The time capsule – it’s possibly the oldest form of archival storage still in use today. In ancient Mesopotamia, no temple was complete without a time capsule in the foundation. And this past spring, graduating classes around the world placed memorabilia in time capsules for future classes to discover. Time capsules are a shout-out to generations hence, saying, “We were here, and this is who we were and what we did.” They seem to fulfill a very basic human need – we want to live on, to be remembered.
Of course businesses have a similar need, one of corporate continuity. Objects, documents, and other vital historical elements should be carefully archived in fire-proof insect-resistant climate-controlled storage systems – the highly sophisticated technical equivalent of that shoebox we kids buried in the back yard, the one that held our first-grade report card, some plastic vampire teeth, and a buffalo-head nickel. If you’re in the mood to do a little personal archiving, here are some time capsule suggestions from the master archivists at the Smithsonian: .
Photo © ra2 studio – Fotolia.com
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