Daily Reveille Article
Image from Greta Jines
LSU’s student newspaper, The Daily Reveille, highlighted the Virtual Footlocker Project as its cover story this week (written by Katie Gagilano). Here is an excerpt:
“In December, Benoit launched the first phase of his multi-year endeavor, the Virtual Footlocker Project, an application free to veterans and active-duty service members. The application will function similarly to a physical footlocker, encapsulating the digital memories of military men and women, Benoit said.
The fleeting nature of digital communications lead Benoit to realize a developing critical gap in the records of service members from 2005 to 2015. Personal records and accounts previously held in letters, journals and photographs are being lost in the digital space, he said.
“We really have a problem now,” Benoit said. “Yes, there are still letters being written, and yes there are still photographs being taken, but we’ve moved into such a digital world now. That on one hand is amazing. But they’re relying on these third-party companies to maintain their materials.”
Key information can be lost when these third-party companies are consolidated or go out of business. Archivists and historians refer to this possible gap in information as the digital dark ages, Benoit said.”