How to keep your family history organised: a 4-week plan - week four

Discover how to preserve precious heirloom documents with Denise May Levenick's expert family history tips.

Preserve family keepsakes in archival quality acid-free, lignin-free preservation storage folders and boxes. Locate your home archive in a place free from extreme changes in temperature and humidity.

Avoid light, pests or environmental pollutants. An interior closet inside your home is often a good choice. Avoid places such as garages, attics, basements and sheds.

Back up your files

The materials in any filing system are at risk from personal or natural disaster. Protect your work and your family legacy with regular digital backups and offsite storage.

Remember Backup 3-2-1 – three different copies, on two different kinds of media, with at least one copy stored offsite. Maintain one copy on your computer, one copy on an external hard drive, and a third copy on cloud storage or DVD discs.

And finally. It’s probably a symptom of the genealogists’ problem-solving mindset that we’re continually searching for the ‘right’ solution. But when it comes to controlling your family history paperwork, the ‘best’ way to solve the problem is the one that is the best fit for you.

Before you make a single further family history discovery, it’s time to climb the paper mountain and conquer the digital chaos cluttering your computer hard drive. You’ll find that organising your files is time very well spent indeed.

Quick tip

Get some cloud storage

To backup your digital files, choose an online cloud storage service such as:

Carbonite

OneDrive

Dropbox

Love learning about family history? Indulge your passion for genealogy at Family Tree Live, Alexander Palace, 26-27 April 2019. Find out more.

WEEK THREE: Organising paper files

(image copyright Benutzer:LivingShadow)