Digital Preservation for Dummies

When I started exploring digital preservation about two years ago, it seemed like you needed a PhD in the subject just to begin to understand it.  While it is really, REALLY complex, lately I’ve noticed more and more resources out there for beginners, both information professionals and just regular people.  This is fantastic since many of us are creating loads of digital content every day.  Does this mean we should each start saving every tweeted smartphone snapshot of our dessert from the hippest new restaurant for all eternity?  Um, no.  In fact, deciding what to save is part of the process, and anyone who claims to be able to save something for all eternity is definitely not to be trusted.  But I digress…

Below are a two of my favorite resources for digital preservation novices.  Have an additional recommendation?  Feel free to post it in the comments!

From the good old Library of Congress.  Non-professionals should check out the section on Personal Archiving.

http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/

I haven’t read through everything on this brand-spanking-new site for for North Carolina government employees yet, but I think it’s fabulous!  It uses easy to understand language, it starts from the very beginning, and its pretty.  What more could you want?

http://digitalpreservation.ncdcr.gov/