Tech Shout!

The British Library already has archives full of historic documents and the writings of famous personalities. It holds Jane Austen’s letters, Oscar Wilde’s musings, and the correspondence of George Bernard Shaw. Now, the British Library is appealing to the public to send in their emails, saying that it wants to create a snapshot of British life in 2007.

The British Library has launched a programme called the Email Britain programme and is asking Britons to browse through their email folders for messages that provide a glimpse of their loves, complaints, travels and jokes.

These emails will be collated and indexed by Microsoft. Incidentally, Microsoft had previously partnered with the British Library to digitize books from its archives.

Of course, personal data and sensitive information will be edited out. Email addresses will also be removed.

We’re seeing it as an electronic time capsule, if you like,” said Jonnie Robinson, a curator for English Accents and Dialects at the library. “At the moment we have all sorts of ways of tapping into contemporary culture and finding out things about what’s going on and how people are managing relationships, but in 20, 30, 40 years, things will have moved on and it will be a great snapshot of 2007.”

This is not the first time the British library has gathered accounts from ordinary people for its catalogue. Its Millennium Memory Bank features thousands of interviews with people taken at the turn of the millennium, but this would be the library’s first attempt to electronically collect individuals’ experiences.

Click here to head to the Email Britain Web page.