Vault Security

At the Encyclopedia Foundation, we find that mundane concerns are almost the entirety of planning. It is pleasant to contemplate metal plates with all the information we’d like transcribed on to it, but there are always other concerns. Equally important, if less glamorous.

The vault is one of them.

How secure is secure enough? One can be too secure, after all. For instance, one could find a solid piece of granite still in a mountain, carefully drill a hole in it, insert the plates, and fill in the hole. All done. And it’s unlikely anyone will ever see it again. That would count as “too secure”.

On the other hand, you could leave them on the desk in the office of the Encyclopedia Foundation. Go out for lunch, come back and you find they’re gone. Not secure enough.

To end the suspense, what will actually happen will be a variety of things. There will be more than one copy. Copies of some metal plates will be sent to a variety of places where they’ll do the most good. They have their own security at various Catholic and Latter Day Saint churches, and it can be imagined that the Long Now Foundation will probably have a secure facility for books at some point. They can each have copies.

As to our own vault, it will probably be a “defense in depth”, so to speak. Firstly, it will be in a modest house. No future “Road Warriors” will see anything different about the house. Nothing to scream out “loot me”. Not being noticed is always the best defense.

Next, the basement itself will be the Vault. That will be needful anyway, as there is more to preserving knowledge than having metal plates. There must be instructions on how to use those plates, or how to understand them if one can’t read or speak the language. The large basement vault can contain things to make this easier. Such as a lantern and a phonograph player, but that’s another article.

A “vault” is a slippery word. And can mean more than you think. The basement will be a vault, that’s a larger than usual form of “vault”. But there are smaller than usual kinds that we’ll have. Like the plate holder.

Plate holder? Yes. Imagine you have a metal plate. What are you going to do with it? If it’s laying outside, the elements will not hurt the metal, but may damage the engravings. If it’s inside, that process is slowed, but not entirely stopped. Houses have fluctuating temperatures and moisture levels.

Your plate needs to be held, probably by a metal frame. That way the plate itself never comes into contact with another surface. It should be of a metal that is not going to oxidize, but if you like, for additional safety, you can store it in a box that is sealed and filled with nitrogen. (Don’t try for a vacuum, that will only make it more probable that the box will leak. Nitrogen at normal atmospheric pressure for your area.)

Have the “plate in a frame” then secured inside that box. Not just loose. You can fix it solidly within the box by having the box carefully designed. It should have a metal groove to allow you to put the frame in as if you were putting a pizza in an oven. Then when sealed, it won’t be jostled around in that box, such as if there is an earthquake, tornado or explosion.

Metal plate in frame, frame in grooved box, box filled with nitrogen and sealed (welded) shut. Now that box is a vault of sorts. Which will be stored in a more conventional vault. Which itself will be in the “vault” of your basement. The basement being in your unremarkable and non-loot worthy house. In a town unlikely to be a nuclear target. Defense in depth.

How many copies of the same thing in the same “Vault” of your basement? Perhaps three. One to be taken at once, one in a safe, and one in a well.

A well? Yes. High levels of heat can warp metal. The metal will then exist, but the engravings may be lost. That plate holding box (one of them) should be in water. Have a well dug in your basement, that will be handy anyway, and place it in there. Be sure and have it connected to a durable metal chain for extraction. “Lead” should not be your choice of metal, here!

Taken at once? Of course. Why would we care if a “Road Warrior” type took a copy? If he finds it, he won’t look further. So there’s that. Also, what is he going to do with it? Only one of two things – use it himself, or sell or trade it to another who will use it. In either case, it will get used. Which is the point. Remember our own civilization was not started by saints. So we can’t judge any future post-apocalyptic “Road Warrior”.

One in a safe? Sure. But we’ll have the combination on the front, that can be opened if someone has a certain degree of education. And it will be a low set bar, on that. Larry Niven and JerryPournelle wrote a brilliant book called “The Mote In God’s Eye” and in it, an alien race had a museum that could only be accessed by dialing in the positions of the planets in their system. We think that sets the bar a bit too high. On the other hand, we don’t necessarily want that “Road Warrior” taking all copies. It may be a relatively easy (for us) equation that gives the combination. Or a question with a numerical answer that implies a certain level of sophistication already.

As to other security features of the vault system, we’ll share information about the proposed security procedures with any who like, but aren’t going to post the specifics. (But note to “mavericks”, security means preventing pre-mature access, not hurting people. Active defense is pointless and immoral, the goal is to educate, even if it is a “Road Warrior” type who comes in.)