Library of Congress

Digital Preservation

The Library of Congress > Digital Preservation > Personal Archiving
Examples of personal digital content to be preserved

How to Preserve Your Own Digital Materials

Our photo albums, letters, home movies and paper documents are a vital link to the past.  Personal information we create today has the same value.  The only difference is that much of it is now digital.

"Why Digital Preservation is Important for You." Simple, practical strategies for personal digital preservation.

Chances are that you want to keep some digital photos, e-mail, and other files so that you—and your family—can look at them in the future. But preserving digital information is a new concept that most people have little experience with.

Ensure that your digital materials last a lifetime by taking steps to preserve them:

This site provides some tips to help make your personal "born digital" information last. The guidance is basic and is meant to be a place to get started. You may want to get additional details about working with specific kinds of digital content.

Download Personal Archiving Brochure (PDF, 1.7MB)

Personal Digital Archiving Day Kit

The Library of Congress has held Personal Digital Archiving Day events to provide this basic guidance to individuals about preserving personal and family memories in digital form. You can read about those events here and here and here.

Are you interested in hosting your own personal digital archiving event? Take a look at our Personal Digital Archiving Day Kit for planning guidance and relevant information resources you can use to develop your own program.

Learn More

Personal Digital Memories Poster (PDF, 4.6 mb)
A printable version of a poster presented at iPRES2010, that discusses our Personal Archiving activities.

Watch "Why Digital Preservation is Important for Everyone"
This short video explores how digital content – unlike content on traditional media – depends on technology to make it available.

Take the quiz
Learn interesting facts! Did you know that digital materials can be more difficult to preserve than physical materials?

"Preserving Digital Culture" Presentation
An interactive slideshow about digital heritage and the importance of digital preservation.

News
Check out the latest digital preservation news from the Library.

Got a question? Contact us.