.

You can do this.
Seriously, you can.

Here are a few tips to keep you on track:

1. Your entire collection does not need to survive 200+ years. That means you don’t have to give all of it the Cadillac treatment. Invest only in the shots that mean the most to you. And by invest I mean invest real money in high quality enclosures, and invest time to write the stories behind your photographs.
2. Lose the dreck. Don’t be afraid to edit. You’re not doing future generations any favors by leaving the editing up to them.
3. Big projects are scary. Just remember: “Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.”
4. Break your project into chunks (see #3) but keep in mind that the smaller the chunks, the longer it will take to complete your project. Rope off a half day every and you’ll see real progress. And real progress is the BEST motivator.
5. The more fun you have doing it, the more often you will work on your project. Crank your favorite music while you work. Or take advantage of the buddy system and schedule a monthly photo date with a friend who lives in town but who you don’t see often enough. Or host a brunch and call it a photo bee. Whatever works best for you. FIND THE FUN.

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Hey, Austin, San Francisco, Nashville & Detroit!

Casting call for Genealogy Roadshow!

realitywanted.com/call/24410-cas…

from Megan Smolenyak

(@megansmolenyak)

April 13, 2013

5 tips to help you preserve your one-of-a-kind family photographs

1. You can’t keep it all. Really, you can’t.

I get surprised looks when I share this truth with my workshop participants. I realize it’s the opposite of what most people expect an archivist to say. But archivists know better than perhaps anyone else that you can’t possibly keep everything. Don’t be afraid to lose the dreck. Your grandkids are not going to want every single one of your vacation slides. On the other hand, they would probably love to have a small set of photos of you having fun on vacation.You’re not doing future generations any favors by leaving the editing up to them.

2. If it’s worth keeping, it’s worth treating right.

Cycling temperatures and humidity levels are bad for paper and film. Avoid basements, attics and garages at all cost. Instead, store your treasures in the interior closet of a house that has some form of climate control. And by climate control I mean a space that has basic heat and air conditioning. Avoid UV light, which causes fading. Place photos in high quality envelopes, sleeves and albums. How can you know if it’s safe? Unfortunately, you can’t rely on terms like “archival” and “photo safe” because they are unregulated and therefore meaningless. Fortunately, there is an objective, 3rd party test called the Photographic Activity Test (or PAT). Use only PAT-Passed enclosures for the photographs you want to last tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. More on that in my What Archival Really Means post.

REMEMBER! Your entire collection does not need to survive 200+ years (see #1, above). Which means you don’t have to give all of it the Cadillac treatment. Invest the most in the images that mean the most to you.

• Invest part of your family budget in high quality enclosures: Acid and lignin free, no PVCs and plasticizers. Use an archival supplier like Gaylord.com or HollingerMetalEdge.com. For photographs and film, choose products that are labeled “PAT Passed,” which means they will not react with photographs. (PAT stands for Photographic Activity Test and is an ISO Standard independent age acceleration test.)
• Just as important, invest the time it takes to  write the stories behind your photographs. Which brings us nicely to Tip #3…

3. The shortest pencil is better than the longest memory.

They say a photograph is worth a thousand words, but look in your own family photo collection and you’ll find plenty of photographs with little to say. Stiff, uncomfortable looking ancestors whose names have been lost to time. We archivists have a term for these mystery pictures: Orphans.

Don’t let your photos become orphans! Write down information about your photographs before you forget. Write it down for your children’s children’s children because you may never have a chance to meet them face to face. Write down the stories behind your photographs, the ones that naturally pour out when you sit down with an album and start swapping tales. If you’re not sure how to get started, I highly recommend Denis Ledoux’s Photo Scribe method. It’s a simple technique that uses your photo collection as a starting point.

4. Digital is more fragile than you think.

Magnetic media (floppy disks and digital tape) begin to fail in 5 to 10 years. The most generous estimates give them about 30 years. Optically etched media (burned with a laser like a cd-rom or dvd), begin to degrade within 5 to 15 years. And that’s not counting scratches. In the word of digital, there is no equivalent of shoving your photos in a shoebox and stashing them in a closet. No, sir. If you want to bring your digital photos with you into the future, you will have to migrate them to new storage devices every 3-5 years. You’ll also have to save them in the newest version of the software that turns the 1′s and 0′s into your vacation snapshots. Quick solution? Scan your prints and print your digitals. Print out any image that you can’t stand to lose. Upload it to your favorite photo processing store. Make lots of copies of your favorite digitals and spread them around.

