digital archiving

What Is Digital Archiving and Why Does It Matter?

Digital archiving is the systematic process of collecting, preserving, and providing access to digital information over time. Unlike simple file storage, archiving focuses on long-term preservation and accessibility, ensuring that important documents remain usable despite technological changes. 

Functionality, efficiency and legal certainty must meet certain standards depending on your location and industry. You also have to make sure that you can not only digitise the documents through a scan, but also index them so they can be located and retrieved This means digitising every line of text in order to have the right information available via a search in seconds. 

Inventory and Organize Your Digital Assets

Begin by taking stock of your digital materials:

• Important documents (financial, legal, medical)

 Digitize Physical Documents

Convert important paper documents to digital formats:

• Use a scanner or smartphone scanning app for high-quality conversion

• Consider investing in a dedicated scanner for large projects

• Adopt consistent naming conventions for easy retrieval

• Include relevant metadata when saving files

Implement a Storage Strategy

For effective personal digital archiving, consider a multi-tiered approach:

• Primary storage: Organized file system on your computer

• Backup storage: External hard drives or NAS (Network Attached Storage)

Add Metadata and Documentation

Enhance your personal digital archiving with contextual information:

• Create descriptive file names that include dates and content descriptions

• Use folders and tags for logical organization

• Maintain a catalog or index of your most important documents

• Document your archiving system so others can understand it if needed

Establish a Maintenance Schedule

Digital archiving is not a one-time project:

• Schedule regular reviews of your archive (quarterly or annually)

• Check for file integrity and corruption

• Update storage media before it becomes obsolete