title: Expanding Horizons for Digital Storage in Research Libraries: Navigating the Zettabyte Era
creators: Jon Shaw Brigitte Weinsteiger
abstract: As we advance further into the digital age, forecasts suggest an astronomical consumption of data, surpassing 150 zettabytes by 2025. This surge presents unparalleled challenges for research libraries and cultural heritage organizations, the traditional custodians of petabyte-scale digital collections, as they grapple with preserving cultural memory amidst this zettabyte era. This research article delves into the shifting landscape of digital storage, scrutinizing the immense volumes of data emanating from academic, healthcare institutions, and notably, national laboratories and scientific hubs, exemplified by the pioneering work at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF). The study seeks to understand the repercussions of this digital onslaught on libraries' preservation mandates, probing which data merits preservation, what might be irretrievably lost, and the adaptive measures necessary for the enduring safeguarding of cultural memory. In light of these challenges, the narrative evolves to contemplate future-oriented solutions. Specifically, the emergent technology of Ceramic Nano Memory emerges as a promising contender, with the potential to revolutionize data storage. This innovation is on the cusp of redefining the parameters of density, performance, access, cost, and sustainability in data centers, heralding a scalable trajectory into the Yottabyte Era. Ceramic Nano Memory's advent could significantly mitigate current constraints, offering a new vista for research libraries to navigate the complexities of digital preservation, ensuring their pivotal role in the continuum of cultural heritage is not just maintained but invigorated in the face of burgeoning data landscapes.
keywords: approaches to preservation from document to data