Personal digital lives

Curators and archivists have long been in the position of reading other people’s letters and diaries, and needing to do so in a sensitive way. This might sometimes be four or five generations after the death of the eminent individual who wrote the letters, but increasingly curators of personal archives are dealing with living individuals and their immediate family. This is particularly so with personal eARCHIVES and eMANUSCRIPTS (the digital equivalent of personal papers found on computer tapes, floppy disks and hard drives), it being necessary to capture the information before it degrades or is simply lost through digital neglect or accident.

It is not easy for individuals and families as they ponder the uncertainties and vagaries of historical interpretation and future reputation. I sometimes point out to distinguished scientists and other originators that there is no definitive final account: where one biography may be unsympathetic, another will likely take a different view.

It is easily said, and it has occurred to me more than once that contemporary curators might learn from opening themselves to the same vulnerabilities, by revealing some of our own personal memories and sentiments. It would help us to feel even more strongly, the feelings of families and individuals as they consider what and how much of a personal archive to make available in the UK’s national library, and when to do so.

In this spirit, I shall occasionally share some of my personal experiences where these raise issues of relevance to the project. (Fittingly perhaps, there is a tradition in research of trying out experiments on oneself.)