The hidden meaning within your furniture

BBC Article about a meaning of domestic things, which is not quite new things to say, but still interesting to read since it is about things that we see and interact everyday. 

The hidden meaning within your furniture
7 April 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26881731

"Why we keep any of this stuff I do not know, except as something to hand on to our own children, to keep in cupboards of their own - our endless inheritance of waste."

BUT

"All furniture communicates meaning - it's unavoidable. It's what things do. A bed speaks of our inner lives, of the body and the soul. Our cupboards and cabinets imply secrets. Wardrobes suggest our dreams of other worlds. And tables invite company."

And records...
And digital materials...

Story goes / needs to go on. 

Digital Afterlife related articles and reports on BBC

It seems that the (digital) afterlife related topic has grabbed an attention occasionally but constantly, which is not surprising since it is the situation that everyone will experience (or many people already experienced) at some point in her/his life.

6 FEBRUARY 2014
Facebook reviews family memorials after dad's plea
By Dave Lee
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26066688

8 OCTOBER 2013
Death in the digital age: Are you prepared?
By Joe Miller
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24380211

12 April 2013
Google launches tool to determine data use after death
"Google will allow users to decide what happens to their data after they die or become inactive online, the first major company to deal with the sensitive issue."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22119227

14 OCTOBER 2011
I bequeath my iTunes credits to...
By Jane Wakefield
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15292748

Bequeathing the Keys to Your Digital Afterlife: GOOGLE

Bequeathing the Keys to Your Digital Afterlife - Google

New York Times Article
By ANNE EISENBERG
Published: May 25, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/technology/estate-planning-is-important-for-your-online-assets-too.html?emc=eta1&_r=0

"Google has a program called Inactive Account Manager": Well, at least, following social interests.

However, overall, we need a more innovative approach to treating digital materials NOT "like a boxful of jewelry."

Related Article on BBC

12 April 2013
Google launches tool to determine data use after death

"Google will allow users to decide what happens to their data after they die or become inactive online, the first major company to deal with the sensitive issue."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22119227

What To Do Online When a Loved One Dies

What To Do Online When a Loved One Dies
By Geoffrey A. Fowler, WSJ, January 4, 2013, 10:35 PM
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/01/04/what-to-do-online-when-a-loved-one-dies/

Continuing social interests in what to do for digital documents after one's death.

Data on a deceased person’s account is extremely vulnerable since its ownership shifts to a service provider and it is hard to identify if any privacy is violated or not.

Forwarded to me by Pat Galloway

Digital Savant: Grieving increasingly being expressed and supported online

Forwarded by my Advisor, Dr. Pat Galloway


"Digital Savant: Grieving increasingly being expressed and supported online: As the time we spend online increases, social mores around online bereavement are changing"
http://www.statesman.com/news/technology/grieving-increasingly-being-expressed-and-supporte/nTPwQ/

Yes, indeed.

Cyberwills: More web users seeking to protect 'online legacies' in death

My iSchool colleague Lorrie Dong forwarded the following interesting article:

Cyberwills: More web users seeking to protect 'online legacies' in death

By Telegraph Reporters
11:30AM GMT 18 Nov 2012

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9686104/Cyberwills-More-web-users-seeking-to-protect-online-legacies-in-death.html

Why everyone has to be a historian in the digital age

Why everyone has to be a historian in the digital age
By Katie Beck and Charlene Pele
BBC World News America

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8999128.stm

This article is not far from the idea of "citizen archivists."

Piecing Together 'The World's Largest Jigsaw Puzzle'
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/08/162369606/piecing-together-the-worlds-largest-jigsaw-puzzle

The story makes me to think of what archives are for.

Hoping To Pass On Your iTunes Collection? Good Luck

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/04/160562390/hoping-to-pass-on-your-itunes-collection-good-luck

Interesting piece from the National Public Radio discussing legal issues related to digital possessions: Robert Siegel talks with Jonathan Zittrain, co-director of Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, about what happens to your iTunes library when you pass away.

Digital Natives: Digital Preservation Is Cultural Literacy

Redirected from the LoC,

Digital Preservation Is Cultural Literacy
By Kary Kraus
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kari-kraus/digital-preservation-is-cultural-literacy_b_1455752.html

Article about LoC's effort to reach out to children -- digital natives, so called -- regarding preservation of personal digital materials. Informative article.

Fending Off Digital Decay, Bit by Bit

Relatively old but interesting news article found while I was looking for resources about a definition of "digital decay." 

Fending Off Digital Decay, Bit by Bit
By PATRICIA COHEN
Published: March 15, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/books/16archive.html?pagewanted=all

"At Emory, Mr. Rushdie’s outdated computers presented archivists with a choice: simply save the contents of files or try to also salvage the look and organization of those early files.": I will say BOTH and MORE.

