This paper examines various psychological, sociological, and technological factors, as well as personal attitudes, and integrates them to present opportunities for better digital preservation practices. Copeland clearly and concisely discusses these ideas in her well-documented presentation of the problems that confront the users of digital information in the process of acquiring, organizing, archiving, and preserving it.

Following a short but valuable literature review in the field of information behavior, information source horizons, and information mapping, Copeland explains a methodology based on a three-tier concept that includes information matrices, interviews, and information source horizons (mapping). This approach offers new insight into personal information behavior and limitations exposed by technology, experience, and knowledge. Four important categories are presented as the research result.

In addition to standard technical issues, the paper addresses the issue of information produced solely by technology. This paradigm presents new problems in storing a vast amount of digital information in an information space produced by the individual user. Further, public library users have special affective and social strategies that help them in the information preserving process.

Copeland presents these practices with a psychosocial-technical model of personal digital preservation practices that will be of crucial interest for archivists who deal increasingly with digital content collection. These findings will also be of interest to information systems and information tools designers who model information management for ordinary information users based on psychosocial and technical issues. This paper is, therefore, valuable for almost everyone who deals with digital information activities, especially those that involve digital preservation.