Those Pesky Flash Drives

In the second decade of the twenty-first century, that essential first-decade-of-the-twenty-first-century technology, the flash drive, is still popular with students. Although we are moving to a cloud-based computing society, slowly transferring our files and documents to such always-accessible storage spaces such as Google Docs and Office OneDrive, the flash drive still reigns supreme. I don't know why- perhaps students are unaware that cloud storage exists, or they don't want to entrust their precious documents to the same company that runs their cell phones and knows where they are at any given time. Maybe they need to access their files at times when they don't have access to the internet.Whatever it is, we won't see the end of these useful but impossibly tiny devices for a while yet.

Part of the appeal of the flash drive is its size. You can store mountains of data on something small enough to fit in your pocket with room to spare for your keys and smart phone.  Size though, can also be the flash drive's downfall.They are so easy to forget and leave behind in the last  computer you used, separating you from your precious files and making them accessible to the next person who sits down. If I had a dime for every time a student came to me with a trembling voice and panicky face, saying "I lost my flash drive," I would not need to be a librarian.  Sometimes the tiny device is still in the computer, sometimes it has been found and turned in to the lost and found, but too often it has just vanished along with personal files and photos.

As an experienced flash drive user, I try to give tips to students to help them remember to take their flash drives.  One is to keep it connected to something without which they can't get very far: car keys, transit card, etc. If the student does not want to do that, I recommend attaching it to something obnoxiously colorful and noticeable. I kept my dissertation on a rubber ducky key ring- the ducky was big, goofy-looking, and impossible not to notice!  This method also comes in handy when the flash drive somehow gets left behind anyway. Most of the time students tell me their flash drives are black with a white slide, which describes about 80% of what's in our lost and found. It's hard to determine what is on them without plugging them into the desk computer (exposing it to viruses) and looking at the files. The student who tells me it's on a pink Hello Kitty key ring gets her flash drive back in a jiffy!

Finally, it's important to attach a little bit of your contact information physically on the flash drive. When we get one that has "if found, please call 555-5555" on it, we will call and let you know we've found it, and everyone will be happy!