The Digitally Preserved Self: A Discussion of the Social, Emotional, and Technical Aspects of Personal Digital Archiving

This paper describes a panel discussion held at South by Southwest Interactive in March 2012, entitled Digital Immortals: Preserving Life Beyond Death. The goal of the panel discussion was to provide digital professionals with exposure to the growing body of thought surrounding personal digital archiving, and to present ideas for future technology to manage and present personal digital collections. The panel, moderated by Evan Carroll, included Adam Ostrow, Airdrie Miller, Bill LeFurgy, and Richard Banks. The panelists discussed the idea of a digitally preserved self, the differences between physical and digital mementos, the emotional aspects of experiencing the past, and how to avoid the burden of caring for the digital collections of the deceased