Thoughts on end-of-year office cleaning

Several times a year, I tackle the task of weeding out the piles of papers and other objects I have acquired over the past few years. I am trying to achieve a "virtual" archive; that is, everything is either available online, or can be stored online (in the "cloud", so why should I keep so much clutter in the office?

As well, there is the question of the various forms of media storage which I have accumulated. I still have files on floppy disks, some of which can only be opened with the old WordPro (although I was able to find a conversion program on the net. I am also guilty of VCR taping, which I excuse as I used to use the tapes in class. Now, with YouTube, etc., do I really need to keep these book-seized tapes in the office, where they take up precious shelf space?

So I have decided to do a little internet surfing, to see if some of these video documents are available online. My NFR films? Bingo - go to
nfb.ca and search for your favourite title. Other films are more difficult to find, but YouTube comes to the rescue. Example: I have a short video of the 1980s underwater dance group, H3O (based in Montreal). I haven't used this video in class in years, but I am sure that if I dispose of my only copy, I will certainly need it (there must be a law, like Murphy's Law, for this sort of thing...). However, I did find some rare clips on YouTube, and a link to a site which discussed the work of this group (click here). So I think I am going to toss my tapes, and hope for the best. I am keeping my books, however; I am not yet reading for an electronic reader.
More later.