Wolfram DORNIK, Ph. D.
Municipal Archives Graz, Austria / Občinski arhiv Gradec, Avstrija
How to stop the Digital Dark Ages? The role of Archives in preserving Data of Communities (Full text)
Kako ustaviti digitalno mračno dobo? Vloga arhivov pri ohranjanju digitalnih podatkov skupnosti
(Moderna arhivistika 2026, 9(1), str/pp. 1-12)
https://doi.org/10.54356/MA/UKMR3794
Citiranje:
Dornik, W. (2026). How to stop the Digital Dark Ages? The role of Archives in preserving Data of Communities. Moderna Arhivistika, 1(9), 1. https://doi.org/10.54356/ma/ukmr3794
Abstract:
According to the Digital Preservation Coalition community, generated content in arts and heritage is classified as critical endangered cultural digital heritage. This also applies to other forms of data from private individuals, civil society initiatives, sports and cultural associations, or religious communities. Every day, data from this area is irretrievably lost. Are we therefore approaching the ‘Digital Dark Age’ (Terry Kuny, 1997)?
As simple and self-evident as it is today for archives to take over paper documents from entities that do not originate from their creator institutions, the situation is unclear when it comes to digital files. Technical barriers, concerns about data security, fears of overburdening one's own archival resources, and even fundamental rejection are all part of a diffuse discourse that prevents action. At the same time, historians are increasingly demanding digital sources for their research. To this end, they often resort to holdings from non-archival contexts: YouTube videos, screenshots of social media posts, or PDF documents from websites are used as bits of information and cited with varying degrees of success. Know-how about the source-critical analysis of these documents is often completely lacking, and a methodology has not yet been developed.
This article attempts to summarize the archival discourse on the archiving of documents from a private context and to make it comprehensible by means of examples. It raises the question of the extent to which advising private individuals and taking over data are becoming new core tasks for archives, and what role archives should play in this regard.
Keywords:
digital preservation, personal digital archiving, archival appraisal, contemporary collecting, accessibility
Izvleček:
Kako ustaviti digitalno mračno dobo? Vloga arhivov pri ohranjanju digitalnih podatkov skupnosti
Po mnenju organizacije Digital Preservation Coalition se vsebine s področja umetnosti in kulturne dediščine, ki jih ustvarja širša skupnost, uvrščajo med kritično ogroženo digitalno kulturno dediščino. To velja tudi za druge oblike podatkov, ki izvirajo od posameznikov, pobud civilne družbe, športnih in kulturnih društev ali verskih skupnosti. Vsak dan se podatki s tega področja nepovratno izgubljajo. Ali se torej približujemo »digitalni mračni dobi« (Terry Kuny, 1997)?
Čeprav je danes za arhive samoumevno in preprosto, da prevzamejo papirnate dokumente od subjektov, ki ne izvirajo iz njihovih ustvarjalnih institucij, pa postane situacija nejasna, ko pridemo do digitalnega gradiva. Tehnične ovire, skrbi glede varnosti podatkov, strahovi pred preobremenitvijo lastnih arhivskih virov in celo temeljno zavračanje – vse to je del širšega diskurza, ki preprečuje ukrepanje. Hkrati pa zgodovinarji za svoje raziskave vse bolj zahtevajo digitalne vire. V ta namen se pogosto zatekajo h gradivu iz nearhivskih kontekstov: videoposnetke na YouTubu, posnetke zaslona objav na družbenih omrežjih ali PDF-dokumente s spletnih strani uporabljajo kot vire informacij in jih citirajo z različno stopnjo uspeha. Pogosto jim manjka znanje o kritični analizi virov, metodologija pa doslej še ni bila razvita.
Ta članek poskuša povzeti arhivski diskurz o arhiviranju dokumentov zasebne provenience in ga s pomočjo primerov približati bralcem. Postavlja vprašanje, v kolikšni meri postajata svetovanje posameznikom in prevzemanje njihovih podatkov novi ključni nalogi arhivov ter kakšno vlogo naj bi arhivi v tem oziru igrali.
Ključne besede:
digitalno ohranjanje, osebno digitalno arhiviranje, arhivsko vrednotenje, sodobno zbiranje, dostopnost
