Contrary to popular belief, archivists do not keep everything.

Whaaat?

An archivist?

Throwing things out?

Yep.

I spent more time learning the art of archival appraisal than any other skill while in grad school. And by appraisal, I mean deciding what to keep and what to toss — based on what items have enduring value.

But aren’t archivists the keepers of our shared history?

Yes. It’s true and we take that role very seriously. But there is a bigger picture here, and that is The Big Undeniable Truth:  If historical societies kept every single item that landed on their doorstep….every canceled check… every unidentified photograph… every duplicate map… there wouldn’t be any room left for new collections. None! And you and I both know that won’t work in the long run. Not hardly.

One of my archival professors likes to use this unforgettable rhyme: When in doubt, throw it out.

Does that mean we should be cavalier about tossing historical materials? Heck no. Does it mean you should toss treasures willy nilly? Absolutely not. Here’s what “When in doubt, throw it out” means: if you can’t think of a good reason to keep it, then it needs to go.

Sometimes that means go into the trash. Sometimes that means go somewhere else (your kids, for example). There are many possibilites. I’m here to tell you that you have no ethical obligation to keep every photo.

Please keep in mind that the older the photo, the more people who share ownership…so those should go to genealogy cousins or a historical society. I wonder if there’s some kind of matching service for genealogy cousins? Leave me a voicemail if you need to find one: 608-616-0058 and I’ll see what I can do. If all else fails, consider Dead Fred.

Too Many Photos Leads to Overwhelm. Overwhelm Kills Motivation.

Are you feeling so overwhelmed by your photos that you can’t get started on your photo organizing project? You are not alone. Here’s what Mary had to say when I first started offering free photo organizing tips:

Sally, this is great – super helpful! All of my photos are in drugstore envelopes, including the ones from my honeymoon…6 years ago. Even some of our wedding photos are still in boxes.

I have avoided the task because it truly never occurred to me that it was okay to throw away my family photographs.

With this new information in hand, the idea of putting together a photo album, etc. sounds like fun because I’ll actually *like* the finished product. Because I was NOT excited about putting together an album of indistinguishable landscapes, people standing in front of things, and people eating.

Deciding What To Keep? Here are some helpful guidelines:

1. Respect Age.

In family collections, age and scarcity tend to go hand in hand. For example, the only known photograph of your great great aunt Rose? Or your grandparents’ wedding? Those are keepers. They are worth the investment of high quality archival photo storage boxes and folders. These are also the ones you should scan first.

2. People Pictures.

When my husband and I were rescuing photos from our grandparents’ magnetic albums, it became obvious that certain photos weren’t worth saving. Generally speaking, what we decided to keep was pictures of our grandparents and other family members. What we skipped was vacation snapshots of mountains and buildings, and unidentified people who were strangers to us. We gave as many as we could to other family members in the hopes that those “orphan photos” could be identified.

3. Sentimental Value.

One of the wonderful things about working with family photo collections (as opposed to working in a historical society) is that sentimental value reigns supreme. Future generations will want to have your favorites.

Would you like more tips from The Practical Archivist about how to organize photos — especially your pre-digital ones?

You have marvelous timing. Click the link above and sign up for my free — no obligation –  Joy of Organizing Photos email course. My mom thinks I’m giving away too much information, but you know what? Try Before You Buy is the only marketing style I’m comfortable with– it’s simple and straightforward, and Win-Win!

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Why is that a big deal? Because it means you can customize the class to meet the needs of your collection by asking on the live call, during the live web chat, or by emailing your question ahead of time. I’ve even set up a super seekrit email address that exists only for your questions. Not unlike The Batphone.  Just sayin.

Click here to visit the sales page for The Joy of Organizing Photos, which has all the details about what you’ll learn, how you’ll learn and even why it’s on sale.

Friends, this has been a looong time coming. It feels nothing short of forever. I’ve worked on this new program for months. Years, really…since it encompasses everything I know about how to organize, preserve and share your photographs.

I am super excited — and if I’m being honest I’ll admit that I’m also a wee bit terrified — to announce that the full class begins Sunday, July 4th. Classes are conducted by telephone and web chat, so you no longer need to travel to Wisconsin to take a live class from me. Recordings of each class will be available for download at no extra cost to you, so even if you’re busy during our class time, you can keep up and stay involved. Plus? I will gladly answer your question on the call if you email it to me ahead of time.

