Archival science, digital forensics, and new media art

Abstract

Digital archivists and traditional digital forensics practitioners have significant points of convergence as well as notable differences between their work. This paper provides an overview of how digital archivists use digital forensics tools and techniques to approach their work, comparing and contrasting archival with traditional computer forensics. Archives encounter a wide range of digital materials. This paper details a specific example within archival forensics—the analysis of complex, interactive, new media digital artworks. From this, the paper concludes with considerations for future directions and recommendations to the traditional forensics community to support the needs of cultural heritage institutions.