Sydney's Powerhouse Museum is asking Australians to send them all kinds of e-mails and replies: including embarrassing messages the sender immediately regrets, or declarations of love sent to the wrong people.

The e-mails will be collected and kept as an archive of Australian life in 2008 in the same the way library collections of hand-written letters give a glimpse of life in the past.

"What we see is that people use e-mail both as a form of written communication, but also like a conversation," email provider Kate Beddoe, from project partner Windows Live Hotmail, told Australian radio on Tuesday.

"So we're hoping to capture both those casual discussions people are having via e-mail," she added.

Powerhouse Museum curator Matthew Connell said e-mail had changed the way people work, communicate and use language.

"But we have another concern about e-mail. How much of what we write today will be available to our kids tomorrow?" he said.

He said the details of daily life in e-mails are often more revealing than the thoughts of a famous person, and can be interesting and revealing about a country's culture.

Connell said the museum would delete the names on e-mails so people could feel comfortable about sharing the personal communications.

He wants people to send e-mails of complaint, personal and touching emails, family discussions, and e-mails that leave the sender red-faced due to typing mistakes or from sending personal information to the wrong people.

The project's website emailaustralia.com.au includes examples of the kinds of e-mails wanted, including a declaration of love from a new worker to her boyfriend which was accidentally sent to a fellow worker.

The project runs for six weeks. The museum will keep printed and electronic copies of the e-mails in an archive, and will post the most interesting ones on the project's website.

(By James Grubel) 

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