1. Sunday July 4, 2010 — How to Preserve Photos (Daguerreotype to Polaroid and everything in between) plus other common historical heirlooms.
2. Sunday July 11, 2010 — How to Declutter and Organize Photos
3. Sunday July 18, 2010 –  How to Write the Stories Behind Your Photos (Easy-Peasy PhotoScribe method, designed especially for people who think they can’t write)
4. Sunday July 25, 2010 — How to Scan Photos and Preserve the Digital Files

There are also 4 follow-up web chats, every Wednesday that follows a phone call. Time is Noon-1pm Central time. This offers you the chance to schedule work on this project for this time and check in with me (and classmates) while you make progress. It’s also yet another chance for me to answer questions sent in via email.

I’m selling this class at a 50%discount, which means you get the live class with customized help specific to your situation at the cost of the pre-recorded (zero customized help) version.

More information about the full course is here.

Starting Thursday, July 1st I will sell classes individually for  $35 each.

The Joy of Organizing Photos, The Free.

My Mom says I’m giving away too much information, but here’s the deal: There are only 150 slots total in the class.  Some of them have already been claimed. I’m pretty sure there are more than 134 people out there who could use my help. So I’m giving away the basics for free. Sign up for the free version by filling in your email information in this form.

The Talismanic Aura of Authenticity – The Series

This is Part 1 in a series exploring why certain objects have a kind of power over us. It’s is the kind of power that transforms an ordinary object into a treasure worth keeping at any cost.

In this series, we’ll look at this issue from different perspectives. First off, we’re going to bask a little bit in the warm glow of this aura. I’m going to describe some of the treasures I’ve seen and encourage you to share your own favorites.

Later on in the series, we’ll take a good hard look at how this power can transform non-valuable objects (clutter, basically) into something so sticky it takes a lot of internal strength to get rid of it. In other words, sometimes we see a “talismanic aura” around objects that don’t really deserve it. We’ll also explore how one object can have different meanings to different people. Or even the same person at different points in time.

Two important things before we go any further.

“The talismanic aura of authenticity.” What on earth are you talking about?

Right-O! Quick definitions before we move on:

• Talismanic = Having or belief that something has magic power. Hear it pronounced by clicking here.

• Aura = A distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing. Often expressed as air, such as “an air of mystery” or “the house had a neglected air.” Hear it pronounced by clicking here.

Secondly, I have to make sure everyone knows that I stole this drop-dead gorgeous phrase from a comment on an earlier Practical Archivist post about historic reproductions. The commenter’s name is Trevira, and she had a bunch of interesting things to say. In fact, there are lots of great comments about what is and what is not authentic. You can go skim it right now if you want, I’ll still be here when you come back, I promise.

There is power in authenticity (Lewis & Clark Map)

I know this is true because I have experienced it myself. There is a “you-are-there” power that is palpable, that you can actually feel.

When I worked at the Library of Congress, I was part of a group that got behind the scenes tours of each division. While visiting the Maps division, I got to see a map carried by the Lewis & Clark expedition. It was encased in mylar, so I could get rrrrreally close without risking any damage.

What’s the first thing you do when you see a map of your corner of the world? Well, I don’t know about you but I always look for where I live. So I lean in real close to get a good look at Wisconsin — and yes I know Lewis & Clark didn’t travel through Wisconsin, and I know it wasn’t called Wisconsin in 1803… but the map they carried included it. My corner of the world. Now known as Wisconsin.

So far it’s interesting, but not anything to write home about, really. Then I see it.

There’s a small “X” written by hand on the printed map. I realize immediately that someone has marked Portage, Wisconsin. Nowadays it’s a sleepy town (pop. 9,827) in a county where that kind of size makes you the biggest city in the county. Back in 1803, it was the shortest dry distance between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. I’ll let the City of Portage tell the story:

The historical distinction of Portage lies in its unique geographical location between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers.  Here, the two rivers, one flowing north to the St. Lawrence, the other south to the Mississippi, are separated by a narrow neck of land over which, for two centuries, Indians, missionaries, trappers, traders, adventurers and settlers traveling the waterway had to portage their canoes and heavy packs from one stream to another.  The settlement which grew here because of the resulting traffic was first knows as “Wau-wau-onah”, Winnebago for “carry on the shoulder”.  During the French occupation, it was simply “le portage” (from porter: to carry).  This was eventually anglicized to Portage.

