Personal Digital Archiving & E-books
Personal Digital Archiving
Late last semester I gave a presentation outlining my views on key research agendas in personal digital archving and closely related areas as part of the final preparation of a book chapter on the same topic. While the chapter is now complete, I want to further explore two topics. The first is the part of a personal digital "life" that is represented by information in some sense held or owned by third parties — typically commercial or governmental — and the various social and legal frameworks surrounding this type of information. The second topic, which Michael Buckland has very helpfully illuminated in recent discussions, is the challenge of understanding why material is added to, and retained in, personal digital collections, and what this may imply about the potential ongoing value of such material when such a collection is passed on beyond its original creator.
Update on E-books
As part of preparing a short essay on recent developments in e-books (in both the consumer and academic marketplaces) I'll open a discussion of important changes not just in the e-book marketplace but the context and public perceptions of e-books with some suggestions about key trends. Please come prepared to suggest key trends of your own.
Clifford Lynch has been the director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) since July 1997. CNI, jointly sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and Educause, includes about 200 member organizations concerned with the use of information technology and networked information to enhance scholarship and intellectual productivity. Prior to joining CNI, Lynch spent 18 years at the UC Office of the President, the last 10 as Director of Library Automation. Lynch holds a Ph.D. in computer science from UC Berkeley and is an adjunct professor at the School of Information. He is a past president of the American Society for Information Science and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Information Standards Organization.
