New research project to explore the nation's digital memories
02 July 2008
- 'Digital Lives' sets to understand how we use computers in our daily lives to capture personal moments and memories
- Led by the British Library with University College London and Bristol University
- All creators and users of digital information invited to fill in an online survey
From diaries, letters, jottings and photo albums to blogging, emailing, tweeting and flickr-ing, the digital revolution has affected enormously the ways in which we record our personal lives. These largely born-digital collections will become invaluable in years to come for researchers - from biographers and historians to literary critics and scientists. Currently nobody knows for sure what is happening to this material and whether it can be made available in the future. 'Digital Lives' aims to begin to answer these questions.
Dr Jeremy Leighton John, the British Library's Curator of e-Manuscripts and the Principal Investigator of 'Digital Lives', says: "More and more people are creating, acquiring and holding digital information on their desktops, laptops and hand-held devices. We need to begin to understand the way people capture, maintain and share digital information, the legal and ethical environment in which they do so, including perceptions and realities of ownership, and the impact of new technologies on recording our lives."
The team is now looking for help from anyone who uses computers in their daily lives. There are two ways in which people can participate and help the 'Digital Lives' project:
- The survey looks at the way people currently use their computers to capture their digital lives
- By sending in details of technologies and online services relevant for capturing, retaining and sharing digital information to digital.lives@bl.uk.
As the custodian of the nation's collective memory the British Library has an interest in enabling future access to digital archives and personal collections created by individuals in the 21st century. The project team has already interviewed a number of individuals such as the politician Tony Benn, molecular biologist Richard Henderson, playwright, actor and comedian Patrick Marber, digital storyteller and photographer Daniel Meadows, architects M J Long and Rolfe Kentish, and geophysicist Martin Siegert.
The 'Digital Lives' research project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council
For further information about 'Digital Lives' contact Suvi Kankainen in the British Library's Press Office suvi.kankainen@bl.uk / +44 (020 7412 7105 or Lawrence Christensen lawrence.christensen@bl.uk / +44 (0)20 7412 7114.
Notes to Editors
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages www.bl.uk.