Whilst many people have used the past few months to sort out their physical belongings, it is easy to forget that our digital estate also needs managing. So, we’re sharing some practical tips to help manage your own digital information. This can be anything from research notes and family photos to emails and financial spreadsheets.
Why?
Digital information is more fragile than paper stored in appropriate conditions. Optical media like CDs and DVDs are particularly susceptible to damage and were not designed for long term storage.
Over time, the bits that make up a file may become corrupt and render it unreadable. Whereas losing one piece of paper from a file would not be catastrophic, losing just one bit from a digital file may make it inaccessible.
Every piece of data stored online has an environmental impact. The average carbon footprint of a standard email is 4g CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). Not much on its own but soon adds up when an estimated 300 billion emails are being sent globally every single day!
And with so much information pinging about the digital universe it can be tricky to locate that file you created last week but can’t remember what you called it.
So where do I begin?
The easiest way to start managing your digital information is to think about it each time you create a new file. Give your file a descriptive file name to help you find it again later. Information such as the date and author may be recorded automatically by the computer, or you may need to add it yourself.
What have I got already?
You need to know where your information is. Is it all on your computer, do you have back-ups on CDs or external hard drives? Is anything online? Do you still have floppy disks lurking?
Can’t see the virtual wood for all the cyber trees in the way? Get in the habit of deleting files and emails you no longer need. Unsubscribe from mailing lists you’re no longer interested in. Reducing the volume of digital information will help you manage what you have more effectively.
Organise your existing files into folders and make sure they all have descriptive file names. You may want to write a summary description of your most important documents.
How is it stored?
Make at least two copies of all files you feel have long-term value. One copy can stay on your laptop or computer, the other can be put onto CDs, portable hard drives or in internet storage.
Store the copies in different physical locations if possible – if disaster strikes one location your other data should still be safe. Check your files at least once a year to make sure you can read them. Create new media copies every five years or when necessary to avoid data loss.
I’ve got something interesting!
If you have documents that potentially have historical value, talk to us about depositing them. With digital information, the earlier you act to preserve the documents, the better.