5. Rescue your photos from the Chemical Sandwich of Doooom!

Those sticky magnetic photo albums that used to be so popular are just about the worst place you can put a photograph. Acidic cardboard covered in stripes of acidic glue on the back, smothered in a vinyl sheet that is so chemically volatile it stinks. Oy. Fortunately, this is one of the few hands-on conservation projects that’s easy enough for non-experts to tackle successfully. The key ingredient is a microspatula, which you can find in various archival catalogs and dental supply stores. If you’re nervous about using it, I created a kit that includes photo-illustrated instructions and a pair of cotton gloves. You can learn more about my $25 Photo Rescue Kit here.

Related Articles:
How to Organize Photos Like an Archivist Part 1: Level of Description

How to Organize Photos Like an Archivist, Part 2: Three Examples of Minimal Level Description (Box & Folder Level)

Organizing Photos: Can Photographs Be Clutter?

Organizing Photos: Presentation is Only the Icing

Photo credit: That’s my Grandma Anne and her sister Mabel. It’s actually a pin.

Photo by Future Shape, via Flickr

Earlier, I wrote about how to preserve family letters so they last as long as possible. The focus was on love letters (awww) but you’ve probably already figured out that my advice applies to all kinds of letters written on paper. A big part of the solution is to simply unfold each letter and place them all in archival envelopes, folders, and boxes. As long as you’ve got your hands on them anyway, you might as well learn more about what’s in there.

My advice is to examine what’s written in the letters as you’re rehousing them. This is more of a scan of the content and not so much a full reading. Feel free to get lost in the details if you can spare the time, but all you need at this point is some basic information. Take notes as you go.

Remember, this is just an overview, not a list of every single letter. Those are called “calendars” and they’re reserved for things like the George Washington Papers. Click here to gawk at the 800+ page Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington (1915) online. This? You don’t need.

Your task is much, much simpler: All you need is a general description at the folder level. Click here to read an earlier post I wrote about levels of description — and how doing it the way archivists do can keep you sane as you work on your family papers.

Here’s the kinds of questions you want to be thinking about:

Photo by Cynthia Closkey, via Flickr

Who gave you these letters? Was that person the original owner? The author? If not, who wrote these letters? To whom were they addressed? What years do they cover? Are there any unidentified mystery items? What’s missing? (This could be the other half of the correspondence, important dates, or family members who don’t appear anywhere or gaps in years.)

What kind of shape is it in? Do you see distressed paper, faded ink, creases, tears, signs of any pest damage? Add it to your notes.

The Golden Rule of Archival Arrangement Is: “Respect Provenance”

Provenance is just a fancy word for chain of ownership. But even I admit it sounds better in French. Mostly, this rule is about is not creating an overly elaborate new arrangement. For family archivists like you, this also means not mixing up your husband’s grandmother’s letters with your great-aunt’s. Here’s some simple steps to help you…

1. Sort by family first. For my own family collection, I ma

de sure to keep my family’s papers separate from my husband’s. I have a JACOBS and COHAN branch, plus my in-laws. If a family series is large enough, it will need to be broken into smaller categories.

2. Then sort by individual, especially if you have many letters to or from one person.

3. If you’re lucky enough to have both sides of correspondence, it’s OK to interfile them so the reader gets the full back and forth. This is actually pretty uncommon and rare, so cherish it if you’re lucky enough to have this in your collection.

Here’s an example of how to organize, using my own correspondence.

The list under my name describes almost an entire manuscript box. The printed emails from the Library of Congress alone are multiple folders. It’s both sides of a summer’s worth of correspondence between my the full back and forth of correspondence between my (now) husband and I. Each bolded line is a heading that can include part of a single box, an entire box or possibly even multiple boxes.

Sally Jacobs, Correspondence, 1978-1998

• Camp Fernwood, 1978-2012 (bulk 1978-84)
• Library of Congress (printed emails) 1997
• William Evan Manley (postal mail and printed emails) 1996-1998

Jacobs Family Correspondence

• Harry (Orrie) Jacobs
• Robert Jacobs

Cohan Family Correspondence

• Terri Cohan Jacobs
• Other Cohans

4. Sort by date.Within any given folder, you can arrange individual letters in chronological order. If you have a folder of miscellaneous family letters, you can use the family name and a date range.

