Alumni have returned to the Labs and asked if they could retrieve some of their old work. They generally want the original files containing their theses and any accompanying code they may have written. Currently, it is very difficult to serve such requests. First, one must search the backup logs and determine which files need to be recovered, then the physical tape (which could be off-site) needs to be located. After that ordeal, one must find a tape drive that can read these old tapes and is attached to a system with the ability to make sense of the raw bits on them. Finally, it is a difficult task to find or develop the software to interpret these old formats. Most of what does exist is shoddy and fragile, so this vast number of ITS tapes are very difficult for us to use currently.