***The Information Stockpiling Thread***

[sevin]

I'm not saying the end of the world is coming. Hell, maybe everything will be fine. But either way, it doesn't hurt to be prudent and prepare for a worst case scenario, whether it's a Greater Depression, World War III, or whatever.

Last night my mom was telling me about a book called Lucifer's Hammer where a comet is going to destroy most of the planet. Most people are stockpiling food, but one character decides to stockpile books that way he can have information on gardening, auto repair, home remedies, etc. for himself and so he would also be able to trade this information with his neighbors.

There's no way I can afford to buy all the books I'd like to have, but there are still a few websites and torrent sites left where you can download free ebooks. For example, I've gone to mininova.org and typed in keywords such as survival, repair, troubleshooting, etc. and found all sorts of books. My plan is to sort through it all, separate out the good stuff, buy lots of ink, printer paper and 3-ring binders at Sam's Club and start organizing a massive library that I can reference for anything I might need to know. If the power or internet goes out, or it became more and more censored (already happening, and torrent sites are being shut down), at least I'd still have access to this information.

But let's say none of those things happen. Still, if my car breaks down and I can't figure out what's wrong with it and I can't afford a mechanic, I don't want to spend all day and night doing hopeless google searches and finding nothing but trash, sites that are hard to understand, or books I'd have to buy. Today I did a search on "auto repair" and most of the sites that came up were useless--full of ads and links that lead nowhere. We are going to need VERY specific information/instructions.

What I'm proposing here is a thread full of links to sites with FREE QUALITY information and basic how-to guides that can be printed up. I'll also need opinions on the sites and eBooks so we can sort out the good ones from the bad ones, and recommended keyword searches. I'll continue to update this post with these links. Here's what I got so far:

eBook search
Recommended sites:
http://www.scribd.com/ ("http://www.scribd.com/)
http://www.pizzatorrent.com
http://mininova.org (be sure to go to Advanced Search and choose the "books" category)
...

Recommended keywords:
repair
survival
troubleshooting
gardening
sewing
us marine
us army
us navy
encyclopedia
diy
...

eBooks to search for:
The Complete Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook
Troubleshooting and Repair of Small Household Appliances
Barnett's Manual of Bicycle Repair
Auto Repair for Dummies
Homegrown Ethnic Gardening
The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency
...

Other Links
http://survivaltopics.com
http://www.doityourself.com
http://www.acmehowto.com
http://www.2carpros.com/kpages/first_things.htm
http://www.homestead.org
http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/pig.html
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library.html
http://www.ytmag.com/registry.htm
http://www.tractorhouse.com/
http://www.agromisalustrum.org/agromisa/index.php
...

Again, I want to stress that they need to be quality links. Please no links to wikipedia.org, about.com, ehow.com, or other such sites. 99% of the Internet is full of useless sites where you can never find the specifics you're looking for. The point of this thread is to make it easier to find good info.

Suggestions?

[Dieseler]

Heck yeah I will share what I find.
I run across this site today and have saved a bunch of articles.
May as well start with it since it is fresh on my mind.
Homested.org
http://www.homestead.org/

I found this site on Pig processing the other day.
http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/pig.html

Yesterdays Tractor. Found this today.
http://www.ytmag.com/registry.htm

And this one, Tractorhouse.com
http://www.tractorhouse.com/

I got a lot to add.

44 books on agriculture and farming with no copyright infringements.
just hit submit query for access in pdf form.
http://www.agromisalustrum.org/agromisa/index.php

This a real good one if you like farming stuff.
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library.html

[sevin]

Heck yeah I will share what I find.
I run across this site today and have PDF'ed a bunch of articles.
May as well start with it since it is fresh on my mind.
Homested.org
http://www.homestead.org/

I PDF'ed this site on Pig processing the other day.
http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/pig.html

Yesterdays Tractor. Found this today.
http://www.ytmag.com/registry.htm

And this one, Tractorhouse.com
http://www.tractorhouse.com/

I got a lot to add.

This a real good one if you like farming stuff.
http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library.html

Cool, thanks! Eventually I'm going to separate the links and eBooks into categories for easier reference.

