This essay was written in partial fulfillment of a module entitled 'Digital Records: Their Nature, Use, and Preservation in the Information Society', part of the Masters in Archives and Records Management at the University of Liverpool.
The essay's purpose is to investigate the record-making and record-keeping issues implicit in the increasingly popular kind of technology known as Wearables. It therefore analyses wearable technology, focusing on activity monitors, in relation to key characteristics of records: reliability, authenticity, integrity, and usability.
It demonstrates advancement within the digital preservation arena by underlining the need for mutual understanding of digital technologies and record-creation and record-keeping concepts, through close discussion of examples of wearable technology and incidents of record-creation and record-keeping and by articulating this analysis within a wider context that brings with it more philosophical and ethical considerations.
This context is therefore one alert to the bourgeoning sophistication of wearable technology as being not only on the skin but in the skin, whether used for functional or aesthetic purposes; it is also a context that is alert to the fact that the ability to create and keep minute records relating specifically to health and fitness has already been identified as one that may have positive and negative implications both for the health and of individuals and of wider society - although this kind of minute record-creation and record-keeping is often not necessarily seen as negative in relation to other kinds of data.
As the essay argues, this wider context means that record-creation and record-keeping can only become increasingly important in relation to the making and the use of wearable technology. Through a wide range of examples and analysis, it demonstrates that it is essential that the record-keeping profession gains an understanding of these issues now, as digital technology continues to become more integral to our everyday lives.
NB. In the event of quotes or citations from any of the DPA2018 finalist essays/theses the author should be duly acknowledged, in line with usual academic practice.