 The name derives from the term "Dark Ages" in the sense that there could be a relative lack of records in the digital age, as documents are transferred to digital formats and original copies are lost.An early mention of the term was at a conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in 1997.The term was also mentioned in 1998 at the Time and Bits conference, which was co-sponsored by the Long Now Foundation and the Getty Conservation Institute.