Personal Digital Preservation

• Digital preservation is a series of managed activities to ensure accurate rendering of digital content as long as necessary regardless of failure or tech change
   
• Have 3 copies // in 2 formats // and store at least one of them 1 offsite
   
• Test your files periodically to catch potential issues early
   

Source

• Capture once, use many times
  if you scan at a high resolution, you can say a copy later at lower resolution to share more easily

• Create a faithful reproduction of the original
  you can always copy the original photo and do restoration work on the copy of the photo

• Scan from the earliest generation practical
  details get lost as copies are made of materials

• Technical specifications

  • Start with preferred file formats (non-proprietary is best) 

  • Balance resolution needs against file size 

Source

Additional resource: digitalpreservation.gov

• Scanning Your Personal Collections (PDF)
• Preserving your Digital Memories brochure (PDF)

Resources for preserving physical items before and after digitization

• American Library Association Quick Preservation Tips (PDF)
• ALCTS Low-Cost Ways to Preserve Family Archives (PDF)

• Be consistent and descriptive
  • Use descriptive but concise file and folder names
  • Avoid special characters, spaces, and periods in filenames
  • Use capitals, hyphens, or underscores to delimit words
  • Use 2-digit numbers to represent 0 through 9
  • Use back-to-front formatting for dates
  • Use version numbers (or a version control system, if you generate extensive quantities/versions of files)
  • Bulk renaming tool guide: https://guides.library.upenn.edu/datamgmt/fileorg
• Add context (use whichever approach you will actually put in practice consistently in your life)
  • Tags
  • Metadata
  • README files

Source

3-2-1 Rule

• Have at least 3 copies
• On at least 2 different media types 
• With at least one copy stored offsite (and offline)

Source

Testing: Regularly try to open your files! (Otherwise you may find you are backing up corrupt files and don't have non-corrupt files to restore from!)

• Keep a backup schedule
  • Set reminders
  • Use a spreadsheet or checklist
  • Connect it to something else you regularly do (e.g., spring cleaning)
  • Make it fun (e.g., schedule time to do this with other people)
• How long is too long to keep things?
  • It depends on the context!
  • Do not delete all old backups (keep at least bi-monthly saves).
  • If you hit storage caps or outgrow media, review your items--can you let go of anything?
  • Food for thought:
    • https://www.picturethisorganized.com/delete-throw-away-photos/
    • https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-konmari-your-way-to-a-happier-digital-life
• Security
  • Keep your antivirus software up-to-date
  • Make sure your passwords are strong (consider using a password manager)
• Storage media
  • Migrate files to new storage media every 2-5 years (illustrative infographic: lifespan of storage media)
  • Use high-quality storage media 
• Platforms
  • Download your Google data
  • Download your Facebook data
  • Download your Twitter archive
  • Save websites
    • Heritrix
    • The Wayback Machine
    • Webrecorder
• End of life/long-term planning and documentation considerations

Source

Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship: Personal Digital Preservation (Slides PDF) (Recording, duration 56:14) (Script GoogleDoc (contains image attributions and source attributions))
revised 2022-04-19 by Julie Vecchio

Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship: Personal Digital Preservation (GoogleSlides) 
new session format, revised 2021-11-29 by Julie Vecchio

Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship: Personal Digital Preservation (GoogleSlides) 
revised 2020-04-22 by Julie Vecchio

Library of Congress: Preserving Your Digital Possessions (PDF)
2013-04-24