The first step of digital preservation is figuring out where your content is located. It can be difficult to find and preserve all your works, particularly if you store content across multiple devices and/or storage mediums (such as an external hard drive). For example, if you play video games on a modern console, it may be easy to find your more recent digital media, as this tends to be saved directly on the internal SSD. However, finding legacy content can be much more difficult. Older media might be saved on a previous console generation, which you may not have on hand. You also need to consider if files that were saved have been automatically backed up to cloud storage or not.
That's why it's important to conduct an audit of your digital environments to locate your desired files! First, check your cloud storage spaces to determine if any desired legacy files are present and retrievable. If so, you may simply download them. Otherwise, locate the relevant files on your current devices. If things are missing, you may have to track down older hardware and check if it still functions properly. Finally, you should transfer all the files you want to keep to a centralized working space, such as a laptop or desktop computer. It is extremely important to properly organize your data before moving on to next steps.
Here is an easy to use template for mapping out your digital footprint, filled in with easy to follow examples!
| Contents | Location | Date Range | Current Status? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate coursework | Google Drive (University email) | August 2025-May 2027 | Found and accessible |
| Gameplay recordings from Overwatch (2016) | PlayStation 4 SSD | May 2016-October 2022 | Unknown. Need to locate console |
| High school emails | Gmail (account created and managed by school district) | August 2014-May 2018 | Locked/unobtainable. Do not remember account user/password or may be deactivated |
Follow the format of this template, and mapping out your digital footprint should be no problem!
