[ih] Archive of internet-history email (and others)

[Bill Ricker]

*1. Planning and Execution*

> On Mar 7, 2025, at 15:30, Dave Crocker via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> At this point, for each of us, we should resolve a basic question of why
we haven't provided potentially historical documents to a long-term
archive, ***such as*** the Computer History Museum.

(Author's ***retroactive emphasis supplied***)


Having received the Literary Estate of MAP by prior arrangement and
explicit instructions in his Will, and recently assisting Mother in
processing the Estate of Father, this is somewhat on my mind.

Yes, arrangements need to be made, either while we  yet live & downsize, or
in written instructions in / attached to a Last Will and Testament, which
needs to indicate WHICH drawers/boxes and computer files and perhaps
reference a CHM/CBI/... reference# as having been previously coordinated.
Instructions should probably be written such that if we're incapacitated
and placed in long-term care with Conservators/Power of Attorney etc, which
may require downsizing, the instructions are actionable (and mandatory
upon) said agents before decease.

If the prospective permanent archive can make better use of the files TODAY
than ourself, shipping sooner is better.
If they're only going to accession the collection, number each box, and
stick it in climate controlled warehouse, it's of more use _casa nostra_
where it's plausibly accessible remotely by query on this list.
  (Files of John Smith, "Internet Early History", 7 linear feet)

Anyone with intellectual assetts (authored works and their copyrights,
historical artifacts, manuscripts, rare copies of others' documents, ...)
needs to provide for their "Literary Estate". This is perhaps _more_
important than providing for their real and personal property in a normal
will, as the several states have a centuries-tested process for dealing
with intestate inheritance, but that system handles intellectual and
historical property poorly if at all.
(Obviously there are family situations that make death-intestate highly
problematic and thus wills are extra important if one has such a
problematic family. Here in a Community Property state, setting joint
tenancy of appropriate forms on as many things as possible keeps those
assets out of Probate.)

Additionally if one ***CHANGES*** their choice of (Literary) Executor, be
sure to have the lawyer draft a codicil or latest testament recording the
change, and store copies with all the copies of the prior edition.  I was
uncontested Literary Executor in the Will of MAP, but my promotion to
Spiritus Executor (conservator of Scotch liquid assets) was not legally
recorded, or if recorded in a proper Codicil, not found. The previous
designee (who may still be on the list; Hi! Thank you!) was informed by
Estate Executor, looked at what taking possession would entail, and
balked/declined, so the primary Estate Executor turned that over to me also
as informally intended; since I needed to fly out and ship back the
Literary Estate anyway, it was a twofer. (Which made shipping cross-country
quite worthwhile !)

*2. Where to Archive*
On Fri, Mar 7, 2025, 15:33 John Day <jeanjour at comcast.net> wrote:

> With all due respect to CHM, CBIs archive is safer.  Those caves under the
> library aren’t going anywhere. ;-)
> We lost the HP Archives a few years ago in one of the CA fires.
>


Oh, thank you for mentioning CBI.

For those not on ^this^ continent (^that sometimes forgets there are
others^), there's also NCHM collocated with Britain's cryptological museum
at Bletchley Park, Maynard Keynes, UK.

One consideration that may override all else in choosing an archival
destination is WILL THEY ACCEPT YOUR FILES?
  E.g., Vint's files would of course be accepted at his first choice
repository, there's no question of his "notability" (to use Wikipedia's
term of art).
    OTOH E.g. I might need to reach out to all of CBI, CHM, MIT, BU, ... in
order to find one archivist who'll agree MAP was sufficiently notable to
promise to accept *his* files (at the cost of having to inventory accession
and store them in perpetuity) when i or my executor is ready to ship them.
(And the sooner I record that agreement the better! Leaving that canvassing
to my executor would not only be unfair to them but also inefficient; i can
make that case to the archivist better than the _next_ generation, who only
remember MAP as a kindly curmudgeonly reitree (as I aspire to be now).)

With *perhaps only a majority of* due respect to CHM, I'm still a little
salty that after I'd TWICE bought Founding Memberships in the Marlboro and
Boston instances of CHM (DCHM & BC(H)M), they followed the billionaires to
Sili Valley and cleared the slate for yet another round of ^Founding^
Memberships.
   (NO, I'm NOT challenging that they needed to "follow the money", just
disclosing that I'm a little salty. Which you'll not be surprised at MAP's
mentee & literary executor.)
   (MAP would appreciate my quoting Woodward&Bernstein's 'Deep Throat'. And
would've quoted his lewd aphorism connecting that cryptonym to Babbage,
some of you may even remember.  If one needs to be reminded, ask off-list.)

Since Mike and I have each already paid shipping to move the Padlipsky
archive across the continent Boston->LA->Boston (and some portions
moreseo?), shipping it back to Californicatia isn't high on my list.
Minnesota would be half the pound-miles, as well as perhaps better
protected archives.


Yes, all California archives need to seriously reconsider if they are still
safe archival storage, and what they can do to ensure continuity in warmer
centuries with oscillatory flood-and-drought-and-fire cycles.
(It is unclear to me if the Getty survived the fire because of luck or
because they have secret Bond-villian-lair grade private fire
suppression?)
Both Reagan and Nixon libraries are IIRC in the inflammable chapparell
"golden hills".

(Apparently one **OF MANY** keys in buildings' wildfire-survival is
shutters or reflective curtains to prevent interior decor igniting from
infrared transmission.)

*3. Returning to the original topic, archival of mailing lists and digital
files ...*

one of my frustrations as combined Literary and Spiritus executor is that
the original MALTS-L at BBN list archives appear not to have been saved when
hosting shifted.

(Does anyone remember how early Malts-L was formed? I believe S F Lovers
was the first non-technical mailing-list/reflector on dARPAnet, and that
Malts-L followed soon after when more than 2 scotch-hounds in the working
groups discovered common interest, but how soon?)

I need to research how to extract data from MAP's old MFM drives.
(Hoping there may be older emails and writings.)
 I didn't ship all his older computers, just the latest laptop, but I
harvested all the hard-drives.  Maybe I can configure a thin-net adapter
into one of my old hulks (if its capacitors haven't rotted!) and use that,
otherwise I may need a rarer adapter or a service?


WILLIAM D RICKER // LITERARY ESTATE OF MICHAEL A PADLIPSKY

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