UCR Library’s Director of Research Services Brianna Marshall has released her first book, The Complete Guide to Personal Digital Archiving.

Editor Marshall and a team of expert contributors break down archival concepts and best practices into teachable solutions for digitally archiving everyday projects. This book could serve anyone from a researcher who needs to organize important email correspondence, to an empty-nester who wants to convert home movies and photographs into a more easily shared digital format.

Marshall hopes that the book will serve as a practical, how-to resource for anyone faced with “decision fatigue” when considering how to manage the massive quantity of digital photos, audios, videos, websites, and social media files they possess.

 “This was me trying to bridge the gap that I saw to serve the community that we work with,” Marshall explained. “A lot of it also comes from the fact that I have been a collector of things since I was a small child. I’m the family historian. I’m a scrap-booker. I’ve been collecting photos, and I’ve had my fair share of errors. I know the professional way to do this, but it’s not feasible for me to do in my personal life. It was really about posing that question, ‘How do we take what we know and apply it to our communities in a better and more accessible way?’”

In the near future, Marshall hopes to blend her crafty side with her professional side by hosting a workshop in the Creat’R Lab along with library colleagues Primary Source Literacy Librarian Robin M. Katz and Digital Initiatives Program Manager Eric Milenkiewicz. “We’re hoping to do something with personal digital archiving in the spring,” she said.

The Complete Guide to Personal Digital Archiving is available for purchase at Amazon.com, the ALA store, and other online retailers.