Digital dark age

The digital dark age is a lack of historical information in the digital age, which is a direct result of outdated file formats, software, or hardware that becomes corrupt, scarce, or inaccessible as technologies evolve and data decays. Future generations may find it difficult or impossible to retrieve electronic documents and multimedia, because they have been recorded in an obsolete and obscure file format, or on an obsolete physical medium; for example, floppy disks. The term Dark Ages is employed metaphorically, as it suggests a period of relative absence of documentation, particularly in the digital era where records are increasingly stored in digital formats and original copies are often lost. The term was first mentioned at a conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in 1997. It was subsequently mentioned in 1998 at the Time and Bits conference, which was co-sponsored by the Long Now Foundation and the Getty Conservation Institute.