Think about the Future

You should be feeling pretty good about your project now.  You’re turning your unruly piles into smaller boxes. Each box has a common theme.

Now you should be thinking about longevity.  You want to preserve your items in the best way possible.     

Here are some DONT’S: 

• Don’t store photos in attics, basements, sheds or other places where you can’t control temperature or humidity. 
• Don’t store photos in attics, basements, sheds or other places where you can’t control temperature or humidity. 
• Don’t sore photo boxes in direct light. 

You can find the official rules about preservation at the Library of Congress site.

Another useful site that talks about home preservation is Home Storage Solutions.

I’ve used Gaylord Archival Supplies and Amazon   but  you may be able to find good archival supplies in your nearby art store or  even your local Staples or  Office Supply store.  

This is not the time to skimp.  You can always break your project into small steps.  Sort, organize and store those first 4 boxes and then move on to the next 4.  

This is also the time to plan on how you want to digitize you items.  Again, you can Google Digitize My Photos and come up with a gazillion ways.  If you want to do it yourself I suggest investing in a good Slide and Negative Scanner.  Your run of the mill paper scanner won’t turn those negatives into photographs.  

You’ll need a large enough space where you can set up  your computer, your scanner, the boxes  and work undisturbed.  You don’t want to have to pack up your photos after a couple of hours of scanning, move the boxes around and lose your place in the process.  Just like the Sorting and Organizing, this is a long process.   

The time needed and expense of doing the work yourself can also be overwhelming.  That’s where DYA – Digitize Your Ancestors can help.  I’m not a big corporation.  I will listen to you and work with you to make sure the end product is something you’ll be able to use and enjoy.   You can visit my website here.