I'm not sure about the tractor sites. The repair manuals had a price tag by them, unless I missed something.

How did you PDF the articles if they don't come in that format?

[Dieseler]

Cool, thanks! Eventually I'm going to separate the links and eBooks into categories for easier reference.

I'm not sure about the tractor sites. The repair manuals had a price tag by them, unless I missed something.

I just thought I would throw those two sites in for folks with old tractors.


How did you PDF the articles if they don't come in that format?
I'm using Ubuntu (Linux) and it gives you the option to print to pdf instead of your printer.

There is a program called pdf creator for windows though. Prolly find it on CNET downloads site if I remember correct.
Be aware that just saving some info from sites alone can be a copyright infringement.
Redistributing those works electronically or in any other form no doubt will be copyright infringement.
Be sure to check and be safe. From what I understand, the ability for some sites to put up copyrighted material can be compromised when others redistribute it without going through all the hoops the site owners do to republish it online in the first place.

[Ninja Homer]

230+ survival books: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1934075
US Marine Corps books: http://www.mininova.org/search/us+marine/2
US Army books: http://www.mininova.org/search/us+army/2
US Navy books: http://www.mininova.org/search/us+navy/2

[Expatriate]

http://www.scribd.com/

It's a document-sharing website that has a huge amount of stuff related to anything you can think of that you can't find in the torrents. Trust me, this site is incredible. You need an account to download files so use mine:
username: randomperson5282
password: randomperson

For example,"The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency"
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6449749/The-complete-book-of-self-sufficiency-by-John-Seymour

[WRellim]

This is an excellent idea -- one I've actually been "doing" for over 20 years (slowly building up a BIG library -- people now refuse to help me move -- books are heavy!)

1) Go to a used bookstore ASAP (or better yet call around to the ones in your city) and buy a copy of a GOOD set of encyclopedia's -- like the old (60's..70's) Encyclopedia Britannica. They will either GIVE them to you -- or you can buy the whole set cheap maybe $5 to $20. (Most used book stores don't even accept the things anymore because they simply do not sell and they take up valuable shelf space -- if you have a local used bookstore that tells you this, have them take your name and number... and the next time someone brings in a set, they should call you, and you WILL buy them ASAP.)

2) See if you can find (in a used bookstore) copies of the old "FireFox" books (this was DECADES before the browser) -- they were written in the "hippie" era and are all about how to do all of the basic but now "forgotten" things like how to churn butter, harvest maple syrup, make apple cider, etc. -- plus a lot on old woodcraft, woodworking, etc.

3) Used bookstores can be gold mines for OTHER things -- a lot of old DIY books from the middle of the 20th century are available on things like small engine repair, building your own machine tools, etc.

4) Also, don't forget the local library -- not to borrow, but to BUY -- a lot of libraries have limited space, and in order to make room for the latest GARBAGE books, & DVD's and they sell (dirt cheap) a lot of REALLY GOOD books on subjects that are now considered "obsolete." (They did this BIG TIME in the 1990's and I harvested a lot of good stuff).

5) Otherwise if you are buying "new" focus on getting the few GOOD compilations out there -- the reference books on "mechanisms" etc. -- especially ones that include "old" technology or articles (for example like this one (http://www.amazon.com/Ingenious-Mechanisms-Designers-Inventors-1930-67/dp/0831110325/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226952181&sr=8-5)). Online/catalog store Lindsay books (http://www.lindsaybks.com/) is also a good source for republished versions of old out of print stuff like this (but beware, that stuff get's addicting).

Best Wishes!

[rancher89]

http://www.scribd.com/

It's a document-sharing website that has a huge amount of stuff related to anything you can think of that you can't find in the torrents. Trust me, this site is incredible. You need an account to download files so use mine:
username: randomperson5282
password: randomperson

For example,"The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency"
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6449749/The-complete-book-of-self-sufficiency-by-John-Seymour

I actually have that book, and it is incredible!

AND the old Firefox series is very good also, I picked one book a few months ago and hope to add to the collection, they are available on ebay

[rancher89]

From time to time I need to travel a bit, when I do, I always scope out where the used book stores are. The last time I went to Raleigh I scored books on IDing wild edible and herbal plants and an NA Indian herbalogy book which is fascinating. The author cross references to Russian herbology! Indian Herbalogy of North America by Alma R Hutchens--The descriptions of the plants are well done, there are line drawings AND a fairly comprehensive listing of uses, processing and dosages.

