So much of our personal histories are now being recorded digitally, a point I make quite often in this blog.  In particular, smartphone sand social media have made it so that chances are good that the past several years of your life, and the foreseeable future, will be documented in some way by you, in the form of photos, videos, text messages, and even live streaming social media posts.  With that being the case, the ability to document them the right way, and make those memories last, is becoming a necessary life skill.  And so, Personal Digital Archiving is now the emerging buzzphrase among the digital preservation community.

Preservationists like myself are certainly recognizing this need, and we’re starting to lend some of our expertise to the public. As part of this effort, myself and Krista White, Digital Humanities Librarian at Rutgers Libraries, gave a seminar both in-person and on the web that describes some of the terminology and technical issues that people need to be aware of when recording something for posterity. The session, titled “Preserving Your Digital Life” was sponsored by the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services.

The video of the webinar is available on YouTube, and can be seen below.  I hope it helps people who have personal media and need to know what the first steps are to keeping it around for years to come.