Some of you may have seen my recent post in the Photography forum concerning an abandoned research and animal testing facility. I mentioned that they left a large number of documents behind. They also left at least a dozen pieces of digital media behind in the form of floppy disks, VCR tapes, and CDs.

I've also mentioned that I want to photograph all the documents left behind to preserve the information they contain, so that it is not lost when they are inevitably destroyed by water, humans, or animals. I'd like to do the same with the digital media, but it's not as easy as photographing a piece of paper. Now, I don't want to remove the storage devices from the location for obvious reasons, so I can't just take them home and back them up. My laptop is too new to have a floppy drive, so I can't bring it to copy them either.

So, how should I go about preserving this data, provided that the storage devices aren't too badly deteriorated to read? How can I preserve the data without taking the devices? And what's the legality of taking digital information from an abandonment? Is that information theft, and can I be charged for it? Is it theft if you copy it and leave the original behind, and is this piracy?

I figured I'd ask here since I've never seen this topic come up before.

Since legally you are trepassing, I would be concerned with damage to your laptop, if you get caught that your laptop could be seized and since the info is not your....more charges if the owner if still around or contactable and if when contacted by the police, would they press charges for data theft.

I could be wrong, but those were the first things that entered my mind.

The taking of information would have to be given a number value to determine worth before they could press charges of theft. More than likely the company would have to bring those charges to hand, and that is seriously doubtful.

As for copying and leaving the original you are getting in to corporate data theft and all that nonsense. Which I would reckon has a very small chance of being an issue.

My understanding of course.

To transfer from VHS to your laptop you'd need a player and the AV to USB cable. These are cheap and the software can be found for free. You can get a USB floppy reader for cheap too. I bought one a few years ago for $5 on Newegg.

Posted by 4Valhal As for copying and leaving the original you are getting in to corporate data theft and all that nonsense. Which I would reckon has a very small chance of being an issue.

Don't be so sure about that. I was accused of industrial espionage by a scrap yard foreman on a power trip because he saw me taking pictures a few years ago. I'm also hesitant to bring my laptop for reasons listed in Alpine's reply.

Honestly if you really want to preserve the data and leave the original I would just take it home, copy it to a junk laptop/view it there and then return it.

There's a place near me with VHS tapes that it made in 2001 and I so wish I could get them for conversion. My cousin took a cassette tape from the place without my knowledge, which I ended up making a digital copy of.

Posted by 4Valhal The taking of information would have to be given a number value to determine worth before they could press charges of theft.

Another complicating fact is that the laboratory used to belong to (and I think still does) my current university. Even if no legal action is taken against more for copying data, the university could still screw me over academically if they had the mind to. Granted, the documents there are over a decade old, so I imagine most of it was published long ago, but still.

Posted by jeepdave Honestly if you really want to preserve the data and leave the original I would just take it home, copy it to a junk laptop/view it there and then return it.

This is what I would do.

But even then, do you have some reason to believe the data is actually valuable and worth you saving?

Posted by Steed This is what I would do. But even then, do you have some reason to believe the data is actually valuable and worth you saving?

None whatsoever, except for that fact that it exists. The most recent documents are a little over a decade old, and the older ones go back to the early 1990's at least. Whatever research was being conducted there was probably already published long ago. My interest in preserving the data is strictly historical in nature.

If you feel iffy about taking the original and then returning it, maybe consider getting a cheap 'burner' laptop for this sort of purpose? It wouldn't be horribly difficult to have a small old-ish laptop and then get some extra hardware for copying floppy discs and VHS'. Maybe keep a small USB to transfer the files onto instead of onto the laptop itself that you can hide if you need to.

If it's owned by someone that could still academically screw you over, I'd be a bit more careful depending on how your school treats stuff like this--stuff from labs might be taken more seriously, even if it's old research.

Honestly mate it sounds like it wouldn't be worth the risk.

Information you are not even sure is worth anything to anybody vs Your education


The cheap laptop is a good idea. I'm sure you could find a cheap chromebook style laptop at a pawn shop or computer repair shop. I looked at them for my daughter's sisters for school and found some decent ones for like 60-100 bucks.

Not sure how much this whole venture is worth to you.

As for the site espionage and such there is a big difference between a foreman yelling at you and actually getting his legal team to press charges. I'd still be super careful though. The best route for this would be to not get caught at all... of course.