreviations is in the course of elaboration 9 : For the team name, regional name, local secretariats. For the most current actions (ex. Street Library SL). Other abbreviations: types of document (Activity Reports ActRep, etc...) Remark concerning the Document Heading It is important that any document that is intended for others and to be kept, should be easily identifiable. The beginning of the document should contain: team / location author (first name, family name) date subject 10 (specify in a few key words the contents of the document) 11 6 And so avoid doubles 7 See list of 2-letter country codes in 8 see es = Spanish, en = English, fr = French 9 by the team of "Digital archives" 10 It can be useful to recall theses four informations in the header or footer field of the document. The page numbering is also a useful indication. 11 optional: list of addresses (family name, first name) / distribution level Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 5 / 10

6 Joseph Wresinski Centre Record and protect the digital texts and documents Analysis For many reasons we print less and less of the documents we produce. We save them (perhaps we even organize them somewhat!) on computer hard drives, or various external medias 12. But computers die and media formats change quickly, as do the software we use to write, do spreadsheets, or edit photos. The records we keep now are at great risk of being lost, destroyed, or made inaccessible. Teams have lost many years of precious history and records in just this way. - Computer hard drives are a very vulnerable place for storing documents. They easily fill up with computer viruses, or they simply crash and stop working. - The software programs that we use to create various documents have a limited lifespan 13 - The mediums for saving documents are fragile or quickly become obsolete In many places we use copied, unlicensed software 15. Besides the legal, ethical problems that this poses when members use these programs within the framework of ATD Fourth World, pirated software programs cannot be updated and, as a consequence, contain a number of faults that hackers use to slip in computer viruses. In order to keep a history of the struggle of people in deep poverty and what we undertake together, we absolutely must ensure that we can open and access our documents in the long term. (Think not just 20, but 50 or 100 years from now!) Solutions * Double (or Triple) Back-ups of Documents: There are a number of automatic back-up programs 16 that enable documents to be systematically saved to a safe place. The essential thing is to back up documents and info on two different physical mediums and keep it in different physical locations. That way, in case of a major incident (erasure of a file by error, hard drive crash, theft, fire, flooding), at least one of the back-ups is safe and can be used to salvage and reinstall precious information. 12 The server of the network, Hard disks, USB keys, flash memories, SDHC cards either because the companies that produce them go bankrupt, get bought out, or, very frequently, because the new software version doesn t accept documents produced with previous versions. For example, texts written using Word 3.1, abandoned in 1995, cannot be read by current versions of Microsoft-Word anymore. 14 Floppy disks have been abandoned; CDs and DVDs are slowly disappearing in preference of USB keys and other flash drives and memory cards. 15 for financial reasons, to "stand against a consumer society or we buy them in the street 16 Some one of these programs are proposed for each of Operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, macos) in the practical sheet " to Use safe(sure) and long-lasting software "Using Software that is Dependable and Supported in the Long Term" Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 6 / 10

7 * Long-lasting Formats 17 : No one can guarantee the longevity of propriety formats 18. However open formats have a known structure, and we are sure to be able to open them in 50 years! For written work, we strongly recommend 2 formats: ODT 19 and PDF/A 20. * Use LibreOffice 21 to keep its texts in.odt format: For word processing, spread sheets, and slide-show presentations, more and more people are choosing LibreOffice, for free, over Microsoft Office. LibreOffice saves texts in ODT format, but it can also export to DOC, DOCX, and PDF/A... A version is available for all operating systems. For Windows here; macos Intel here; Ubuntu comes with the LibreOffice package installed. 17 See the list of the long-lasting sizes(formats) for any digital document types: rubrique256 (page in French but international format!) 18 privately owned, single source formats such as Microsoft s DOC or DOCX 19 The free software LibreOffice saves in ODT format by default (see below.) 20 The company Adobe created the PDF/A and most word processing programs offers a save as PDF/A option. 21 There are other word processors which save en.odt format, such as OpenOffice. But LibreOffice is installed by origin in Ubuntu, so we recommend it on all the operating system (Windows, macos, Ubuntu) Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 7 / 10