The guy at the book store said he had put both books out on the shelf that morning........

[WRellim]

From time to time I need to travel a bit, when I do, I always scope out where the used book stores are. The last time I went to Raleigh I scored books on IDing wild edible and herbal plants and an NA Indian herbalogy book which is fascinating. The author cross references to Russian herbology! Indian Herbalogy of North America by Alma R Hutchens--The descriptions of the plants are well done, there are line drawings AND a fairly comprehensive listing of uses, processing and dosages.

The guy at the book store said he had put both books out on the shelf that morning........


Ah... another fellow bibliophile and "used bookstore addict."
Howdy Pardner!
:)

Amazing what you can find and buy for a couple of dollars (sometimes less) at used bookstores.

I recently picked up a rare find -- a copy [1933 ed] of M v Richthofen's "Der rote Kampfflieger" for $2 !!!

And a nicely bound 1941 copy of Farnwell's "New Encyclopedia of Machine Shop Practice" for only a $1.
(The sections on bench work practices and heat treatment alone are priceless IMO -- you can't GET that kind of clearly written and beautifully illustrated info in modern machining books for 100x the price).


My problem these days is bookcases. I keep running out of room.
;)

[rancher89]

Ah... another fellow bibliophile and "used bookstore addict."
Howdy Pardner!
:)

Amazing what you can find and buy for a couple of dollars (sometimes less) at used bookstores.

I recently picked up a rare find -- a copy [1933 ed] of M v Richthofen's "Der rote Kampfflieger" for $2 !!!

And a nicely bound 1941 copy of Farnwell's "New Encyclopedia of Machine Shop Practice" for only a $1.
(The sections on bench work practices and heat treatment alone are priceless IMO -- you can't GET that kind of clearly written and beautifully illustrated info in modern machining books for 100x the price).


My problem these days is bookcases. I keep running out of room.
;)

I have a weakness for cookbooks, not just any cookbooks but ones like the ones Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gormet used to publish (I think I have all of his now) and older, time tested, from scratch cookbooks with old southern, cajun, carribean or jamacian receipes. I've had to narrow my focus, the same bookshelf problem. If I haven't cooked from it or referenced it in three years, out it goes (unless it is special somehow.) I used to pick up the Jr. League type cookbooks, but they aren't worth the shelf space now. I do have the one cookbook that I have a receipe published in, thank goodness it's small.....

The other weakness is anything to do with growing and propagating plants, any kind of plants.

One of the coolest hardcover, non-survival related books I've ever picked up is an Edgar Allen Poe hardback that I cannot date. the Preface by Sherwin Cody is dated 1924, the book is small, say half size, titled "Poe's Best Tales" and published by the Modern Library (Random House.) The pages are frail, and the binding is starting to go a little.

The oddest hardcover, non-suvival related book is "A History of Pi" (AmyPi are you out there????) This one is a little larger than the Poe, much newer (1971) and in much better shape, it's a cool little engineering/history romp. (giggle--some may think that's an oxymoron)

I can spend hours in a used book store...........

[Expatriate]

If you want to have a knowledge-base for manufacturing effective firearms in the lawless world after the Apocalypse :), or would just like to better understand how guns work, here you go:


How to build your own 9mm submachine gun (For educational purposes only) (http://www.thehomegunsmith.com/9mmPistol.shtml) (The author went to jail in the UK for building one)

If you are a machinest, you can build this classic beauty (receiver).

http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-a-m/boltaction.htm


Here's a possibly easier-to-build design for a simple open-bolt homemade 9mm submachine gun. I think it's a little uglier though. The interesting thing is that it could conceivably be made with nothing more than a hacksaw and drill - no machine tools required.
You need a username and password to download from this site, so use this one:

USERNAME: randomperson5282
PASSWORD: randomperson
-or make your own account (that site has a lot of interesting stuff if you like to learn so you might as well)

Click "Download" and select "Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)".
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3170766/expedient-homemade-firearms-9mm-submachinegun-complete-instructions


