[Hank Rearden]

They did! The Library of Alexandria had her full collection of works, but the Library was destroyed-first in a fire set during (if a remember right) Octavius' campaign to become emperor of Rome. The rest was destroyed when Rome fell, and Egypt was taken over by early Christians, and then by Muslims, neither of whom really cared about preserving pagan works of antiquity.

And so the bitter lesson about the need for offsite backups was learned early on.

[sonofron]

I saw a bit on the history channel (I think) a while back where the government has stored all kinds of stuff in old underground salt mines. I did a google search and came up with a company that does it.
http://www.uvsinc.com/

Freakin Cool.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

It was Julius Caesar, not Octavius, whose fire burned the library at Alexandria. It was not an intentional burning of the library, but a fire that got out of control. I hear that Cleopatra was furious with him for this.

[wafflehouse]

LOL