Christine Rigler, Ph. D.
University Archives, University of Graz, Austria / Univerzitetni arhiv, Univerza v Gradcu, Avstrija
The importance of email correspondence as cultural heritage and the difficulty of saving it (Full text)
Pomen e-poštne korespondence kot kulturne dediščine in težave njenega shranjevanja
(Moderna arhivistika 2026, 9(1), str/pp. 164-172)
https://doi.org/10.54356/MA/SGGO1715
Citiranje:
Rigler, C. (2026). The importance of email correspondence as cultural heritage and the difficulty of saving it. Moderna Arhivistika, 1(9), 164. https://doi.org/10.54356/ma/sggo1715
Abstract:
For at least two decades, email has been dominating written communication in formal and informal professional contexts and to some extent in the private sphere.“Electronic letters" are not a direct development of the traditional paper letter, but a new form of verbal exchange that combines aspects of earlier written as well as oral communication. An uncountable quantity of emails has already been lost, because it was not archived Preserving emails is a very special task not only for technical challenges, but also for legal and cultural reasons. Focusing on the current situation at Austrian universities, the article discusses the characteristics of email communication and their impact on the efforts of implementing a preservation strategy.
Keywords:
email, digital preservation, private papers, records, scolarly correspondence
Izvleček:
Pomen e-poštne korespondence kot kulturne dediščine in težave njenega shranjevanja
Elektronska pošta že vsaj dve desetletji prevladuje v pisni komunikaciji tako v formalnih kot tudi neformalnih poklicnih okoljih in do določene mere prav tako v zasebni sferi. »Elektronska pisma« niso neposredno nadaljevanje tradicionalnih pisem na papirju, temveč nova oblika verbalne izmenjave, ki združuje vidike nekdanje pisne in ustne komunikacije. Nešteto e-poštnih sporočil je že izgubljenih, ker niso bila arhivirana. Ohranjanje e-poštnih sporočil je zelo posebna naloga, ne le zaradi tehničnih izzivov, temveč tudi zaradi pravnih in kulturnih razlogov. Članek se osredotoča na trenutno stanje na avstrijskih univerzah in obravnava značilnosti e-poštne komunikacije ter njihov vpliv na prizadevanja za izvajanje strategije ohranjanja.
Ključne besede:
e-pošta, digitalno arhiviranje, zasebni dokumenti, arhivski dokumenti, znanstvena korespondenca
