More than 90% of public and private records are created digitally. Most people use computers daily for personal and professional use, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers; many also use cloud computing accounts, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, or Amazon Cloud, to manage their files. Some are holding onto old storage formats, like floppy disks, USB thumb drives, or memory cards.

The formats we create records in have changed since the past, but we are still producing archival records: correspondence, writings, photographs, recordings, films, etc. Northwestern University Libraries is committed to developing and providing access to research collections of international distinction, regardless of format. We have a digital forensics workstation that allows us to recover data from old storage formats and we are equipped with comprehensive digital preservation strategies to help ensure the longevity and authenticity of digital records. Think outside the box of paper you want to give us!