A Technological Nightmare: Losing Years of Research Materials and How I Almost Gave Up

As a dedicated scientist, my reliance on technology is immense, so when I reached out to Apple support about my iBooks crashing, I never imagined I would end up in this predicament. Initially, I was instructed to back up my iBooks and reinstall the app, but this led to a disastrous outcome: I lost all my invaluable data!

The Setback

Despite being assured that my PDFs and reading materials were backed up, upon reintegration, I discovered that everything was gone! I was devastated. All my reading materials from the last three years vanished in a moment of technological misguidance. No backup, no data recovery—just a void where my resources once resided.

As a busy mom-to-be with a manuscript in progress, the loss was doubly painful. The collection of PDFs kept in iBooks was not merely a collection of articles; it was a carefully curated library that contained critical insights for my work. I couldn’t believe that a piece of my life could be wiped away so easily, and the lack of empathy from the support team only added to my frustration.

An Unexpected Turnaround

However, in a surprising twist of fate, I stumbled upon a solution. My partner and I managed to restore a backup from a different device, and lo and behold, everything was retrieved! I was elated! I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who suggested the backup restore option.

The Reality of Data Management

For context, I had performed a full system backup to iCloud before reaching out to Apple for assistance. My workflow involved using iBooks to download PDFs, often from paywalled sites or resources like SciHub. Once downloaded, I would attempt to import them into Mendley (now discontinued) and physically transfer my files to the university’s OneDrive—an exercise that I was halfway through when I encountered the iBooks failure.

The Importance of Organization

The importance of my lost collection transcended just the files themselves; it was about their organization and the way I had sorted them. For someone like me, who is neurodiverse, I possess a unique method of filing away information. I might not recall every detail from those PDFs, but I could easily navigate my library because I had memorized their placements, colors, and even the textual styles.

Seeking Alternatives

After my near-disaster, I now look to the future