Information Archaeology
A new framework for understanding digital information through its structure, context, and system behaviour.
Digital work leaves behind artifacts, versions, byproducts, and system-generated traces. Together, they form a record of what happened, how it happened, and what shaped it. Information Archaeology provides a clear, evidence-based way to make sense of that record.
What this field is
Information archaeology examines digital materials, including documents, drafts, logs, screenshots, metadata, sync artifacts, and other traces, as structured evidence.
It examines:
- How information evolves
- How decisions leave patterns
- How systems shape the traces they produce
- How context, structure, and environment influence meaning
- How loss, drift, and fragmentation affect interpretation
The goal is to restore clarity and meaning to the digital past.
Digital systems move fast, and lose context even more quickly.
This discipline helps bring structure back to:
- complex workflows
- long-running projects
- digital transformations
- knowledge management practices
- FOIA and records reconstruction
- organizational continuity
- AI-assisted interpretation
When you understand how digital traces behave, you can understand the work behind them.
Why this matters
See how the discipline works
A clear model for understanding digital traces from evidence to insight.
Learn the Foundations
Download the Whitepaper
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