Here's some more gun designs from the same site. They are all good reads, although of course assembling most of the guns would be illegal according to the federal National Firearms Act. Make sure you download the .pdf, I have a hard time reading them otherwise. (you need the free Adobe Reader (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html) to view these files)


Another 9mm submachine gun how-to - this one is quite handsome and built from standard pipe fittings with minimal effort:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6118520/expedient-homemade-firearms-bsp-9mm-smg-p


A .32/.380 caliber homemade SMG:
Photo Gallery (http://www.thehomegunsmith.com/gallery.shtml)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6730887/Expedient-Homemade-Firearms-Vol-II


Homemade Semi-Automatic Pistol (.32/.380) (Appears to be harder to make than the machine guns):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6118867/home-workshop-vol-2-handgun-bill-holmes-paladin-press


Home Workshop .22 Machine Pistol (looks like it requires machine tools):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/5002026/Firearms-Homemade-Vol-3-The-22-Machine-Pistol-by-Bill-Holmes-Paladin-Press


Home Workshop 9mm Submachine Gun:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6004246/holmes-bill-home-workshop-guns-for-defense-and-resistance-volume-1-the-submachine-gun


Home Workshop .50 caliber single shot Rifle (looks like it requires machine tools):
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6118148/50-caliber-rifle-construction-manual-bill-holmes-paladin-press


Home Workshop silencers:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6004153/billholmessilencersfromthehomeworkshop3872154


Expedient Homemade Handgun Ammo and Reloading:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6731930/Expedient-Homemade-Ammo-HANDGUN-Firearms-Reloading


Expedient Homemade Shotgun Ammo and Reloading
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6727781/Expedient-Homemade-Ammo-SHOTGUN-Firearms-Reloading

The Metral 9mm. Needs a lathe and is more complex than the above guns, but it's as good as any military 9mm SMG. Uses a Sten magazine however. Semi/Full auto with a folding stock and compact design that's reminiscent of a Mini Uzi. Field strippable. Fires from an open bolt.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4746679/Do-It-Yourself-Submachine-Gun-Gerard-Metral-Paladin-Press

Some pics of homemade guns:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1796133&postcount=13
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1797746&postcount=23
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1798096&postcount=24
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1798100&postcount=25
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1798103&postcount=26
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showpost.php?p=1798104&postcount=27

Disclaimer: For educational purposes only. I have not tried to make any of these guns, also I'm not responsible if you make these guns and get hurt or go to jail. :)

[Time for Change]

COMBATIVES MANUAL OF THE U.S. ARMY: FM 3-25.150


http://www.selfdefenseresource.com/combatives/articles/combatives-fm-3-25.150.php

[Expatriate]

http://stevespages.com/page7c.htm
Looks like a couple gigabytes of U.S. and Canadian military manuals.

[tangent4ronpaul]

This is an excellent idea -- one I've actually been "doing" for over 20 years (slowly building up a BIG library -- people now refuse to help me move -- books are heavy!)

1) Go to a used bookstore ASAP (or better yet call around to the ones in your city) and buy a copy of a GOOD set of encyclopedia's -- like the old (60's..70's) Encyclopedia Britannica. They will either GIVE them to you -- or you can buy the whole set cheap maybe $5 to $20. (Most used book stores don't even accept the things anymore because they simply do not sell and they take up valuable shelf space -- if you have a local used bookstore that tells you this, have them take your name and number... and the next time someone brings in a set, they should call you, and you WILL buy them ASAP.)

2) See if you can find (in a used bookstore) copies of the old "FireFox" books (this was DECADES before the browser) -- they were written in the "hippie" era and are all about how to do all of the basic but now "forgotten" things like how to churn butter, harvest maple syrup, make apple cider, etc. -- plus a lot on old woodcraft, woodworking, etc.

3) Used bookstores can be gold mines for OTHER things -- a lot of old DIY books from the middle of the 20th century are available on things like small engine repair, building your own machine tools, etc.

4) Also, don't forget the local library -- not to borrow, but to BUY -- a lot of libraries have limited space, and in order to make room for the latest GARBAGE books, & DVD's and they sell (dirt cheap) a lot of REALLY GOOD books on subjects that are now considered "obsolete." (They did this BIG TIME in the 1990's and I harvested a lot of good stuff).

