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The article focuses on trials and tribulations faced by the project of Penn State Special Collections for recovery of data from old computer media. Topics discussed include computer disks in the literary manuscripts of a modern English author; project details including development of a template agreement and checksum; and technological problems in outsourcing tasks to recover data.

The article discusses the task of managing born-digital material in special collections. Several recently published studies reveal that there is a lack of plans for the ongoing management and preservation of the files contained in impermanent media such as compact discs and DVDs. The authors of a study considered a significant portion of born-digital collection material at the American Heritage Center (AHC), undercollected, undercounted, undermanaged, and inaccessible.