I agree with Guy Cox (below). I have SEM images that are still used and
published from 15+ years ago. Data is data, regardless of how old it is,
and can still be valuble.

Phil

>>And to all this, I would ask if anyone can provide me with an example of
>>someone wanting (or should I say, really needing) to examine raw data from
>>even five years ago?  Perhaps some legal types can make a case for this
>>"need" (i.e., my client gets off if they can't produce the original data),
>>but I challange those from the ivory towers to document going back to data
>>acquired more than five years ago and really making something out of a
>>reanalysis.  My philosophy is that data is NOT like wine - you use it
>>within a relatively short time frame or you forget about it.  It does not
>>become better or more informative with age - in fact, just the opposite.  I
>>don't save string or rubber bands either...
>>Rob Palmer
>>CEB/UT
>
>
>
>Well, not being American, I don't get every bit of research I do published
>the next day .... it's quite often that data acquired 5+ years ago ends
>up in a published paper.  Then, later on, comes the possibility that one
>might be asked to write a review paper.  And even later one might want to
>use the same micrographs but presented quite differently in a textbook or
>lecture notes.  Certainly after 'n' years (where n is a personal variable)
>around 80-90% of the data will never be looked at again but the other 10-20%
>can be very valuable.  Photographic negatives are cheap, durable, and take
>very little space to store.  It doesn't seem too much to expect the same
>qualities in a digital medium ....
>
>                                                        Guy Cox
>
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