Back to Lewis and Clark. Even though they didn’t travel through Wisconsin, the location of Portage was important enough to hand annotate one of the maps they carried on their expedition. That’s when I started feeling a little dizzy. I felt a connection to the distant past, even though normally it felt like a foreign country I would never have a chance to visit.

Now it’s time to share your favorite story about an object that gave you the shivers…in a good way. Or an item that makes you feel like it someone you love is with you, even though they are far away.

Lisa Louise Cooke and I had an interesting chat about how to preserve newspaper clippings. You get to listen in our conversation because we recorded it for Lisa’s Genealogy Gems podcast. Yay!

Episode 83 is ready and waiting for you. Below are my notes from that talk.

Before we begin our examination of old clippings, I want to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Miriam Midkiff of AnceStories.

Miriam asked me about newspaper clippings so long ago that I’m pretty sure we can now measure that time in years. Egad! A toast to Miriam and her infinite patience!

In case you don’t know already, Miriam is the creator of the wonderful ScanFest — a monthly online meetup/chat for folks who are scanning family treasures. ScanFest is one of the best ways I’ve ever seen to keep a your scanning project on track (big or small).

Bottom line: If you have scanning on your “To Do” list, be sure to check out ScanFest!

What is newsprint?

And why does it turn yellow and brittle?

I’ll put this as plainly and simply as I can: The paper used in newspapers is bad paper. It is highly acidic and turns brittle in a short amount of time. This process happens even faster when the paper is exposed to UV light.

Even worse than its short life span is the fact that newsprint will damage other materials it comes in contact with. (I know! Isn’t that awful?) The acids will leach out and “burn” photographs, letters, books. Not good.

Can the damage be reversed?

Chemical treatments (usually sprays or baths) can slow down additional deterioration, but sadly there is no way to undo the damage that has already occurred. Keep in mind also that some of these treatments will actually make the paper darker. There is only one way to turn back time and have a creamy white document –  start over by reformatting to a fresh piece of acid free paper.

That’s right. The simplest method is to photocopy onto archival bond paper. But sometimes, you don’t want to lose that authentic original object. How to figure out the right option for you? First you have to answer an important question.

Why are you keeping this newspaper?

When your job is to preserve inherently bad paper, you need to ask yourself some tough questions: Why are you keeping this, exactly? What long term value does it have?

Is it the facts and information that are most important? In the case of the photo above, that would be the genealogical information you can glean from the names of parents listed in the obituary.

Or is the clipping itself an artifact you want to preserve long term? Perhaps the clippings were created and saved by your favorite maternal aunt. Every time you see glue in a brown glass bottle, you think of her.

Which kind of value you assign often has a lot to do with how much newsprint you have to deal with.

KEEPING FOR INFORMATIONAL VALUE: In a large repository it’s not uncommon to have a collection arrive with several cubic feet of clippings. The information is often pulled together from multiple sources, so it can be a real time saver for a researcher. The information is worth keeping, but the bad paper’s gotta go.

What to do? Archives routinely photocopy onto archival bond, include multiple clippings per sheet whenever possible. Toss the bad paper. Relatively inexpensive and simple process. You can buy archival bond in reams just like regular office paper. I recommend acid and lignin free with a 25% cotton rag content. If you don’t have access to a photocopier, I recommend a DIY station at any of the chain copy places. You might need to bring your own paper, and you’ll get a surprisingly small discount for doing that. But on the upside, there is no need to pay for color copies, since black and white is enough. Copy stores usually offer discounts when the total number of copies is high, so this can come out to bargain if you pool clippings with friends.

KEEPING FOR ARTEFACTUAL VALUE: You have an important newspaper clipping you want to keep as-is.

What to do? Lucky you! You have a few choices at your disposal:

• Clippings, Option #1: Put the clipping in an archival plastic folder or sleeve with a sheet of buffered archival paper behind it. If you haven’t de-acidified the newsprint, do not fully encapsulate it, since this will allow the paper to stew in its own juices. Put the polyester folders in file folders and boxes made from archival stock. Store in an area that is cooled in summer and heated in winter and is not overly humid.
• Clippings, Option #2: De-acidifying via sprays and dips.
• Entire newspapers: To protect newspapers from light, dust and critters, store them as flat as you can in archival boxes. The best boxes have a full depth lid to keep out dust, and a drop front to make it easy to remove the bottom paper. Try to find a box as close in size as possible to the newspapers you want to protect. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can create inserts from archival board to customize the interior size of the box. Important! Make a list of the contents of each box so you don’t have to paw through them to find out what’s in there.

