Capture

Without getting into the issue of data formats here, let's think about the sources of your archival data.

At the high level, your data comes from three primary areas; your personal life, your work life, and your community activities. Think about all three when you consider what is worth saving.

Your data will be scattered across:

• PCs, current and old, yours and other people's

A summary page coming soon...

On this site we look at:

Modern file formats can seem enormous (video, high-resolution photos, sound recordings). Should you store these big files or compress them? It all depends what you want the file for.

For example image resolution can vary widely and so does the file size. Image resolution is often measured in ppi or pixels per inch, also called dpi, dots per inch. If you want to view images on screen, then 120ppi is fine (or even less), but print really needs 300ppi for a nice clear picture.