Helping People to Manage and Share Their Digital Information: A Role for Public Libraries

Abstract

As a cultural institution, the public library is charged with providing resources and services that fit the needs of a particular community and, if space and budgets allow, of serving as a resource and repository of the community's past. To fulfill its mission to the public, the library must attract that public by offering materials and providing opportunities for them to pursue their unique and varied interests and discover new things. By engaging individuals in the identification and preservation of their own personal, digital objects, it may be possible to increase awareness in, and commitment to, community repositories that reflect a community's diversity and that will serve all. A user education program that focuses on the importance of identifying and preserving the information and artifacts that are important, that addresses the technical aspects of preservation, and that creates awareness of the benefits and challenges associated with sharing personal information can result in a community repository that ultimately has more value for both the individual and the community.

“It's stuff that speaks to me”: Exploring the characteristics of digital possessions

“…The concept of digital possessions may ease the cognitive burden of curating the many bytes of personal digital information that individuals amass on a regular basis by providing them with a framework with which they can appraise, organize, and maintain their personal digital information. This provides a unique opportunity for library and archives reference and outreach services, which builds on the suggestions put forth by Copeland andBarreau (2011) andCox (2008).…”

Analysis of public library users' digital preservation practices

“…As previously mentioned, public library users were specifically chosen as the focus of this study because they are underserved in terms of services and research related to digital preservation when compared to other types of library users. Further, by identifying the information needs and gaps in the knowledge of public library users related to digital preservation, public libraries can begin to address them and provide opportunities for their constituents to learn best practices and to provide the appropriate level of technology support for long‐term access to their information (Copeland & Barreau, 2011). Without first knowing what information behaviors contribute to the preservation of personal digital information, public librarians cannot begin to address the information needs of public library users in the area of digital preservation.…”

The Use of Personal Value Estimations to Select Images for Preservation in Public Library Digital Community Collections

“…Current user practices can inform the curation endeavor by making institutional (memory organizations) social media collections useful, interesting and used [4,7]. This paper's author takes the perspective of individuals and cultural institutions working together in a social networking capacity to preserve public memory through the co-creation of community repositories [8]. Community members contribute the content that documents local history, and the cultural institution provides the technical and legal knowledge and infrastructure for its organization and preservation.…”