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Your Documents Policies
The Library Cafe is NOT responisble for lost work, or work left on our computer hard drives.
The Library Cafe staff will do their best at attempting to recover your documents, but there
will not be any guarantees of success.
Got Important Documents? Don't Risk Losing Them.
Despite all the advances in technology the world has to offer today, nothing is perfect.
Don’t take anything for granted. Computers will continue to experience problems, errors,
crashes, software virus damage, and even unintentional user mistreatment. All these factors
are good agents in destroying your important files and making your life miserable.
Here are some tips in keeping your document files safe:
- Save early and often. As soon as you sit down on your station, the very
first thing you should do is save your new document onto your diskette, even if
your work file is still blank. Save every few minutes as you progressively build
on to your document. Do NOT wait until after your session to do your saving. If
your computer crashes, you can resume your work from the point of when you last
performed a save.
- Have more than one copy of your file. Floppy disks are a very fragile and
unreliable means of storage. They can physically break internally, without any
indication of problems from its outer appearance.
- Save your work in at least two extra backup diskettes. In the case that one of the
disks fails to work, you will still have at least two more to fall back on.
- Save at least 2 copies of your file within the same diskette. Physical disk damage
may affect only a portion of the diskette. Extra copies of the file will be saved
in different unoccupied sections of the disk, usually in portions unaffected by the
physical damage.
Stop, look, and wait. Make sure that the green light on your disk drive isn’t
lit before you insert or remove your disk. Hardware components within the computer may
still be in the process of accessing the diskette, and user interference can cause the
disk to get physically scratched and therefore damaged.
Use your Email account. Don’t rely on diskettes as your means of storing and
carrying your files. Log on to your email account online and send email to your own
address with your document files attached. You will be able to access your files on
any computer that has a connection to the Internet and support for your file types.
- If you have more than one email account, send your document files to these addresses as
well. In the case that one of your email services experience downtime, chances are the
others should be up and running. If either all of your web email servers or the Library
Café’s Internet connection is down, you still have your backup diskettes as insurance.
- If you don’t have an email account, get one. All Brooklyn College students have an email
account. For more information, go to the Atrium Microcomputer Laboratory in Plaza Building,
or visit http://infocenter.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ online. If you prefer not to use
your Brooklyn College email account, the Internet offers many free email services such as
Yahoo! Mail and
Hotmail. Ask the Library Cafe staff
for help in creating your Email account during staff on-duty hours.
- Home sweet home. If you have a computer at home, save at least 2 copies of your
file on your computer’s local hard drive (i.e.: Windows’ Desktop). In the worst case that
all your disks fail to work, you will still have a couple of copies saved in your computer
at home.
- Print your document. Even if you are still not finished, you can reassure yourself
with a hard copy of your document, in the case that all your disks fail.
Viruses
Viruses. We've all heard of them. They infect computers by destroying files, decoding user passwords,
and replicating themselves onto other computer stations. If you are unprotected, viruses will spread
like wildfire and can destroy all documents on your disks and on your computer.
The steps written on the above list are all valid ways to protect your files from virus infection.
Here are other prevention tips:
- Anti-Virus software. If you have a computer at home, it is strongly advised that you
purchase and install anti-virus software such as Norton Antivirus or McAfee VirusScan. These
programs run silently in the background and will detect any recognizable viral activity
attempting to cause harm to your computer, disks, and files. Steps to clean up of any infected
files will be taken. If disinfection is unsuccessful, the program may ask you for permission
to delete the damaged file in order to completely rid your system of the virus. Again, always
have backup copies of your files. Better be safe than sorry.
- Frequent Anti-Virus software updates. There will always be people out there who have
nothing better to do than create new types of viruses. Your anti-virus program will not recognize
these new viruses unless you update your anti-virus program at least twice a month. Refer to your
anti-virus software manual for information on how to do regular updates on your software.
- Staff assistance. If you are using a computer in the Library Café and you feel that your
disk in infected, do not hesitate in asking the Library Café staff for assistance in disinfecting your
files. If your file exhibits any unusual behavior, bring your diskette to the front desk immediately.
Do NOT try to open your other backup files unless you are sure that your disk is not infected.
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