Saving Documents



You do not want to loose family records, documents, letters, photos, records, journals, etc that have been handed down over the decades. So what is the best method to preserve them?

Of course keeping them in a fire-proof, water-proof location is a start. Never expose them to heat, sunshine, cold weather, etc. Keep insects and mold away from your paper items.

With use of copy machines, that is another method … make paper copies, using good paper and ink, of the documents, even the photos. Have other family members have those copies to keep in a different location than your home. 

Scanning documents to keep as digital images can be the next step. A few are afraid that digital images won’t last for decades in the future. Or the needed equipment to view them may not be there. However, doing the scanning correctly and placing the digital scans on the right safe equipment can have them last for many years. Use flash drives which are easy to transport, CDs, external hard drives, and the digital ‘cloud’ storage. When there is in the future newer and better methods of preservation, you convert to that method. 

Start Now!!

Photos: Storage: External hard drive, CDs, Flash drive and Cloud Storage.

Related FamilyTree.com Blogs:

Digital Scrapbook

Preserve Old Letters

Transcript Documents

< Return To Blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.