When talking about lost media, it’s important to indicate what is being lost and whether it is worth keeping. It’s also essential to understand memory as a whole.
In the article, “A Cultural Memory of the Digital Age?” Haux, Dominicé, and Raspotnig discuss how cultural heritage exists in the digital realm and how the uniform standards can be set to improve and organize the way of preserving data. The fast evolution of digital technology contribute to cultural heritage while simultaneously making it difficult for the law to keep up. As Haux, et al. (2020) reference, the lines between music sampling and intellectual theft are still blurred. As the digital age becomes a bigger part of our culture, adjusting the current legal system is absolutely necessary. Similarly, changing what is considered cultural heritage and setting laws to properly preserve it has been an important conversation. In 2003, UNESCO adopted Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage. Haux, et al. (2020) argue that this charter is insufficient and fails to consider a number of things, including the ever changing and developing nature of data and the transience of certain formats. Lastly, they posit that a foundation needs to be built with clear distinctions on what should be protected. They ask how this can be done, who can make that decision, on what ground these laws can be put in place, and what can be a part of digital culture. “These questions not only concern museums, libraries or archives, but society as a whole,” Haux, et al. (2020) state.
This article, while it took me a few re-reads to fully grasp, helped me understand digital preservation a lot more. Since I will be talking about lost media, it will be helpful for me to look at what type of media needs to be preserved and what doesn’t. I also didn’t know about the 2003 UNESCO charter and I will be reading into it to further develop my project. Additionally, this article has many sources about memory and memory theory. Since that is the angle I want for my project, looking at those citations will also be useful in the long run.
I made some progress this week but not a lot. I made myself a pre-production outline to help me organize my thoughts and ideas as they have been slightly all over the place. I included things like core concepts, core emotions, who is my audience, who isn’t my audience, genre, visual and auditory aesthetic, research, objective, structure, editing, etc. I did this by looking at the Master Project Proposal & Paper Guidelines on the MA Canvas page. It is not complete by any means, there are a number of blanks and question marks. However, I feel good about where it’s going! I also attempted to make myself a full timeline from now to April (also using the MA Canvas page) but I have been struggling with that a little bit. Regardless, I feel fine about where I’m at and I’m excited to meet in person on Tuesday because I have some questions about how to go about parts of this project!
Haux, D. H., Maget Dominicé, A., & Raspotnig, J. A. (2021). A Cultural Memory of the Digital Age? International journal for the semiotics of law , 34(3), 769–782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-020-09778-7
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