Not Forgotten Digital Preservation Library LLC (

OCLC OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It wa ...

library symbol IEFDP), based in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, NJ, United States, is an organization established to create, record and preserve legacies and

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics date ...

s. The library registers and maps all types of time capsule projects worldwide, and catalogs them on the

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

Operations and the Time Capsule Register

Not Forgotten makes legacy products and preserves and catalogs them for future generations. Legacies are linked to a persons genealogy records, recorded on the blockchain, and in library records. The International Time Capsule Society holdings are cataloged as part of th
NotForgotten Library Depository
holdings and each will be released on an ''Advance Directive'' for each Time Capsule The registry of Time Capsules contains the records of all Time Capsules buried then registered with the NotForgotten library by members of the public and corporate institutions. Many records are private and will be released on the "Advance Directive" date. The registry will be maintained by the library until the year 2319. NotForgotten Digital Preservation Library LLC, is a holding company founded by Adrienne and

Paul Waterman Lynn Paul Waterman, usually known as Paul Waterman (born July 24, 1964), is an American businessman and the chief executive officer of Elementis Plc. Paul was Global CEO of BP Lubricants, a part of the BP Group. Paul joined Castrol in 1994 even ...

and the company is based in Princeton, New jersey, USA. Two subsidiaries operate beneath the holding company – a library entity (the NotForgotten Library Depository) and the operational company (NotForgotten Operations LLC)

The Not Forgotten
Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...
and Digital Preservation Trust

The NotForgotten Library Depository is designated as an archive and special library by

. The library preserves the time capsules and also maintains a general global registry and map of all Time Capsules buried anywhere (The International Time Capsule Catalog) - tracking the world's

s to ensure that those that are created are not lost. The library is overseen by an Advisory Board responsible for the administration of the library's continuing obligations for hundreds of years – caring for and making decisions concerning the Time Capsules and the infrastructure which supports them. It is funded through the NotForgotten Guarantee Trust Fund.

Special collections administration

In addition to the registry of Time Capsules, the library also houses the Time Capsules Special Collection, which includes holdings of digital time capsules licensed to the library by their creators. The library as trustee of the assets oversees all aspects of the Time Capsule holdings

The NotForgotten Guarantee Trust Fund

Exists in service of the library. The primary purpose of the Trust is to protect the funding of the Library; to provide financial support to the Library and to be able to support the records and Time Capsules held by the Library, by investing the funds.

The Use of Blockchain on Time Capsules

The Not Forgotten Time Capsules are recorded on a smart contract on the

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether ( Abbreviation: ETH; sign: Ξ) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market cap ...

Blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, ...

Smart with the objective of creating a discoverable, trackable record of its Time Capsules on the

blockchain. Most of the 10,000 Time Capsules estimated to be in existence are lost

The Use of Genealogy on Time Capsules

The Not Forgotten Time Capsules are referenced by a unique

GEDCOM GEDCOM ( ), complete name FamilySearch GEDCOM, is a ''de facto'' open file format specification to store genealogical data, and import or export it between compatible genealogy software. GEDCOM is an acronym standing for ''Genealogical Data Co ...

record linking four generations of a family to each Time Capsule.

Privacy and Accessing the Time Capsules on the Time Capsule Register and in the NotForgotten library

Archives are public institutions and must be publicly accessible and available for use. The purpose of libraries are to make the world's knowledge more accessible. The Depository is designated both as a special library and an archive with

(library symbol IEFDP), sharing its "library of human experience" and holdings information with the public and employing a library management system that facilitates global sharing. Time capsules registered on the International Time Capsule Register have public library records of their capsule which are made accessible through the public OCLC library catalog. The information which is captured inside of and in association with the archive and library records will by definition be public and not private. "Advance directives” are used to enable privacy for a period, but to make the Time Capsules and Time Capsule Register all ultimately public. The records by necessity have the characteristics of the individual archiver. After the Public Availability Date the public may also obtain copies of the record in question through the library.

Awards

In January 2020 NotForgotten was awarded a BIG innovation award in recognition of organizations, products and people that are bringing new ideas to life in innovative ways.

References

External links

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Not Forgotten Home

International Time Capsule Society
{{coord, 40.35166, -74.66165, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NJ, display=title Time capsules Archives in the United States Libraries in New Jersey Historical societies in New Jersey