Writers and digital media

A survey conducted among members of the German PEN Center

Abstract

Objective — In the future, special collections will have to manage and to preserve an increasing amount of digital documents. Therefore, the development of corresponding preservation strategies should take into consideration the writer and his management of digital media and digital objects. The article takes a look at writers’ archives and explores the working methods of contemporary writers.
Method — The author conducted an online survey among the members of the German PEN Center. The data were analyzed by means of quantitative statistical methods.
Results — The members of the German PEN Center used digital media for their literary production on a large scale. Various working methods and backup practices could be identified, some of which are highly individual. The majority showed ready to co-operate with special collections in order to guarantee the preservation of their digital papers.
Conclusions — At least in the near future, writers’ estates will include both paper and digital parts, but the digital parts will increase steadily. In spite of the different individual behaviours of the writers, working patterns could be identified. These patterns are possibly helpful for digital preservation. To meet the goal, special collections should establish contact with writers as early as possible, in order to offer them support with the archiving of digital documents.

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