Saving Our Digital Past: Rescuing History from Obsolete Technology

Without intervention, decades of valuable records, personal histories and cultural memories could be lost.

Researchers working to preserve Australia's 'born digital' heritage, information created originally in digital form, are tackling this growing challenge. Ageing storage media, incompatible software and rapidly changing technology are making historical digital content increasingly difficult to retrieve. One study found that just 8% of the old CD-ROMs examined could still be read, highlighting the urgency of digital preservation.

In collaboration with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, researchers recently helped community members recover historical records from obsolete storage media. The project uncovered genealogical records, oral histories, sporting club documents and photographs of major engineering projects. Among the discoveries were cemetery indexes, images of the Hume Weir construction and family history files trapped on floppy disks dating back to 1996.

Using specialised equipment and techniques such as disk imaging, researchers created digital copies of ageing media, recovered files and transferred information into more accessible formats. For smaller historical societies and community organisations, this work demonstrates that valuable digital collections can often be rescued, even when the original technology is no longer readily available.

For records and information management professionals, the project reinforces an important message: digital preservation is not simply about storing files, but ensuring information remains accessible, usable and authentic over time. As technology continues to evolve, proactive preservation strategies, format migration and ongoing stewardship are essential to protecting our digital heritage for future generations.

Read Original Article Published in The Conversation, 4 November 2026