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Week 5_ Term Paper_Project Part I

This paper discusses Personal Digital Archiving (PDA), highlighting its importance in managing and preserving digital assets in the digital age. It explores the theoretical framework, challenges, strategies, and ethical considerations associated with PDA, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview and identify areas for further research. The goal is to raise awareness and empower individuals to effectively manage their digital legacies.

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Tatiana
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2 views

Week 5_ Term Paper_Project Part I

This paper discusses Personal Digital Archiving (PDA), highlighting its importance in managing and preserving digital assets in the digital age. It explores the theoretical framework, challenges, strategies, and ethical considerations associated with PDA, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview and identify areas for further research. The goal is to raise awareness and empower individuals to effectively manage their digital legacies.

Uploaded by

Tatiana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations​ 1

Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations

Tatiana Muzquiz

University of North Texas

INFO 5295 Preservation

Ana Roeschley, Ph.D.

February 11, 2025


Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations​ 2

Abstract

Personal Digital Archiving (PDA) emerged with the rise of the digital age, as individuals began

generating digital materials such as; photographs, documents, and other multimedia materials,

the need to store and manage their digital collections became crucial. However, despite the

growing urgency for individuals to preserve their collections, significant challenges arose in

ensuring the long-term accessibility, and further usability, of their digital assets. This paper will

first explore the theoretical framework of personal digital archiving, followed by the challenges,

strategies, and ethical concerns associated with the field. Through providing an extensive review

of the current literature on personal digital archiving, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive

overview of the field, and ultimately; note areas that should be examined for further research to

address the growing challenges associated with personal digital archiving.


Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations​ 3

Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations

The emergence of the digital age, and the digital technologies that it brought, transformed

how individuals created, managed, and stored their personal assets. With the rapid growth in

digital technologies, digital content such as; photographs, documents, emails, and even social

media posts have begun to play a progressively significant role in everyday life, even replacing

original physical records entirely. However, as these digital assets only continue to accumulate,

the challenge individuals face to preserve them for long-term use successfully only becomes

more significant. As digital technologies continue their rapid evolution, strategies used for

managing personal archives should only become more universal and refined, to prevent valuable

information from being lost forever to technological obsolescence.

Personal Digital Archiving (PDA), is the process by which individuals manage and

preserve their digital assets, to ensure long-term access. However, despite its increasing

relevance and importance, PDA is a relatively underexplored area of digital preservation, leaving

many individuals unaware of the best practices to ensure the long-term preservation of their

collections.

This paper will focus on four major themes of personal digital archiving including;

theoretical framework, challenges, strategies and tools, and ethical concerns. The objectives in

reviewing these themes are as follows: first, through reviewing current literature on PDA, and

examining what shapes and informs current practices, the paper seeks to provide a strong

theoretical foundation of the topic. Second, it seeks to identify the major challenges and

obstacles that individuals face when attempting to preserve their digital collections. Third, the

paper will examine the various strategies and tools that are currently available to individuals, to

effectively manage their collections. Finally, the paper will examine, and address, the ethical
Personal Digital Archiving: Challenges, Strategies, and Ethical Considerations​ 4

concerns related to personal digital archiving, including; privacy, data ownership, and long-term

accessibility.

By synthesizing current research, this paper hopes to contribute to the understanding that

individuals can hold control over their own digital legacies while pointing out areas that warrant

further research, and overall raising public awareness of the field.

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