EMP on digital media, effects & protection

Greetings All,
This is my first attempt at posting in a forum, so please do not take offense if I overlook the etiquette. As the title states I am interested in any and all data that is currently known about EMP effects and protections for digital media (e.g. hard drives, CDs, DVDs, floppies, etc).
I am looking for published sources, if any are known, whether they are novice-level or highly advanced and technical, all's the better.
I am aware that EMPs are a type of electrical surge that is propagated through a conductor to cause its damaging effects. Therefore if proper shielding is used around the conductor (e.g. wire), it should protect the electronics fairly well. But what effects could it have on the magnetic fields on hard drive platters? burned images in dyes on CDs/DVDs?
To answer these questions, I have been and am still doing research into the exact science involved with EMPs and digital storage devices/media. For instance what effect do the Compton electrons generated in an atmospheric nuclear expolosion have on digital media?
Besides shielding the conductors, other possible protections have been suggested, such as using a copper mesh in the walls of the room where the devices are stored or a solid layer of highly conductive metal that is grounded very deeply in the ground, or the Faraday cage design.
As a final note for those of you who are asking ...WHY?!?!
This research is for a college Final Paper..and put simply.. I NEED HELP!!
Thank you in advance.