Millions of emails are to be stored at the British Library in a unique project to preserve present day communications for future generations.
Computer giant Microsoft is joining forces with the library to collect a million entries for the "email Britain" archive.
Emails have become the main form of communication for many people, and the idea is to capture blunders, complaints, humour, romance and other topics.
John Tuck, head of British Collections at the British Library, said: "Email has in many respects replaced traditional forms of communications such as letters or memoranda, thousands of examples of which we have at the British Library. In the digital age, email has become prevalent in our day-to-day lives.
"Email Britain will allow us to archive a vast snapshot of our present-day email communications and will be of great value for future researchers.