Boxes

This is an example of what personal digital archaeology can be like, to explore your own past and retrieving treasure.

Somewhere you might have some boxes, or your family might have some boxes. And in those boxes might be treasure, including treasure you can't access, because it may be in an obsolete format.

Just imagine all the history that could fit in a box.

It felt like one of the best ways for me to gather some examples and suggestions of what personal digital archaeology could look like, would be to take my own medicine!

The picture above is interesting to me, not only because I think of the boxes as a kind of treasure hunt, but also because of the little Mac on the dresser (an original Mac that my brother brought home from college).

Then there's the little wooden box sitting on top of the Mac; it is a box I used to gather pocket change, until I had enough to start a bank account for CFTW, the nonprofit organization. Next to it is a briefcase I received as a college graduation present, and it contains a fountain pen, among other things. See - even a picture of your room could lead to stories!

One Box at a Time

So I didn't keep exact count, but in this live experiment, I went through perhaps 3-5 boxes (of papers and various bits of things that had accumulated), and got rid of most of the stuff, kept what was most important, and then separated out a few things that were "most special", and scanned them.

For example, I enjoyed coming across this Luke Skywalker trading card, and I didn't hesitate to upload him to a Facebook photo album I have called "Heroes":

Best wishes searching through boxes, which I think you'll probably end up doing, sooner or later.