Personal and Community Connection: Introduction to the Special Issue on Personal Digital Archiving 2018.

On April 23–25, 2018, the University of Houston hosted the annual Personal Digital Archiving (PDA) Conference in Houston, Texas. The conference is a focused, single-track event that brings together information professionals, students, and non-academics. Though small, the conference commonly attracts attendees from around the world to discuss topics focused on the intersection of personal archiving and technology. The three-day event was comprised of two full days of presentations to all attendees. Over 140 attendees from five countries were in attendance. Two keynotes, nineteen sessions with question and answer panels, seven posters, and six lightning talks were presented. A third day offered two hands-on workshops and a tour of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. In this introduction, the Chair of the Conference Planning Committee and Guest Editor of this issue, Melody Condron, discusses highlights of the conference, as well as themes and discussion that tie into the papers presented in this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]