artifacts - digital and otherwise

Once upon a time I was an visual artist working towards a Masters in Fine Arts in Fabric Design at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. A common outcome of such a program is a collection of objects, photo documentation of said objects, a philosophical treatise (AKA thesis), and the beginnings of a record of one's activities in the Art World (AKA Resume, Curriculum Vitae [CV], or brag list).

Eventually, the photo documentation in form of 35mm slides or color prints along with the brag list / resume became my portfolio. I'd use it to enter shows or to join groups such as the Fiber Workshop of the Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA.

Later as I started a different career in academic computing my collection turned more to participation in events or publications. The slides became less important and the list was pruned to emphasize grants, talks, articles.

Now 25 or so years later I'm wondering about the trail I've left behind. The various media including 35mm slides, photographs, articles, 3D objects, and other stuff. The artifacts of my various lives.

I'm wondering not just about how to archive or preserve the old stuff, but also what is the best approach to move forward or how to plan to soften the blow of obsolescence.

My 35mm projector is dusty and has not been used for a long time. I have begun to scan some of my more favorite pieces as JPEG's to share online and to burn on CD's, DVD's in hopes I can read them in 5 years. I have a year's worth of digital QuickTake files that I'm trying to remember how to convert to TIFF or JPEG. Paper is good because I can scan images and / or text to convert to digital. The physical objects are good too because I can document them with film or digital camera. I already converted some 3/4" UMatic and other video tapes to DVD.

Alfred E. Neuman would ask: "What me worry?" Well, I'm planning to be around for a while longer and I do enjoy looking at my past work. Also, there are people I want to share the work with. So, I want to keep as much as possible in a media that will be around for a while.

As de facto family historian I have been given documents and photograph albums from long deceased family members. Most of the material has been regular print, but there are also some documents that are sensitive to light that are fading. News print becomes extremely brittle. So, I scan or photograph them. Again I'm creating digital artifacts, but I wonder which will last longer -- the original paper photographs or the digital files of the originals.

So, a question is how should an individual best prepare to archive, document, and keep abreast of current technology to make sure that his or her portfolio will be available at a given time in the future much less at present. At the moment I'd say a portfolio includes representative collected works of varied media representing one skills.

I've enjoyed some discussions online with Jim Groom, Trent Batson, and others about the notion of an ePortfolio. I understand that in the Teaching and Learning community that the term has certain associations. One quick observation here is that I appears to me that ePortfolio is usually applied to a single course or perhaps a students tenure in a program, but not a life long activity.

At the same time I have observed bloggers and organizations such as the Pew Trust exploring the notion of "digital footprint." However, rather than an intended collection of representative work, the "digital footprint" is more aligned to privacy and digital literacy issues. A core concern is do you really want your words, pictures, or videos to be around as you mature or seek jobs and security clearances?

Time for me to stop for the moment. But, before I do some random word associations that I see and believe may relate to this posting: ePortfolio, resume, digital footprint, EduPunk, DIY, CV, peer review, portfolio, best work, sharing, archive, preservation, history, curating, filing, keeping, trashing, library, cataloging, obsolete, managing, keeping up, legacy, past, future.