You’ve Backed It Up– But Don’t Get Cocky
Suggestions For Keeping Your Data Safe Page 2

Do:
· Handle discs by the outer edge or the center hole.
· Use a nonsolvent-based felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of the disc.
· Keep dirt or other foreign matter from the disc.
· Store discs upright (book style) in plastic cases specified for CDs and DVDs.
· Return discs to storage cases immediately after use.
· Leave discs in their packaging (or cases) to minimize the effects of environmental changes.
· Open a recordable disc package only when you are ready to record data on that disc.
· Store in a cool, dry, dark environment in which the air is clean.
· Remove dirt, foreign material, fingerprints, smudges, and liquids by wiping with a clean cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge.
· Use CD/DVD cleaning detergent, isopropyl alcohol, or methanol to remove stubborn dirt or material.
· Check the disc surface before recording.

Do Not:
· Touch the surface of the disc.
· Bend the disc.
· Use adhesive labels.
· Store discs horizontally for a long time (years).
· Open a recordable optical disc package if you are not ready to record.
· Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity.
· Expose discs to extreme rapid temperature or humidity changes.
· Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of UV light.
· Write or mark in the data area of the disc (area where the laser "reads").
· Clean in a circular direction around the disc.

Archival Storage Facility
Recommendation For Storing CDs And DVDs Together
Media
Temperature
Relative Humidity (RH)
CD, DVD Less than 20ÞC (68ÞF) 20% to 50% RH
  Greater than 4ÞC (39ÞF)  
A temperature of 18ÞC and 40% RH would be considered suitable for long-term storage.
A lower temperature of RH is recommended for extended-term storage.

As senior manager of product marketing for Maxtor-branded products, Paul Streit is responsible for product development, worldwide coordination and marketing for Maxtor's family of retail products.

Please Read This
Photography is a wide-ranging field that engenders passion in its practitioners, and like all great forms of expression creates opinions formed through experience and reflection. In its early days one of the great debates was: Is Photography Art? This was the subject of many essays and heated discussions among players and spectators. Today, issues such as film vs. digital, format choices, the validity of computer generated images, photography as exploitation or revealer, and even the merits of ink jet vs. silver prints cause similar debate. We are opening this department up to readers, manufacturers, and retailers--in short, everyone who lives and breathes photography and who has an opinion about anything affecting imaging today.

Here's how to get involved: write us an e-mail at editorial@shutterbug.com or send us a letter with a proposed topic and a synopsis of your idea. Once approved, we'll ask you to send us about 500-1000 words on the subject chosen. The idea here is not to push any product or wave any flag, but to create discussion about photo and imaging topics of the day. We reserve the right to edit whatever you send in, although we will never edit intention or opinion but only for length and, hopefully, for clarity. We reserve the right to publish your work on our website as well, so you can join the archives and be a resource for opinion for years to come.

So, get thinking and writing and share your Point of View.
--George Schaub

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