Posted by Meg Tuomala, digital archivist
This post is the first in a series titled "Make it Last Longer" where University Archives’ digital archivist, Meg Tuomala, will explore practical tips for archiving your own personal digital materials.
Every day we leave traces of our digital lives around the Web, on our computers, and inside countless mobile devices. Whether it is snapping a quick picture or a short video of a child with your smart phone, sending an email to a far-away friend, or keeping friends and family informed of what’s going on in your life with a quick blog post or status update, we all lead digital lives that deserve to be preserved just as much as the old family photographs, letters, scrapbooks, and journals we hold so dear.
The Library of Congress has created an excellent resource for tips on personal archiving and how to preserve your own digital materials at http://digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/. Here’s a short video that offers some simple and practical strategies for personal digital preservation—“Why Digital Preservation is Important for You.”
Are you preserving your own digital memories? Do you even know where to begin? Follow along as we post more tips on personal digital archiving here on our blog under the "Make it Last Longer" category. Future topics include how to preserve email, digital photographs, websites, digital records, and audiovisual materials.