Bonus! Here’s some links to help you read old handwriting

Photo by Kevin Walsh, kevinzim on Flickr

Let’s be honest: It can be difficult to read other people’s handwriting. And the older the document, the more difficult it can be. Here are some online resources to help you decipher old handwriting in your family history correspondence.

• Guidelines for Reading Old Documents: Making Sense of the Scribbles, by Kip Sperry
• Tips for Reading Old Records: Deciphering Handwriting and Spelling by Kip Sperry
• Reading Old Handwriting

Do you have a favorite family letter? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Photo of love letters by Jayegirl99 via Flickr

Whether you’ve inherited your favorite grandma’s love letters or it’s your name on the envelope, I have good news for you: It’s easy to preserve them long term. Pinkie-swear promise.

Compared to other formats, paper is the least complicated. And love letters are basically just paper and a little ink or graphite.

Think about it this way: Every photographic print begins with paper, but then there’s extra layers of binders and emulsion on top of it. These layers expand and contract at varying rates under the same environmental conditions, which causes stress and cracking. Books start as simple paper sheets with ink, but then they’re folded and sewn into a final piece that’s expected to open and close repeatedly. When the moveable structure of a book fails, it puts the pages in more peril from the elements.

So…compared to all that, your letters will be a breeze to preserve.

Just follow these simple (and totally do-able) steps.

1. First, keep your letters away from these damaging elements:

• Light
• Heat
• High humidity
• Dust & Air Pollutants
• Unsafe or Careless Handling
• Bugs / Pests
• Disasters (fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, etc.)

2. Store your letters in the right part of your house:

“I found these letters in the attic” is the start of a great Country & Western song, but as a preservation plan? It’s lousy. If you want any kind of documents to be around for generations to come you need to store them in a climate controlled area. Basically, that means a space that’s heated in winter and cooled in summer — and not noticeably humid *or* prone to flooding. In other words, someplace other than the attic, basement, garage or barn.

The two best locations are an interior closet or under a bed, as long as it’s away from a radiator or heating vent.

Photo of archival manuscript box by Justgrimes via Flickr

3. Store them in the right kind of containers:

Both sunlight and florescent bulbs give off damaging UV rays. The easiest way to keep love letters safe is to only put copies on display (never originals), and to store the originals in opaque containers. The safest kind is acid free paper folders and boxes. Archival supplies like this are available year round from suppliers such as Hollinger-Metal Edge, University Products, Talas and Gaylord.

Here’s a quick tip on how to save money on archival supplies: If you have a large collection of letters, say 3 or more of the “manuscript boxes” pictured left, you should purchase the larger “record center carton” type of box. It fits 15″ of papers if you have letter size, 12″ if you have legal size. Some companies even sell ones that ship flat, which saves you on shipping.

During every October, I sell a large preservation kit I call my “Family Archivist Survival Kit.” It includes a letter sized manuscript box and folders — just perfect for letters and 8×10 photos, too. Visit the FASK page if you’d like to learn more about what’s in it. (Note: the Buy Now button won’t be working until October 2012).

4. Next, gently unfold anything that’s folded. Creases can become permanent, which creates a weak spot that’s more likely to break off or tear. To prevent this from happening, remove folded letters from the envelope and gently unfold them.

Photo by Joanna Bourne, via Flickr

What should I do with the envelopes? You can keep them next to the unfolded letter, or toss them if you prefer to save space.

Whichever way you choose, be sure to transfer important information — date, city, names — to the letter itself. Use a soft No. 1 pencil and write lightly using square brackets [July 21, 1921]. The square brackets tell librarians and archivists that you added this information later and it’s not part of the original document. (I’m not sure if your descendants will know the difference, but it’s pretty easy to do and who knows? They might end up in a historical society someday.)

5. Large papers should be stored flat, or rolled if it’s seriously huge. If you purchasing an archival flat box, I recommend the drop-front kind. They give you easier access to the content on the bottom without having to take everything out. Archival suppliers also sell oversize folders and envelopes, plus acid free cardboard tubes to protect rolled items. Again, your main goal here is to get rid of the folds and creases.

Hey, thanks for reading until the end. Quick question: Have you ever burned love letters? I’m asking because when I searched flickr for CC-licensed photos using the phrase “love letters” – I stumbled on images of a fireplace FULL of love letters. Here’s the before picture. And one of the after shots. It’s not in English, so I’m not sure what the background story is exactly, but it says there are 500 love letters. Whoa.