5) Otherwise if you are buying "new" focus on getting the few GOOD compilations out there -- the reference books on "mechanisms" etc. -- especially ones that include "old" technology or articles (for example like this one (http://www.amazon.com/Ingenious-Mechanisms-Designers-Inventors-1930-67/dp/0831110325/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226952181&sr=8-5)). Online/catalog store Lindsay books (http://www.lindsaybks.com/) is also a good source for republished versions of old out of print stuff like this (but beware, that stuff get's addicting).

Best Wishes!

Oh my! - quite an interesting library, I imagine.

First suggestion - buy a house - moving is the pits!

Second suggestion - rolling shelves. Yes, there is no reason they can't be homemade...
http://www.donnegansystems.com/Rolling_Storage_Shelving.html

Our divisions technical library at NASA had these and they are really cool! - they also very literally double your floor space.

After that, think like a submarine designer. Look up, most high spaces are wasted space in modern housing. After that - look down - most storage on subs is underfoot. (think raised floor like in a computer room).

One place I lived, everyone combined their books and we made somewhat of a maze out of plywood and cinder block shelving with a reading nook in the middle. A used bookseller of my acquaintance asked if she could use the idea, to which I replied of course! - Unfortunately, her shop is Internet only. I'd love to see what she came up with.

I've actually given a lot of thought to information stockpiling in TSHTF situations. Some thoughts that come to mind...

DVD's - especially the double density ones, but the single density ones are more portable to different machines and less expensive right now. Lap top + solar panel or other electrical generating system and you've got a viable option here... (assuming there is no EMP - in which case you're screwed).

Large capacity HD's can be external to a laptop - ideally a RAID setup. 1.5 TB drives were on sale Black Friday for $119.00... That's a LOT of data!

Converting data to digital media is a bit harder. If it's sheets of paper, there are scanners with feeders that will make fast work of the project. Unfortunately, most things you would like to scan will be books and other bound matter. The first problem is that doing this manually is like watching water boil. The second problem is that most flatbed scanners have a max area of 8 1/2" x 11", which won't accommodate everything. OCR software is getting better, so being able to search is an added bonus.

As an alternative to a scanner, a digital camera on a photo-copy stand (can be homemade - The mother Earth News has one set of plans) would be much faster - flip pages and click!

Alternately, Microfiche is a time honored method for low mass, long term storage of printed data and the equipment to do it as well as duplicate fiche has been showing up on the used market at bargain basement prices.

For portability, and low reproduction costs - nomadic newsletters like Vonulife and Message Post as well as many zines reduce the size of the text and print many columns to a page - or just shrink a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". I did this with some survival info some years ago and it worked really well. Ideally you would want a credit card sized frenell(sp?) lens to read it - they are a bout a buck, if you can find one. At lease one military manual has been printed on waterproof and tear resistant "paper" - same stuff "write in the rain" notepads are made of and it can be bought by the ream for use in printers. Bit expensive, but if you want something that is going to last in your BOB, it's just the ticket!

On used bookstores, WONDERFUL PLACES! - though many are online now. There is a Meta-Search engine that you should be familiar with and use regularly:
http://used.addall.com

But still, you do find some gems by browsing...

As to a '60's or '70's Encyclopedia being "good" - I think we have different perspectives on what "good" is... Much better than the PC junk the put out today, absolutely! - but Britannica took out all the really useful information back in the '20's or 30's sometime - thinks like making your own paint, rewinding motors, building windmills, digging wells and making dynamite. These are as rare as hens teeth - and I still haven't found a set :(

Along those lines, the CRC striped most of their solubility data from the reference around '62 or '64 - these are a lot easier to find and low cost. The onion skin paper is also a pleasure to read too.

The FoxFire books are wonderful! - I'll have to fill in the holes in my collection one of these days. There is a little know addition to that series called "You and Aunt Arie(sp?) that is about how to do a FoxFire project.

