Preserving access to a vast fund of survival information in a collapse scenario

Well,

I have thought about this as well. And, I have not done as much as I should have.

The idea that you outline above is still only one form of access. I would suggest a few different forms of access. Remember, complex systems - break.

If you are that concerned, I would suggest killing a few trees and print out and bind those references that you think would be the most critical to have. USB drives are great devices. As you know, it takes a functioning device to be able to access that information. Don't rely on only one source of storage.

The caveat that I have for you is concerning skills that take practice or that take time to establish. The first thought is the topic of "agriculture" that you mentioned above. Do you mean gardening? Or perhaps, Permaculture? If we do find ourselves in a SHTF scenario, any reference that includes industrial (green revolution) agriculture will be of little benefit. Gardening takes practice and hands-on learning. Reference material is important for what to do for a particular pest or plant disease however having a successful garden that actually produces enough food to sustain a diet takes time and practice.

The same goes for obtaining water. Reference material is good, but it does not replace practice. Besides, consider that "everyone else" is reading that same reference either in print or electronic form.

If your reference material contains subjects like "electronics" be sure to include basic theory and lots and lots of pictures that detail what individual circuits look like in a production piece. Again, there is a large leap from theory to practical application. A good reference on troubleshooting would be valuable. It is usually a simple thing that breaks that causes the problem, not a large component. I repair all of my own charger cords. One used to be able to go to a connector catalog or now an online source and find replacement connectors. That does not work well anymore, most components and connectors are made as single piece assemblies during the manufacturing process or are single run proprietary lots. To fix them requires good crafting skills as well as a working knowledge of basic and sometimes complex electrical theory. Which reminds me, in a SHTF scenario, even if you are able to isolate the failed component, a replacement may not be available.

All of that said, learn how to DO things. Remember, you do not have to be an "expert" at the skill. You DO have to have enough experience to know how to do it well enough yourself or know the concept well enough to know if someone you are having it do it for you is doing it correctly.

The most important skill to have and MASTER before anything happens is learn the skill of community building - team building -networking - whatever you want to call it. Having a diverse group of trustworthy friends is worth more than any android device with a library full of USB drives.

~ Peace

This is an excellent point that I've been making to family, friends, and aquaintances for several years.  Just like with investing, now is a time when you want tangible hard assets, not intangible electronic ones.  If there is information on the net that I want present and future access to and if I would not be able to access it in the event of detonation of an EMP device, massive solar flare, Internet shut-down or censorship, or other disruption of our electronically dependent society, I print out a hard copy that goes into loose leaf binders.  And any book that I want as a reference, I buy ... the paper version ... no e-version for me.  Also, I have computers at home and at work that I keep OFF the internet.  I keep information on them and in back-up systems as well and have virtually no problems with them as compared to those that can be accessed on the net.

Plus, the more you can remember, the better.  Most people in our society are intellectual lazy and out-of-shape (just like many of them are physically).  They're not only deficient in their critical thinking, deductive reasoning, and problem solving skills but they're also deficient in their memorization and information retention skills.  Books like this can help:

http://www.amazon.com/Moonwalking-Einstein-Science-Remembering-Everything/dp/0143120530