How I Discovered ioSafe External Hard Drives

The first time I ever even heard of such a thing as a waterproof and fireproof external hard drive was in an article called  Beyond organizing: storing and preserving those precious photos and videos by Omar Gallaga of  Digital Savant.

Since I was interviewed for the piece, Omar invited me to read the online version and make sure there weren’t any errors. The only quibble I had was with a fireproof external hard drive. Because, seriously?

THERE. IS. NO. WAY.

(That’s what I sent in my message to Omar.)

Waterproof? Maybe. Fireproof? Not a chance. I asked several other archivists – including ones who specialize in digital records – and they were just as skeptical as I was.

ioSafe’s website gave me specific details about the specs:

• Fireproof -> Protects data from loss in fire up to 1550°F for 1/2 hour per ASTM E119
• Waterproof -> Protects data from loss in water up to 10ft deep for 72 hours

Wow, I thought…if that’s true that would be incredible. I mean, an external hard drive that could survive a house fire or basement flood? But I needed to see some reliable,  independent 3rd party testing if I was going to believe this claim.

Is It Really Fireproof and/or Waterproof?

Omar’s reply to my “no way” was a more elegant version of “way” and included a link to just the kind of independent testing I like best: DIY backyard stress tests. This also happens to be the kind of testing I would gleefully undertake myself if anyone wants to sponsor the endeavor. Just sayin.

Here’s what the evil geniuses at Slippery Brick did:

Step 1: Purchased an ioSafe Solo drive and added their own files to it.

Step 2: Placed a ioSafe drive in a closed gas grill. Since they couldn’t get anywhere near 1500 degrees F for 30 minutes, they made do with 600 degrees F for 60 minutes. It’s worth clicking the link below just to see the photo of the hard drive on the grill next to what looks like dinner.

Step 3: Then they plunged it into a cold bucket of water and left it there for 2 hours.  Now these guys  admit that the ioSafe never claimed these drives could withstand both fire and extended submersion under water…only that it could survive one or the other. But, hey! They had to cool that sucker down so they could start taking it apart already.

The result?

We then cut away the bag to expose the actual hard drive which appeared in absolute perfect condition, and only slightly warm….We connected to a standard enclosure and connected it to a PC via USB and sure enough, all the files we placed on the drive we there and intact with the drive running smoothly and quietly.

Note: I asked Slippery Brick about permission to reprint longer excerpts and maybe a photo or two. I’m still waiting for response. Until then, I offer a peek inside from the manufacturer and this link to the original post.

Your data lives in a waterproof pouch inside an insulated box.

So, Would You Say It’s Indestructible?

No. Absolutely not. For one thing, I’m guessing it will blend if you put it in one of those super duper industrial blenders. Smashing it with a sledgehammer would probably do it in. Or thermonuclear war.

Realistically, it’s most likely to be destroyed from the impact of a tough fall, like when you knock it off the desk accidentally. Or presumably when the 3rd floor crashes to the ground after an earthquake or big fire. Yes, it can be killed.

I’ve dropped a HD before. Knocked it right off the side table it was sitting on. As soon as I heard the fall, I just knew. For years I lugged it around with me to workshops so I could plug it in and force my students to hear the sad, sick noises it made after that fall. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything on it that wasn’t backed up somewhere else. Unfortunately, that was because it was a brand new hard drive and we had only added a tiny bit of data to it.

How Can I Get One? Are They Crazy Expensive?

Finding these drives is easy. Take a look at all the models, sizes and colors  available on Amazon by clicking here.   (And remember, if you use those links to purchase anything at all from Amazon, it leaves a little thank you in my tip jar.)

There’s no question you pay more for this kind of protection. As the folks over at Slippery Brick made clear…this is a carefully engineered enclosure designed to protect your family’s digital history.

Until I learned about ioSafe, I recommended that people purchase two identical external hard drives and fill them with duplicate content. Store one drive somewhere other than your house to protect it from loss due to fire and flood.

Two 1TB drives from a reliable brand like Western Digital will cost you between $100 and $150 each for a total of somewhere between $200 and $300.

GREAT NEWS:

The list price of this 1TB ioSafe Solo is $299 on the ioSafe website, but only $229 on amazon.com. About the same as paying for two separate drives, but without the hassle of mirroring your data and convincing someone else to store it for you and never ever ever throw it away.

In short, I give the ioSafe my highest recommendation and urge everyone to store their digital family history in THE SHERMAN TANK OF HARD DRIVES.

UPDATE!

So I only have to buy this 1 XHD and that’s it?

