Last week Google experienced a glitch with Gmail that caused some users’ inboxes to be deleted. Google says that they’re working on restoring those inboxes, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen. If you’re at all concerned about having something like that happen to you, you should consider backing up your Gmail account. In the video below Cnet’s Jessica Dolcourt explains three ways that you can back up your Gmail inbox. Of the three methods she introduces, Backupify is the most appealing to me because I can use that service to backup Google Sites, Google Contacts, Google Docs, and Gmail.

If you’re using Google Sites for a classroom or course website, Backupify is a service that you should give a good look. This is especially true if you’re using Google Sites as a digital portfolio of student work. If the day ever comes that your or your students’ content is accidentally deleted you could avoid disaster by having it backed up.

On a related note, if you’re using Blogger, Edublogs, or WordPress and want to back up the content, follow the directions I posted in December 2010.