Microsoft Builds a Browser for Your Past and MUSE from Stanford Univ.

Again, thanks to the laser eyes of my advisor, Pat Galloway,

Microsoft Builds a Browser for Your Past
http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39917/?p1=A1

I am still digesting the potential impact of this kind of technology on our reflexive use of everyday digital footprints and personal digital archiving. But it is indeed interesting.

MUSE, Stanford University,
http://mobisocial.stanford.edu/muse/
Muse is an open source e-mail archiving tool developed in the Stanford University. I recently had a chance to meet Sudheendra Hangal in the Stanford University, a creator of the Muse -- an outcome of well thought through research in academia.

The Afterlife of an Archive

The Afterlife of an Archive
September 26, 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education

My advisor, Pat Galloway, dropped this link in my inbox.
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Afterlife-of-an-Archive/124564/

I never get tired of having these interesting stories.

Email is Where Knowledge Goes to Die–Or is it?

Reminded by my advisor, Pat Galloway...

Another interesting post from Library of Congress's The Signal blog about e-mail messages.  
http://blogs.loc.gov/digitalpreservation/2012/02/email-is-where-knowledge-goes-to-die-or-is-it/

"And yet. Email is a fantastic resource for documenting and remembering.": Based on what many of my participants said -- regardless complex mixed feelings toward e-mails addressed during interviews -- , I think so too.

"email “as one of the most interesting types of historical record being created in our times,”": Indeed.

Keeping analogue memories in a digital age

Dean Dillon forwarded this link to me....a while ago. Watched this again today while writing my dissertation.

"Keeping analogue memories in a digital age"

BBC Friday, 2 December 2011
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9652119.stm

Nice video report from BBC about digitizing and preserving family home movies and films.

When Data Disappears

When Data Disappears
By KARI KRAUS
Published: August 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/when-data-disappears.html

A good friend, Joanne, forwarded this article to me this morning.
Interesting article, but a bit cliche.

Digital preservation is not about preserving media themselves, but about preserving bits and bites, which requires real fresh eyes and idea of of digital preservation.

"With data, intervention needs to happen earlier, ideally at an object’s creation. And tough decisions need to be made, early on, regarding what needs to be saved. We must replace digital preservation with digital curation.": This is the interventionists' perspective, far goes back to David Bearman in 1990's.

"Instead, we must look for ways to continuously maintain and improve it. In other words, we must stop preserving digital material and start curating it.": I think that we need to re-define "preservation" in a digital environment, rather than "stop". So we can make sure the philosophy, symbolic meanings, and history of cultural heritage preservation continue and also evolve.

"No wonder preservationists often wax ominous about the “digital dark ages.”": Still we do?

When I Go Away: Getting Your Digital Affairs in Order. The Signal: Digital Preservation

Ashenfelder, Mike. (2011).

When I Go Away: Getting Your Digital Affairs in Order. The Signal: Digital Preservation.

Recent article (published several days ago!) suggesting four steps to prepare personal digital materials online after our lives.

"Nowadays when we prepare a will, we have the added responsibility of leaving instructions to our loved ones about what to do with our online things after we die."

Your Digital Beyond: How to plan for your digital afterlife

NBC Action News.com
Posted: 05/12/2011
By: Christina Medina

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/dpp/news/science_tech/your-digital-beyond-how-to-plan-for-your-digital-after-life-may2011swp

Emails key to 'digital memory for the future

From Neil Beagrie's Blog posting, "Digital Preservation and Personal Digital Archives on BBC Radio 4": http://blog.beagrie.com/2011/04/21/digital-preservation-and-personal-digital-archives-on-bbc-radio-4/

BBC Raido 4 : Emails key to 'digital memory for the future
Thursday, 21 April 2011 09:18 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9464000/9464240.stm

Richard Ovenden's interview contains almost every single word that is necessary to mention regrading the current personal digital archives research.

Digital legacy: Respecting the digital dead

Digital legacy: Respecting the digital dead
Updated 10:47 06 May 2011 by Sumit Paul-Choudhury

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20445M

Interesiting article that I heard from Personal Archive list serv. It briefly covers key problems that many of us (including archivists) could experience or confront when we think of long lives of our digital materials beyond our own life times. The article, however, makes me think again about the notion of "citizen archivists" by Richard Cox, especially related to developing digital archiving tool. Perosnal digital archiving is and will be the concern for every digital users and closely tied to our everyday personal information management methods.

"As soon as you turn a computer on, you start changing dates": This is so true and has been an issue for digital preservation.