Not quite. The design of this drive saves you from having two mirrored drives, but it doesn’t mean you only need to save one copy.

I still recommend my 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, on 2 different kinds of storage, in more than 1 location. You’ll still need to keep two additional copies, with one of them being stored offsite.

For example:

• 1 copy on the ioSafe
• 1 copy on your computer or iPod
• 1 copy backed up online

The offsite copy is your best defense against theft (the ioSafe drive includes a hole for a cable so you can lock it down, but someone who really really wants your data could still get at it). The offsite copy is also safe from impact – whether it’s dropped by accident or sucked out of your house by a tornado.

You know why you should follow my advice? Because I know what I’m talking about, that’s why.

Ermadene is one of my star pupils. Not only did she pay attention during our teleclasses, she followed through on my advice and moved her irreplaceable family photos away from a known hazard.

Best of all, Ermadene was kind enough to let me know via email how valuable my class was for her, which means I can let her tell you in her own words.

Prior to the class my precious ancestor and family photos, movies, videos and linen heirlooms were vulnerable to damage due to the way I was storing them.  The class taught me how to store them all properly.  This was good because two weeks ago our hot water heater flooded where some of the photos had been.  Because of Sally’s classes I had moved them to a different location and they were not damaged.  How is that for timing!!  Thank you, Sally!!

Ermadene 

You, Too Can Avoid Water Damage:

• Don’t store your family treasures near a water heater.
• Don’t store your family treasures in any basement that is prone to flooding.Don’t store your family treasures under a pipe that could burst.
• Don’t store your family treasures under an attic roof that might leak or (even worse) open up dramatically and unexpectedly when something like a tree limb comes crashing through…

In my last post, I argued that item level description can be like accidentally ending up on a freight train to crazytown –  especially if your family archive is BIG and it includes boxes n’ boxes n’ boxes of historic treasures. This is also true if you’ve been left with an alarming number of unidentified photos.

Can’t remember my argument against item level description? It’s OK. Lucky for us we’re on the internet which means you can go to it right now via the handy dandy link below.

Organize Photos Like an Archivist, Part 1: Levels of Description

Examples of “Minimal Description” Box & Folder Level

Before we get into the nitty gritty of item level description, let’s take a look at what I mean when I say “box level” and “folder level” –

Example One:

The guide to the Angela Davis Trial uses box level to describe the trial transcripts, and folder level to describe the letters of correspondence. You can do this with your family collection, too. Or even your research files. The key is to describe it at the highest level that allows you to access the items you need.

Example Two:

The William Boss finding aid describes the contents of a box without using folder numbers. They still give the number of folders for each  sub-series, which is nice because it gives you information about how much there is on that particular topic. Archivists and librarians call that extent. Numbering the folders does the same thing, of course.

Example Three:

The finding aid for the J.T. Johnson papers has an entire sub-series with exactly the sorts of photographs you’re likely to have in your collection of ancestor photos. Take a look a this list and reassure yourself that your project is totally do-able. Don’t overcomplicate things. If you don’t know what it is, just describe what you see.

Pay attention to how this kind of description gives you lots of information about the photographs WITHOUT identifying every single date, location and person.

You should create this kind of a list before you get into the details of each individual photograph (like location, date and names). More importantly, create this list before you start scanning.

Do I have your full attention? Good. Here’s the JT Johnson finding aid:

JT Johnson Papers

Series 1: Photographs, 1880s-1950s

Subseries 1A: Photographs: Personal and Family, 1880s-1950s

What the heck does “Scope and Content” mean?

Scope notes are created by the processing archivist to describe the entire collection, or series, or subseries.  You can create a scope note for any one of these levels.

Here’s a scope note that describes an entire box of items. Look it over and tell me if I’m a liar for thinking this is something you can totally do (dates are great if you know them, circa dates work, but don’t stop to figure out dates at this point):

So.

This is what I’m saying to you:

Save yourself a lot of headaches by starting your photo organizing project with the box level in mind.

But even I acknowledge that, sometimes?

Item Level Is OK.

I don’t want you to think that item level is never allowed, or that it’s always a waste of your time. Sometimes it’s perfectly appropriate.

What I really want is for you to realistically assess how much time you can put into your family photo project.

That means actually calculating how many hours you have available and blocking it out on your calendar like a class or a standing lunch date.

Concentrate this scheduled time on the exact projects that will give you the maximum payoff with the least effort. It’s a great idea to block out big chunks of time in a short period whenever possible. Consider it insurance against the curse of the half finished organizing project.