On picking up library outcasts - yes, library sales and book fairs are always a favorite. Most of it is junk, but there are gems in there. It pays to call around to libraries and inquire when they do these. Likewise, private libraries can be a gold mine. When I worked at COMSAT a message went out one day that the library was cleaning out it's old books and that anyone was free to come down and pick up whatever they wanted from specified carts. I went home that night with a boxful of standard references - many last years edition. The kind that normally sell new for $100 - $150 each! You will also see offers of free books and journals posted on mailing lists for special and technical librarians. On some teachers mailing lists you can sometimes score chemicals and lab equipment for free, or at least the price of shipping. Probably the biggest bummer in this area, is that I'd finally tracked down the only existing copy of a South African paper in the country at a corporate library, only to find out that it had been sent to the recyclers a month earlier for mulching. I never was able to get a copy of that - despite inquiries overseas.

On DIY "old" technology sources - yes, Lindsay is a fav! A guy by the name of Kurt Saxon (with a very colorful history) used to collect and print in "The Survivor" and a couple of other books - compilations of old DIY articles and books. These are still available - a few in paperback, though also as a complete collection via DVD. I've seen them on the P2P networks...
http://www.kurtsaxon.com/dropship/dvd_sale.htm

Note that his original books were 11' x 17", so these are most likely with tiny print.

Here are a wealth of links to sources for manuals - on the top, gvmt and mil, at the bottom lots that cover a lot of ground and are just individual collections available for download:
http://www.prc68.com/I/Man.shtml

The Survival and Self Sufficiency site has tone of info available on all sorts of useful skills:
http://www.ssrsi.org/sr1.htm

Here is a good search engine for finding gvmt reports:
http://multisearch.dtic.mil/dtic/

A DIY library:
http://zinelibrary.info/DIY

Find out what library has a book you are interested in:
http://www.worldcat.org/

Someone was posting about making firearms - this is a particularly good site, but just about everything here assumes you have a machine shop in your basement and know how to use it... :
http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

MIT has a lot of there classes online:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/help/start/index.htm

Ton's of stuff here - primarily of interest if you Homeschool:
http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/content/WhatsInsideDetails.asp?QueryID=7&QueryField=FormatID&QueryClass=Partial+Web+Sites

These are relief organization manuals - there is some good stuff in there:
http://helid.desastres.net/

You can download these books - might be surprised what's in here....
http://www.nap.edu/

As to the comment about not being able to find anything useful on auto repair - try different keywords: "how to", practical, DIY, "Do it yourself" and so on. Also remember that about 99% of the information on the web is in the DEEP WEB and will never be indexed by Google!

see here:
http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/gray_literature/

There are literally thousands of gateways!

Hope that helps,

-t

[FunkBuddha]

I have a collection of around 20 to 30 GB of e-books. I've tried to organize them several times but I always get overwhelmed. I think it'd be awesome if one of us put up a members only type website where we could share ebooks and maybe even release a .torrent digest of new books every month or so. My web skills are teh suck or I'd have done it a long time ago.

[FunkBuddha]

Does anyone have any experience setting up dspace (http://www.dspace.org/)? We could use it to build an ebook repository.

[WRellim]

Oh my! - quite an interesting library, I imagine.

First suggestion - buy a house - moving is the pits!



Did that almost a decade ago... the friends who helped me move swore they were moving a LIBRARY rather than an individual (and really, they weren't far off). BTW the library has grown since then, but much more emphasis has been put on machinery since I built the workshop.



Second suggestion - rolling shelves. Yes, there is no reason they can't be homemade...
http://www.donnegansystems.com/Rolling_Storage_Shelving.html

Our divisions technical library at NASA had these and they are really cool! - they also very literally double your floor space.

After that, think like a submarine designer. Look up, most high spaces are wasted space in modern housing. After that - look down - most storage on subs is underfoot. (think raised floor like in a computer room).

One place I lived, everyone combined their books and we made somewhat of a maze out of plywood and cinder block shelving with a reading nook in the middle. A used bookseller of my acquaintance asked if she could use the idea, to which I replied of course! - Unfortunately, her shop is Internet only. I'd love to see what she came up with.


HA! Yeah, I've seen those (there are ones for generic "storage" as well). But alas, the layout of the house here means that rolling shelves would not really work well.

