Personal Digital Archiving Conference, New York University, April 24-26, 2015

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of presentations and discussions held at the sixth Personal Digital Archiving Conference held at New York University, April 24-26, 2015. Design/methodology/approach – A narrative approach is used to describe the event. Findings – As individuals lead increasingly online lives and digital objects become correspondingly important to the archive, a whole host of issues from the technical to the ethical arises. Conference presentations ran the gamut, touching on all of these complicated areas and fleshing out the scope of the challenges that lie ahead for individuals grappling with their own data as well as archivists working to be responsible stewards of that data into the future. Practical implications – This review touches on key practical, technical and ethical issues in the field of personal digital archiving, a new and increasingly important area for libraries and archives. Originality/value – The conference explores current challenges and practices in personal digital archiving.