The quicker and more efficiently you move it forward, the better you’ll leave it even if you have to bail when it’s half done. Box list first. Then the nitty gritty.

You won’t regret it.

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Kid art is awesome, isn’t it? Just like photographs, my advice is to ditch the clutter and treat the keepers right. How does that work? Click here to learn more about my new School Days Time Capsule, available for a short time only. You also get to see some of my kids’ artwork. Yay!

Every year around the “Gotta Get Organized!” time of year, I give away one free information product that helps folks just like you organize photo collections. This year, I asked my email list subscribers and readers to tell me about their greatest information need. We narrowed it down to two choices, and “How to Organize Photos Like An Archivist” was the winner.

Level of Description: What Does That Mean?

Most people assume that archival items (like photographic prints, for example) are cataloged individually. One at a time. Item by item. You know, the way books are cataloged individually. Or films. Or Weird Al Yankovic albums.

Here’s the thing: Those are individual works created for a specific purpose.

You can’t treat every memo in a large modern organization’s papers the same way as you treat the final print of a feature film. Imagine creating a title for every single document created by a large union over a 50 year timespan. Or every piece of outgoing and incoming correspondence for a U.S. Senator who served multiple terms. It’s not possible based on current staffing rates.

In my experience, item level description is the exception rather than the rule. Here in the real world, the amount of time it takes to create an item level inventory is much greater than the time it takes to type a list of folder titles. In comparison? The folder (or envelope) level seems utterly do-able. Which is why I’m such a big advocate for it.

Your Options (Other Than Item Level)

Basically, there are three other choices.

Collection level, box level and folder/envelope level. Nowt I’m gonna break it down in more detail for you below with examples. Ready?

Collection Level: This is the absolute minimum level of information to describe the papers of a single person or organization. There are oodles of reasons to organize based on ownership, but since we’re talking about family photo collections I want to keep it as uncomplicated as possible. JUST KNOW THIS: If you keep track of who owned which photographs, you have given yourself a fighting chance to identify the mystery ones.

Even when you’re only describing at the collection level, you can still convey some vitally important information.

• Anne Lyons Jacobs, 2 Photograph Albums and 3 Boxes of Loose Photographs, ca. 1880-1980 Note: Album 2 is acidic “magnetic” style, photo removal is HIGH PRIORITY.

Box Level: In my book, box level is just a skoonch below minimal acceptable level. It’s a great start, don’t get me wrong. I encourage you create a box level inventory as soon as you inherit someone else’s photographs. Therefore, I’m giving you two examples: One is an example of the kind of records it’s OK to leave at the box level, the other is how you describe it before your organizing project. This box level inventory helps you prioritize your bigger organizing project so you don’t lose your mind.

• 1 Box Recipe Cards, arranged alphabetically, ca 1940-1970 (1 cardfile box)
• Mom’s hat box with photos from her high school and college years (19xx-19xx).

Folder level: Me? I like to think of this level as the sweet spot. Totally do-able, but makes finding a specific photo quick and easy. The list doesn’t duplicate the collection, but it points you to the right place.

For example, you could put all the photos from one ancestor’s school years in a single envelope, or perhaps if it’s your own college years, the photos of your graduation weekend might take up an entire envelope or folder.

Don’t know the names of everyone in the photo? Or the names of anyyone? Simply put them in an envelope titled “unknown snapshots, ca. 19xx-19xx” When you put that folder title on a list, it’s under a heading that identifies who owned the photos. It’s hierarchical, which saves you from having to repeat the same information over and over.

Box 1: Anne Lyons Jacobs Photographs

• Folder 1: Lyons Family Photos, 1880-1910
• Folder 2: Unknown snapshots, ca. 1900-1920

What About Item Level?

Listen, if you have the time and patience to create an item level inventory for all the photographs in your care, then more power to you. Go for it! But if you have a lot of  unmarked mystery photos, item level description can be like a freight train to crazy town. How can you possibly create a title for each of your unknown photos? There are ways. The Photo Detective is there to help you, of course.

My main argument is this, and I’m putting it in all caps for the scanners, not because I’m yelling or anything…

GET FOLDER LEVEL CONTROL OF EVERYTHING

(YES, EVERYTHING)

BEFORE YOU GET BOGGED DOWN IN ITEM LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS.

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Got any questions?

Insights regarding your own photo organizing struggles?

Share then in the comments, below…