8 Joseph Wresinski Center Using softwares that is dependable and supported in the long term Introduction - In many places use unlicensed copies of software and Operating Systems 22. Besides the ethical question that poses, there is the problem of security. These unlicensed copies cannot be updated and as a result, they can be open to hackers to introduce viruses. When this happens, hard drives may have to be re-formatted to get rid of the viruses. If there is no backup of documents 23, then they are irrevocably lost. Some teams have definitely lost several years of the record of their action and the struggle of the poor. - Software that is used to create digital documents has a limited life-time, either because their publishers go out of business or are taken over by other companies, or because the new version of the software is not back compatible with older versions 24. Therefore, the life-time of proprietary formats cannot be guaranteed 25. Thus, it is essential to have official versions of softwares and operating systems to be able to make the updates and protect themselves from viruses. But it is expensive. There are also freewares 26, safe, free most of the time, which can take over from proprietary and paying softwares. The use of free softwares: As their name indicates, these software are free to download from the Internet and free to use. They are fairly reliable and free of charge most of the time. They are multilingual and supported by a «community» with many active forums. They are especially recommended for non-profits. They are designed to be compatible with others paying softwares such as MS-WORD. - For word processing, spreadsheets and slideshows, the suite of LibreOffice 27 can take the place of MS-Office. LibreOffice can save texts in the format ODT 28 and also export texts in DOC, DOCX and PDF. The link to the welcome page of LibreOffice is: For Ubuntu, it comes with the installation. - To receive and organize s (especially for those who have an ATD address), the Thunderbird program is very useful. It can be downloaded from this link: 22 In particular: Windows XP 23 And even sometimes in spite of the existence of back up which can be filled with virus too! 24 For example texts written under Word-Windows 3.1 (abandoned in the 1995) are not legible any more by the current versions of MS-Word 25 Such as.doc or.docx 26 Witch computer code is published thus reproducible 27 There is other one softwares which take over, such as OpenOffice, but LibreOffice being installed by base on the operating system Ubuntu, we also recommend it for Windows and macos 28 ODT is one of formats recommended to make sure of the sustainability of texts and be able to open them in 50 or 100 years. See the practical form "Record and protect the digital texts (and documents)" Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 8 / 10

9 For Ubuntu, the program comes with the installation. - For web browsing, a good program is Mozilla Firefox which can be downloaded from this page: For Ubuntu, it comes with the installation. - the Windows and Mac operating systems can be replaced with a version of Linux 29. There are several versions; the most current is Ubuntu 30. What version of Ubuntu depends on the computer CPU (Intel, AMD, 32 bit or 64 bit). The simplest is to go on the official page of Ubuntu and download the version which corresponds to your system. Then, burn it on a DVD and install it from the DVD. The link to the welcome page of Ubuntu is: If you don't feel competent in dealing with computer questions, consult with people around you or look for forums 31 on the Internet which deal with your question. There are many other freeware programs beside the ones mentioned above which can be used for a variety of projects: backing up files, repairing you computer, working with video and DVDs, creating professional layouts, rename numbers of files and directories, and many other things. Don't hesitate to search the Internet or ask others. Backing up Programs For backing up documents, an external hard drive should be connected to the computer Windows: As for software to use, Windows 7 has the «Backup and Restore» program in the Control Panel section. Important!: It is strongly recommended that you create a system repair disk to boot your computer in case Windows cannot start. You find the program to create the disk in the Back and Restore option in the Control Panel. Some people find third-party programs easier to use for these operations. One we recommend is Cobian Backup which can be downloaded at this link: - Ubuntu includes a program called «Backup» which has basic functions for backing up your documents. If you want more, use Back in Time which is found in the software library of Ubuntu. - the version Mac OSX.6 (and following versions) includes an excellent backup program called «Time Machine». Another program which works well is Carbon Copy Cloner which is a shareware program (you pay to use it). It can be found at the link: 29 However, specialized programs as those of accounting or the database "Alice" use commercial software. For these programs, it is necessary to have the operating system Windows. Therefore, it is on strongly recommended to maintain a machine under Windows, MS-Word, MS-Office with the corresponding licenses in order. It is possible to obtain these licenses at a lower cost for ATD Fourth World. Inquire with Jacques Ogier 30 There are other distributions of Linux as Debian, Linux Mint You can also call to Jacques Ogier who is available to think and look together for solutions to the questions: jacques.ogier@atd-quartmonde.org or skype to jacqogier 32 Or the server Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 9 / 10

10 Other programs can be easily downloaded from the Internet and service(department) of secure and free storage to send big files by - Most members of the Movement use Skype for instant messaging. The versions for Windows, Mac and Ubuntu can be downloaded at this link: - To transfer of big file (superior to 3 Mb) by we can use a service of storage on the Internet. We recommend you to use hubic which is free and secured. hubic can be integrated easily into Thunderbird 33. To join: 33 See the special practical form to install and use hubic in Thunderbird Know How booklet - 3.1XL version Update: May 6 th, 2014 page 10 / 10