diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c3bfbe6..b8979ae 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 .env
-*.sublime*
\ No newline at end of file
+*.sublime*
+backup/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3ea9d44..9b97d7b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -56,4 +56,8 @@ docker volume rm dockeradaptauthoring_adaptdata
 Backup
 ------------
 
-[database and course content]
\ No newline at end of file
+Create local archives of both the adapt_authoring folder and database:
+
+```
+docker run -it -w /backup -v dockeradaptauthoring_adaptdb:/adaptdb -v $(pwd)/backup:/backup dockeradaptauthoring_authoring bash -c "tar -czvf adaptdata_`date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S"`.tar.gz /adapt_authoring && tar -czvf adaptdb_`date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S"`.tar.gz /adaptdb"
+```