For ink jet printers, there are inks which are 
advertised as archival. Paper lasts, but not 
forever. And in addition to paper and ink, there 
is also the question of storage conditions --- 
for example, acid free boxes or notebooks, 
temperature and humidity, etc. Even in the New 
York Public Library, it is sad to see books, not 
that old (less than 150 years) crumbling at the edges.

On the other side, it you store digitally, one 
should check and recopy material every few years. 
And store copies in two (or more) different 
places. The fire at the Library at Alexandra was 
a cultural disaster in part because some of the material was the only copy.

Multiple storage and multiple methods might be 
the way to go. As students of the past we should 
be aware that we never know what the future may bring.

Tucker


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>Date:         Fri, 13 Jan 2006 10:18:38 -0800
>Reply-To:     qvarizona <[log in to unmask]>
>Sender:       "Research and writing about 
>Virginia genealogy and 
>family              history." <[log in to unmask]>
>From:         qvarizona <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Backing Up Your Data- Inks for Archival Paper
>To:           [log in to unmask]
>
>   Clay--
>
>   I'm almost afraid to ask...
>   Do you mean we have to write by hand on the paper?
>   That would take me the rest of my lifetime.
>   Is there acid free paper for printers?  Oh, oh... brings on next question:
>   Is there acid free ink for printers?
>
>   --Joanne
>
>clay gullatt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>   Unless someone knows otherwise, I would say 
> modern acid free ink pens would be the ones to use. They are widely available.
>
>Clay
>
>
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