Understanding User Needs and Strategies for Personal Digital Curation

Personal Digital Curation: Understanding and Meeting User Needs

Rachel Kornfeld Raimi

Project Definition

As our society continues its transition to born-digital communication and records, the diaries, letters, and other objects that capture historical narratives are now sitting on laptops and servers instead of in Grandma’s attic. Archivists must understand how people are creating and managing these records in order to preserve them. This project is designed to provide information for archivists seeking to understand personal digital curation: what are people archiving, why, and how? What assistance do they need? What tools will make the job easier and more effective? With this understanding, archivists can develop educational programs, provide effective consultation, and create new best practices in personal digital curation that will help people capture, organize, use, and archive their personal digital objects in a way that will serve them, their families, and the larger historical record. The articles for this wiki have been selected from conference proceedings and peer-reviewed information science journals of the last decade. All explore the reasons, methodologies, and tools used in personal digital curation, and identify needs that still must be met to keep pace with the staggering number of digital objects we all create.

Annotated References

Copeland, A. J., & Barreau, D. (2011). Helping people to manage and share their digital information: A role for public libraries. Library Trends, 59(4), 637-649. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/868867193?accountid=14925

Staffed by information professionals dedicated to preserving access to knowledge, the library is the locus of community knowledge acquisition – whether that community is civic or academic in nature. It is logical, then, for people needing guidance with their own digital archives to seek it from their public or academic library. This article outlines the reasons that librarians are uniquely suited to provide that guidance, to the benefit of the library as well as the patrons. Copeland and Barreau “…propose a framework for exchanging knowledge that will address the social, legal, and technical aspects of managing personal, digital information over a lifetime, as well as the cultural, social and historical benefits of sharing this information.” (p. 639). The authors go beyond providing a framework of information for personal use to be transmitted to patrons by librarians, however, by suggesting that the solution is for libraries to also provide some of the infrastructure needed to produce stable personal, and by extension, community archives. These community archives, they argue, are an extension of the librarian’s commitment to providing access to information by giving communities protection for and access to their own histories. This article will be useful for librarians seeking to justify the development of programs and infrastructure to assist their patrons with personal digital archiving by tying those archives into the larger public narrative, and as such is an innovative point of view that could help libraries remain vibrant, valued community resources.

Cushing, A. L. (2010). Highlighting the archives perspective in the personal digital archiving discussion. Library Hi Tech, 28(2), 301-312. doi:10.1108/07378831011047695

Research into personal digital curation comes from a variety of professions, including archivists, librarians, records managers, and information technology specialists. While working toward a common goal of understanding and facilitating personal digital curation, professionals from these different fields seldom collaborate. This literature review focuses on comparing the work of archives and personal information management professionals. The results of the study show that while differing specialties have some different motives and terminology, the overlap between the two indicates that they have much in common. Cushing recommends increased collaboration between the various professional specialties, which will give them a more complete understanding of the needs and abilities of individuals engaged in archiving their personal digital content. This study is a valuable reminder of the value of interdisciplinary research, and can help archivists to be aware of the other professionals with whom they can develop fruitful research partnerships.

Güldenpfennig, F., & Fitzpatrick, G. (2015). Personal digital archives on mobile phones with MEO. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 19(2), 445-461. doi:10.1007/s00779-014-0802-3

A recurring discussion in personal digital curation is the problem of bringing order to files spread across multiple devices (phone, laptop, cloud, etc.). Often these files are related – say, a sound recording of a concert, pictures with the band, and a blog post about the experience – but without active management, these files will remain dispersed, diminishing the story they tell. In this article, Güldpfennig and Fitzpatrick respond to this challenge by creating a new way to capture digital files called a Media Object, or MEO. The intent of the MEO is to reverse the usual order of digital curation, in which people create content first, and later impose order. The MEO interface allows users to set up a container, into which files can automatically be sorted upon creation. This workflow change is intended to save the time and effort that would be needed to impose order on a mass of digital files. The process of the MEO’s creation and subsequent short- and long-term testing to determine its impact on personal digital content management can serve not only as the basis of a new file format, but as a model for archivists who wish to build upon user needs to design software of their own. While few innovations find widespread and long-term success, the growth in activity in this area among archivists increases the possibility that the technologies of tomorrow will have built-in archiving capabilities.

Jervis, M., & Masoodian, M. (2014). How do people attempt to integrate the management of their paper and electronic documents? Aslib Journal of Information Management, 66(2), 134-155. doi:10.1108/AJIM-01-2013-0007

While there is much discussion in the literature about the handling of fragile born-digital objects, we still deal with paper documents on a regular basis. In fact, most personal collections today contain both types of documents, which begs the question: how can we make our collections cohesive, regardless of medium? Jervis and Masoodian focus on this very question, using interviews and observations to show how people in a variety of office settings integrate paper and digital documents. Though drawn from the business world rather than individuals, Jervis and Masoodian’s sample yields insights into organizing collections, reducing duplicative effort and materials, and automating processes that are all applicable to personal digital collection management. Archivists studying personal digital curation may overlook this article due to its focus on the larger volumes and faster pace of the business world; but when scaled down, the techniques it outlines can be valuable for archivists who advise individuals and develop new practices in the growing world of personal digital archiving.

