Personal Digital Archiving: Creating a Legacy Plan for Your Digital Life

Mon, 08/08/2016 - 4:14pm

When: May 14, 2016 at Downtown Library Multi-Purpose Room

Many of us spend time creating, organizing, and preserving our files. We have tons of digital photos, all of our accounts online, and rarely get paper mail. But what happens to our digital stuff when we die, or in case of emergency? Do your family and friends know what you have and how to access it? Are there things you would rather they NOT access?

Creating a legacy plan for your digital materials is not as daunting as it sounds. By assessing your digital “stuff” and where it is located, participants in this workshop will learn how to create a plan that will guide them through these tough decisions. The first hour of this workshop will review email accounts, social media, multimedia, documents, and online storage and assess multiple data-management strategies for legacy planning. Participants will also have the opportunity to share areas of concern and brainstorm solutions for difficult legacy-planning problems. For participants who bring a laptop or other device, a second hour will be available to get started on creating a short legacy plan.

Participants will complete a values assessment to identify target areas to be included in a legacy plan. They will also learn about creating a legacy plan that will guide them in moving forward on this issue. Additional tools/concepts covered include:

o Multiple strategies for individual legacy planning
o Password-protected files and sharing options
o Google docs/gmail legacy settings
o Facebook & Twitter legacy settings
o Issues of security versus access for personal items

The U-M Library is gathering experts in the preservation of personal digital material from across the country and globe for the 2106 Personal Digital Archiving Conference. In connection with the conference, two free public sessions are also being held at the Ann Arbor District Library.

This session will be led by digital preservation expert Melody Condron from the University of Houston Libraries. Melody is the Resource Management Coordinator at the University of Houston Libraries. She is passionate about helping people manage their digital media and presents on topics including social media, file organization, and personal information management. She recently taught a month long course called Personal Digital Archiving for Librarians for the Library Information and Technology Association (LITA). Her book on PDA, The Digital You, if forthcoming from Rowman & Littlefield. She holds a Master of Library Science with a focus in Information Organization from the University of North Texas and a B.A. in Communications from Penn State.