But yes... the "submarine" approach is integral to this house (every nook and cranny stores something, and a LOT of shelves have been put up where you might not expect to see them in a "normal" home... the problem in, of course, that a lot of books are for "future use" when/if they are needed, and are not a priority on an everyday basis {but still, you don't want them buried in attic boxes where they cannot be found!})


I've actually given a lot of thought to information stockpiling in TSHTF situations. Some thoughts that come to mind...

DVD's - especially the double density ones, but the single density ones are more portable to different machines and less expensive right now. Lap top + solar panel or other electrical generating system and you've got a viable option here... (assuming there is no EMP - in which case you're screwed).

Large capacity HD's can be external to a laptop - ideally a RAID setup. 1.5 TB drives were on sale Black Friday for $119.00... That's a LOT of data!

Converting data to digital media is a bit harder. If it's sheets of paper, there are scanners with feeders that will make fast work of the project. Unfortunately, most things you would like to scan will be books and other bound matter. The first problem is that doing this manually is like watching water boil. The second problem is that most flatbed scanners have a max area of 8 1/2" x 11", which won't accommodate everything. OCR software is getting better, so being able to search is an added bonus.

As an alternative to a scanner, a digital camera on a photo-copy stand (can be homemade - The mother Earth News has one set of plans) would be much faster - flip pages and click!

Digital is interesting (and it is definitely a part of what I have -- the Teraserver is half filled with PDF and *.txt files) -- but to my mind while digital definitely has advantages, it is just too "fragile" for any real SHTF scenarios.


Alternately, Microfiche is a time honored method for low mass, long term storage of printed data and the equipment to do it as well as duplicate fiche has been showing up on the used market at bargain basement prices.

For portability, and low reproduction costs - nomadic newsletters like Vonulife and Message Post as well as many zines reduce the size of the text and print many columns to a page - or just shrink a 8 1/2" x 11" sheet to 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". I did this with some survival info some years ago and it worked really well. Ideally you would want a credit card sized frenell(sp?) lens to read it - they are a bout a buck, if you can find one. At lease one military manual has been printed on waterproof and tear resistant "paper" - same stuff "write in the rain" notepads are made of and it can be bought by the ream for use in printers. Bit expensive, but if you want something that is going to last in your BOB, it's just the ticket!


Like digital, fiche is dependent upon having a viewer and appropriate power sources, though granted the tech is a much lower level (i.e. becomes hard or even impossible to loan out, or to take it with you to place of use/need).


On used bookstores, WONDERFUL PLACES! - though many are online now. There is a Meta-Search engine that you should be familiar with and use regularly:
http://used.addall.com

But still, you do find some gems by browsing...


Most of the used bookstore around here are NOT cataloged (at all) so browsing is the only way. And you never know when some local farmer or machinist or tinkerer will kick the bucket and his heirs sell off his whole tech library for pennies.


As to a '60's or '70's Encyclopedia being "good" - I think we have different perspectives on what "good" is... Much better than the PC junk the put out today, absolutely! - but Britannica took out all the really useful information back in the '20's or 30's sometime - thinks like making your own paint, rewinding motors, building windmills, digging wells and making dynamite. These are as rare as hens teeth - and I still haven't found a set :(


You can get the 1911 edition of EB digitally (it was the initial basis for wikipedia -- public domain, you know!)
:D

Agreed that they did "strip" a lot of info out in the 20's & 30's -- but there was a LOT of solid stuff developed between then and the late 1960's! (Mainly I meant to avoid the "new" ones from the 1990's etc -- they really started "dumbing it down" after the 1968 edition to compete more with the "World Book" adding color pictures all over the place, cutting the articles WAY down, eliminating equations and technical info and putting everything in maybe 6th grade English, etc. (blech!)


Along those lines, the CRC striped most of their solubility data from the reference around '62 or '64 - these are a lot easier to find and low cost. The onion skin paper is also a pleasure to read too.

The FoxFire books are wonderful! - I'll have to fill in the holes in my collection one of these days. There is a little know addition to that series called "You and Aunt Arie(sp?) that is about how to do a FoxFire project.

