Why isn’t a hard drive enough?

Short Answer #

Because storing information and managing information are not the same thing.

Expanded Answer #

Many communities possess large collections of language materials stored on:

• Hard drives
• USB devices
• Personal computers
• Shared network folders

While storage is important, storage alone does not solve critical challenges. Questions still remain:

• Can resources be searched?
• Can they be organized?
• Can they be shared?
• Can permissions be managed?
• Can future staff find them?

A hard drive may preserve files. Infrastructure helps preserve knowledge. The difference is significant. Language resources create the greatest value when they remain accessible and usable over time.