Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The idea for this issue of Library Technology Reports was born ten years ago. I was finishing lunch with a friend who happened to be a freelance writer. We were discussing technology, and she asked me if I had heard about digital legacy. She was writing a piece on the digital information left behind following a person’s death, also known as digital legacy (Digital Legacy Association n.d.). I was immediately intrigued. The first book I read on the topic was Your Digital Afterlife: When Facebook, Flickr and Twitter Are Your Estate, What’s Your Legacy? by Evan Carroll and John Ramano. Recently, new books are starting to emerge, such as Digital Legacy Plan: A Guide to the Personal and Practical Elements of Your Digital Life Before You Die from Angela Crocker and Vicki McLeod. Each book gives you practical tips and ideas on how to deal after death with the lives, files, and materials that we have created, built, and saved online.