91Èȱ¬

Traditionalists could argue that our reliance on the internet – and particularly social media – is removing our need for human contact and threatens our 'real' communication. Why ask your friend how their holiday was when you can see all their photos on Facebook, or pose a question to an individual when you can use a search engine?

I, for one, find my hand aches after writing with a pen for several minutes, and now perhaps 90% of my contact with friends and colleagues is over email. I'm also not as convinced of my ability to hold a conversation without muddling my words, so used am I to typing and retyping sentences.

But a wonderful story this week reminds us that the web could be crucial in preserving a very important part of our communication – language.

K David Harrison, National Geographic Fellow and associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, is using digital tools like YouTube and Facebook to record endangered languages.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Harrison unveiled eight that he hopes will not just archive languages, but see them taught and revitalised within communities.

Harrison told of how he went to a village in the Himalayas and used a digital recorder while a young man described parts of a fish to him in the Koro language. Such a simple technique could be all that's needed to build resources for young people from remote communities – some ofÌýwhom are heavy social media users – to stay connected to the modern world whilst preserving their heritage.

Of course digital copies don't just work for language. Although you might not beat an original old photo for sentimental value, storing a digital copy will make sure that if anything happens to the physical item you still have something of the memory. As individuals, our own possessions, photos and family records could one day be treasured as historical artefacts for future generations. Now that we're in a digital age, we have no excuse not to preserve our own pieces of history.

If you want more information on making copies of your old photos read the WebWise guide on using a scanner.

Hajar is a regular contributor to the WebWise blog and has also made award-winning programmes for 91Èȱ¬ Radio. In her spare time she loves reading, writing and singing.