On picking up library outcasts - yes, library sales and book fairs are always a favorite. Most of it is junk, but there are gems in there. It pays to call around to libraries and inquire when they do these. Likewise, private libraries can be a gold mine. When I worked at COMSAT a message went out one day that the library was cleaning out it's old books and that anyone was free to come down and pick up whatever they wanted from specified carts. I went home that night with a boxful of standard references - many last years edition. The kind that normally sell new for $100 - $150 each! You will also see offers of free books and journals posted on mailing lists for special and technical librarians. On some teachers mailing lists you can sometimes score chemicals and lab equipment for free, or at least the price of shipping. Probably the biggest bummer in this area, is that I'd finally tracked down the only existing copy of a South African paper in the country at a corporate library, only to find out that it had been sent to the recyclers a month earlier for mulching. I never was able to get a copy of that - despite inquiries overseas.

You got it! I've picked up a few "gems" myself from library discard piles -- though mostly in the medical/biology field (but some good out-of-print fiction and industrial training stuff -- "lost" knowledge otherwise).

I understand that Libraries need to make room on the shelves (and HOW!) and that clearing out stuff that is NEVER checked out (or even taken down from a shelf and referenced) is the way to go... but still, it is painful to see them discarding expensive (and sometimes rare) technical reference stuff in order to replace it with additional copies of Harry Potter picture books!



On DIY "old" technology sources - yes, Lindsay is a fav! A guy by the name of Kurt Saxon (with a very colorful history) used to collect and print in "The Survivor" and a couple of other books - compilations of old DIY articles and books. These are still available - a few in paperback, though also as a complete collection via DVD. I've seen them on the P2P networks...
http://www.kurtsaxon.com/dropship/dvd_sale.htm

Note that his original books were 11' x 17", so these are most likely with tiny print.

Here are a wealth of links to sources for manuals - on the top, gvmt and mil, at the bottom lots that cover a lot of ground and are just individual collections available for download:
http://www.prc68.com/I/Man.shtml

The Survival and Self Sufficiency site has tone of info available on all sorts of useful skills:
http://www.ssrsi.org/sr1.htm

Here is a good search engine for finding gvmt reports:
http://multisearch.dtic.mil/dtic/

A DIY library:
http://zinelibrary.info/DIY

Find out what library has a book you are interested in:
http://www.worldcat.org/

Someone was posting about making firearms - this is a particularly good site, but just about everything here assumes you have a machine shop in your basement and know how to use it... :
http://www.homegunsmith.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi

MIT has a lot of there classes online:
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/help/start/index.htm

Ton's of stuff here - primarily of interest if you Homeschool:
http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/content/WhatsInsideDetails.asp?QueryID=7&QueryField=FormatID&QueryClass=Partial+Web+Sites

These are relief organization manuals - there is some good stuff in there:
http://helid.desastres.net/

You can download these books - might be surprised what's in here....
http://www.nap.edu/

As to the comment about not being able to find anything useful on auto repair - try different keywords: "how to", practical, DIY, "Do it yourself" and so on. Also remember that about 99% of the information on the web is in the DEEP WEB and will never be indexed by Google!

see here:
http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/gray_literature/

There are literally thousands of gateways!

Hope that helps,

-t

Interesting stuff... I'll have to save this and look up some of those later.
:)

[tangent4ronpaul]

On fiche, there was a hand-held reader that was battery operated available some years back. They also have fiche readers that fit in a briefcase (the screen is the lid). A small field microscope or even a kids toy microscope would work or you could improvise something - in olden days, it was common to take a wine glass and fill it with water then place a candle behind it and it would act as a lens - play with positioning and use a wall as a screen.

On reproduction - it's a contact process - but you do need the the film and chemicals to develop it. Considering the resolution of current generation scanner, particularly those that boast the ability to scan slides - it should be possible to scan a fiche and blow it up so it fills one or two sheets of paper. at that size, I would imagine it would be readable with a magnifying glass or the above mentioned fresnel lens. There are specific machines to scan fiche to digitize them - very portable (would fit in a day pack) and on the used market cost what a normal scanner might.

Interesting about the 1911 EB DVD - I'll have to look for that again. It didn't exist when I looked before and so I've just been looking for hard copies. There is something about that year that I like... :)

-t