Time capsules usually are lost due to thievery, secrecy or poor planning. The international register has been developed to record the existence of all buried Time Capsules. When you register your time capsule you will need to make a decision about what information is made public concerning your Time Capsule.
This is extremely important to consider carefully.
Secrecy And Privacy Options
Each of the four options comes with some level risk which you will need to evaluate for your circumstance:
- Do you want people to know that you have a time capsule? where it is buried? what's in it? and when to open it. If not HOW will the future know this information?
- What is the likelihood someone else will use the public information and dig it up before its opening date? Are the contents valuable?
- What is the likelihood no one remembers where it was buried?
- What is the likelihood of you being around at the opening date? If you are in doubt, who will know where and when to open it
With this in mind you have four options for your time capsule record:
SECRET : I do NOT want any public library record of my Time Capsule. I ONLY want my time capsule recorded on the list with the Digital Preservation Trust. They will know it exists and this information will remain private until the public opening date.
PUBLIC: I DO want a public library record published about the existence of my Time Capsule. ALL of the information I have provided about my Time Capsule should be published. The library card will show the owner, opening instructions, public opening date, location and contents.
SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE: I DO want a public library record published about the existence of my Time Capsule. But with minimal information shared publicly. The location, opening instructions and contents of my Time Capsule are to remain private on the list held by the Trust and released only after the public opening date.
SELF MANAGED: I DO want a public library record published about the existence of my Time Capsule. But I have only provided minimal information about my Time Capsule to the Preservation Trust. Instead I used another method to share information about my Time Capsule location, opening instructions and contents - entered below to be included on my public library card.