How to preserve your old family history paper documents.
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How to preserve your old family history paper documents.
So much of your family history is wrapped up in precious documents, such as old family photographs, old letters and even official documents like birth certificates and death certificates. But over time, family history documents can become damaged, faded and even completely destroyed. That is why you need to work hard to preserve your old paper family history documents so that the family memories they help preserve stay strong for future generations to come. The following guide will help you find out more about preserving your family history, whether it’s old photographs, birth certificates or something in between.
How to Preserve Family History Documents
The method for preserving family history documents will vary depending on the type of document, what type of paper it’s made from, its current condition as well as its age. You will need to carefully analyze each document you need to preserve in order to do what’s best for preserving it as professionally as possible.
Step One: Digitize Documents
The first thing you need to do is digitize all of your old paper documents. In this case, digitizing can mean two different things. One, scanning the document with a photo or document scanner; then taking the resulting digital file and saving it to a computer so that it can be edited (if necessary) and then backed up. Or two, it can mean taking a high-quality photograph of the document with a camera or a smartphone camera, then backing up that resulting digital file in the same way as the first method.
Typically, the reason you may want to take a high-quality photo rather than scan the document is that documents which are exceptionally fragile may not do well to be placed inside a scanner. If this is the case, then taking a photo is a gentler and less invasive option to take.
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Step Two: Use Archival-Friendly Storage
Once the document has been digitized, it’s time to store it in some type of archival-friendly storage material. This can include certain types of plastics or even paper material that can help keep old documents from getting damaged by corrosive materials, sunlight, and so on. It’s important that you look for archival-friendly storage, as using regular plastic or materials can lead to old documents becoming more damaged rather than less damaged over time. For the most part, you’ll want to store these documents in single sleeves rather than placing them together; for instance, if you have a multiple page letter to preserve, you can use acid-free sheets in between them so that the pages don’t rub together.
Step Three: Keep Original Documents in a Secure Place
Finally, you’ll need to store the family history documents in a secure place. The location needs to be away from sunlight, water and moisture that can damage documents over time. Many people store these documents in metal file cabinets, but you can also place them in a safety deposit box at your local bank for safe keeping.
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