Introduction to Personal Digital Archiving

Contact: Amanda Goodman, agoodman@darienlibrary.org

What is preservation? Preservation is about taking steps to protect physical objects and digital data from deterioration and destruction. These steps may include storing the physical object away from sunlight, humidity, extreme temperatures (i.e. too hot or cold), and away from being physically handled.
What is digitization? Digitization is the process of converting analog (AKA physical) mediums like papers, videos, audio, and photos (including slides and negatives) to digital formats which are viewable on your computer. Digitization vs. Preservation Digitization is NOT preservation. When you digitize an object, you are converting it to another format which can be duplicated and shared more easily over the Internet. The physical object remains in your possession and the digital version is just an imitation or copy of the original. What to digitize Remember that your time is precious and not everything is of value. Suggested items to digitize are family photos and videos, documents about your family (e.g. birth, wedding, death certificates, wills, diaries, etc.), historical business documentation, and any object of significant historical value for your local community (e.g. a photo of your great-grandfather the first mayor). How to digitize Flat items like paper and photos can be digitized using scanners. Videos and audio will need hardware to connect the media to the computer. Three dimensional (3D) objects can be photographed or scanned using sophisticated equipment, but 3D scanning is not readily available to the public right now. Items are usually photographed for record keeping purposes but the photos are not meant to be a real copy of the object. You will need software on your computer in order to edit or view the items you are digitizing. Photo editing: Photoshop, Aviary (online image editor) Audio editing: Audacity, GarageBand Video editing: Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Adobe Premiere Guidelines for digitizing photos and documents 1. Scan at 600 dpi resolution for archival quality. a. Scan at grayscale when possible for smaller file sizes. 2. Preservation and access copies a. TIFF is archival quality for photos and documents. b. JPG has a small file size and perfect for sharing online. c. PDFs for documents and run OCR on them so the text can be read by screenreaders. 3. Proper file naming a. YYYYMMDD b. Use underscores c. Use lowercase 4. Organize your items into logical folder hierarchies.
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Guidelines for digitizing videos and audio 1. Save in the largest format that you can afford to store. 2. Videos can usually be saved with a compression of H2.64 3. An audio data rate of 192 kbps has minimum data loss. Keep an inventory of your files It is important to keep track of your files. The more detailed the records, the more useful they will be in the future. However, creating an inventory is a time intensive process. Archives usually keep a general system naming broad collections (e.g. The Joseph Adams Collection, The Susie Owens Collection) while academic libraries inventory every single item they digitize. You can also add descriptions to your photo files with photo editing software: http://1.usa.gov/RQmQH0 Software to create your inventory in: Evernote http://evernote.com/ (not the best fit) Google Drive http://drive.google.com (spreadsheet) Microsoft Access http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/ Microsoft Excel http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/ Zoho Office Suite http://www.zoho.com/ Suggested fields for your inventory: Item name Item location Original date created (e.g. when the letter was written) Creator (e.g. who wrote the letter) Summary/Description (e.g. Susans letter to Nicholas in March 1903) How to prevent data loss Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe (LOCKSS) is the phrase used by libraries, museums, and archives that emphasizes duplicating your data in as many varied locations as you can afford. Ideally you would have two digital copies saved in these ways: On an external hard drive in your closet which is only taken out when it is time to add new data to it Backed up in the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon Storage, etc.) On an external hard drive stored at a friends house -- preferably away as possible in case of a natural disaster! Backup your data often. Devise a schedule and stick to it. With cloud services, your data is usually backed up within minutes of saving the file to your computer. Larger files will take longer to back. Copy your data to new media formats every five years. You may not have a floppy drive to put your floppy discs in the future! Save your files in open formats. The software you used to create the program may become obsolete!

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Introduction to cloud storage Cloud storage is a reference to sending your data (text, photos, videos, audio) to an off-site server for storage through an online company. Your data is then accessible anywhere in the world where you have a computer and online access. Many companies offer so much storage for free and then you can upgrade for more storage. Make sure to read the companys privacy policies to see if they encrypt your data and who can access it. Cloud storage is also not preservation. Cloud Services Examples Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/ Google Drive https://drive.google.com/ SkyDrive https://skydrive.live.com SugarSync https://www.sugarsync.com/ Software to show off your collections

Picasa http://picasa.google.com/ Google Plus https://plus.google.com Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ Omeka http://omeka.org/

Basic Preservation and Storage Tips

Remove staples and paperclips from papers since they may rust. The best home storage location is in a dark closet towards the center of your house so the temperatures will be more stable. Scrapbooks are hard to preserve since the acids and decay rates of various material types in the book and the adhesive (glue or tape) will deteriorate surrounding items. Do not place framed items in direct sunlight as they will be faded over time. Know where your most treasured items are so that in an emergency you can quickly take them with you. The best protection for CDs and DVDs are thin jewel cases so that nothing is touching the discs sides.

Additional Resources

Personal Digital Archiving: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/ Preservation 101: http://unfacilitated.preservation101.org/loggedin.asp Lifetimes of storage media: http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2012/8/14/the-lifespan-of-storagemedia.html Minimum Digitization Capture Recommendations (Draft): http://connect.ala.org/files/43293/ MCTF_Draft_Recommendation.pdf Family Treasures: http://www.loc.gov/preservation/family/ Resources for Private and Family Collections: http://www.nedcc.org/resources/family.php Protect Your CDs and DVDs: http://dlis.dos.state.fl.us/archives/preservation/dvds/index.cfm Archive Box: http://code.google.com/p/archivebox/ Open formats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_format

Additional Assistance? Call Information at 203-669-5236 Email askus@darienlibrary.org AIM or Y!M deweydarien