Lin, C., Tsai, C., & Roan, J. (2008). Personal photo browsing and retrieval by clustering techniques: Effectiveness and efficiency evaluation. Online Information Review, 32(6), 759-772. doi:10.1108/14684520810923926

The ease of digital photography has led to an exponential increase in the number of photos residing on personal devices. Without some intervention, these photos quickly become (virtual) mountains of unidentifiable, disorganized files that are nearly impossible to search, browse, or retrieve with any effectiveness. Lin, Tsai, and Roan evaluate how Content-Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) techniques can positively affect this near-ubiquitous situation. With CBIR, photos can be indexed using low-level visual features (colors, shapes, textures, etc.), and clustering photos this way can make browsing digital photos much easier. The authors propose developing a means of extracting metadata about features of photos as they are taken, grouping them by feature at the indexing stage, and using a visual browsing interface to take advantage of the groups of photos that aggregate based on common features. Though the article is quite technical, archivists will benefit from gaining a general understanding of the ways CBIR and clustering retrieval techniques can make photos easier to curate. These insights can help information professionals engage fruitfully with app developers, promoting the goal of creating software that is responsive to the curation challenges inherent in digital photography.

Marshall, C. C. (2008). Rethinking personal digital archiving, part 1: Four challenges from the field. D-Lib Magazine, 14(3-4). Retrieved from: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march08/marshall/03marshall-pt1.html

In this first part of a two-part study, Catherine Marshall examines the assumptions underlying individuals’ perceptions of and interactions with their digital files. Using literature reviews and interviews, Marshall describes how people organize, preserve, and retrieve their digital objects, and what they expect of the technology they use in the process. This close look at the way people engage with their digital files reveals four main pitfalls in personal digital curation. Files are accumulated un-systematically and their distribution is random and widespread; there is little or no systematic digital stewardship, and no provisions are made to ensure long-term access. This article provides a well-researched look at prevailing personal digital archiving practices (or the lack thereof) which can allow information professionals to move beyond conjecture about what people are doing, to form a fact-based picture that will allow them to address the loss of personal digital archival material.

Marshall, C. C. (2008). Rethinking personal digital archiving, part 2: Implications for services, applications, and institutions. D-Lib Magazine, 14(3-4). Retrieved from: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/march08/marshall/03marshall-pt2.html

Marshall began her study of personal digital archiving by defining the problems individuals face in organizing, accessing and preserving their digital objects. In this follow up, Marshall suggests ways to frame and solve these challenges. She argues that information professionals should recognize the reality that personal collections are dispersed, and build best practices for personal digital archiving that take that reality into account. The article then systematically analyzes the four personal digital curation failures quantified previously. The discussions of accumulation, distribution, stewardship, and continued access start not with the capabilities of available technology, but with the way people decide what digital files to keep, and how to store, access, and care for them. Like the first part of Marshall’s research, part two provides real-life examples that help individuals and information consultants alike make decisions about managing their personal digital archives. By maintaining her focus on user-centered strategies, Catherine Marshall makes a broad and useful contribution to the development of best practices in personal digital archiving.

Sinn, D., Kim, S., & Syn, S. Y. (2017). Personal digital archiving: Influencing factors and challenges to practices. Library Hi Tech, 35(2), 222-239. doi:10.1108/LHT-09-2016-0103

This article outlines barriers to digital archiving in a quantitative research study of 392 subjects, a relatively large sample. Like several other studies, the questionnaire developed by Sinn, Kim, and Syn gathers data about the archiving strategies respondents use and the challenges they face. The results suggest that fragmentation (having files scattered among various devices) and the rapid rate of digital content accumulation are common problems faced by respondents. Also, while respondents have some knowledge of preservation activities, the majority do not realize that there is a difference between backing up files and long-term preservation. Interestingly, the study goes beyond these questions to ask about what the authors call “additional factors,” such as awareness of the value of their digital objects as personal history (which turns out to be strongly correlated with archiving activities). The range of insightful questions, coupled with the scientific rigor of the analysis, make this study a valuable contribution to the literature.

Sinn, D., Syn, S. Y., & Kim, S. (2011). Personal records on the web: Who's in charge of archiving, Hotmail or archivists? Library and Information Science Research, 33(4), 320-330. doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2011.02.004

In another useful article, Sinn, Syn, and Kim examine the way people use web-based records; specifically emails and blog posts. This article is a good example of classic questionnaire-based research, providing quantifiable feedback from respondents. The resulting data show that individuals are frustrated by the lack of readily available tools to help them manage their digital preservation activities. The study also offers insights into changes necessary in archival practice; for example, the authors point out that “…archivists are (only) concerned with personal records already in their custody.” (p. 321). This is a call to information professionals to broaden their outlook to encompass records while they are still in individuals’ custody, and to work with information technology professionals to develop personal archiving software. Since email and blog posts have all but replaced the written letters and diaries that used to comprise personal historical documents, helping people preserve these objects will also help preserve the larger historic record. This is another clear voice in the growing body of research illustrating the need for further research and development opportunities in the field of personal digital curation.

Williams, P., Leighton John, J., & Rowland, I. (2009). The personal curation of digital objects: A lifecycle approach. Aslib Proceedings, 61(4), 340-363. doi:10.1108/00012530910973767

This literature review draws from a variety of disciplines with a role in digital asset management - computer science, information science, archives and records management – to build a picture of the lifecycle of personal digital objects from creation to archiving or disposal. Interestingly, the authors look at the digital curation strategies used by individuals through a Personal Information Management (PIM) lens; this perspective includes acquisition and retrieval behaviors that may not be adequately considered from a strictly archival perspective. This knowledge can help archivists understand the larger lifecycle of personal digital records, and devise strategies for personal digital curation that work with people’s existing practices, rather than an ideal theoretical workflow. By looking at personal digital curation throughout an object’s lifecycle, this article demonstrates the diversity of information management strategies at every stage, and the benefits that can be reaped when different information specialties work together.