More information on newspaper preservation:

• Preserving Newspapers (Library of Congress)
• How can I preserve my newspaper clippings? (Library of Congress FAQ)
• Hints for Preserving Family Collections (NEDCC)

And remember, if you’d like to hear a discussion about this topic, be sure to check out Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems Podcast, Episode 83

Photo Credit: “Life in Clippings” by Greencolander, via Flickr/ CC BY 2.0

The older the photograph, the harder you should try to find another home for it if you don’t want to keep it yourself. Part of the reason why you should respect age is because age goes hand in hand with scarcity.

What makes a photo scarce?

In addition to age, there are other factors that create scarcity.

Here’s a list off the top of my head, please add more via the comments section:

• Entire collections destroyed due to disaster (loss of home, fire, flood, etc.)
• Family photographers are notoriously under-documented in family photo albums.
• How many photos do you have of yourself at work? I’ve noticed that very few people have photos of themselves at work, and even fewer take photographs of their work places.
• Family separations or bad feelings can cause restricted access to photos, or in the worst case scenario photos of certain individuals can be destroyed in anger.
• People who die young.*

*OK. I had to segregate this next part from my breezy list. February 1st is the anniversary of the death of my nephew William Evan Manley. Originally I was going to write about Evan, and  my husband’s Uncle Joe… but I found I just couldn’t do it. Let’s acknowledge the reality of this kind of loss (I’m far far far from alone, I know) and cherish the photos we have. They are precious beyond measure.

And if you are struggling with grief, I highly recommend a book called How To Go On Living When Someone Else Dies, by Therese Rando. Buy from Amazon (aff), or your favorite local bookstore. Or check it out from the library.

I realize that my advice about tossing photos (“lose the dreck!”) can make some folks nervous.

If you are one of those people, I want to reassure you that I do not suggest anyone toss out ancestor photos willy-nilly. No way.

Respect Age (when you toss photo clutter)

“Respect Age” – means just that. The older a photo is, the less likely that the person (or place, or time period) has been documented somewhere else. Photography was never a cheap hobby, and the earlier the date the more so that was true. In other words, it’s unlikely you have sooo many pre-1950s photos in your collection that you need to start tossing.

But then again, maybe you do.

In that case, I recommend that you find brothers or sisters or cousins to share them with. If you don’t have any of those, find a genealogy cousin. The older the photo, the more of those cousins are out there. (Am I right?)

The second half of “Lose the dreck” is
“Treat the keepers right”

“Treating the keepers right” means tucked away into archival photo boxes and envelopes

Treating them right also means stored away from:

• direct light
• fluctuating heat
• high heat
• high humidity
• fluctuating humidity

If you want to display these photographic treasures — and I strongly encourage you to do so — a simple digital scan will allow you to easily display a newly printed copy of the original.

But there’s a dark side to this — and it doesn’t have anything to do with preservation…

I consulted with a client once who was sort of beating herself up about scrapbooking. She had made a vow to herself to deal with her photographs before the end of the year, and the kids were back in school already.

Here’s what she said to me:

“I feel like I’ll be judged a bad mom if I don’t transform all these photos into beautiful scrapbooks.”

How on earth did this happen?

Please understand: I’ve got nothing against scrapbooking. For many people, it’s a beloved hobby. For me, it’s a nightmare. If there’s such a thing as a”crafty gene” I can assure you that mine is damaged or missing entirely. And while I can recognize and appreciate good design, I can’t seem to create it, much to my dismay. Add to that the fact that I can’t seem to trim a photo correctly or set one down on a page without it coming out crooked, and you can see why I don’t go on weekend-long scrapbooking retreats.

We owe scrapbookers a huge dept of gratitude for making so many presentation options available. Especially photo-safe options. The scrapbooking industry has literally held manufacturer’s feet to the fire and demanded acid free materials. But no one should feel guilty if they prefer to use slip-in pages and plain 3-ring binders rather than a 12 color layout with embossed letters and a lovely translucent overlay. Presentation matters, yes. But don’t let other people’s elaborate designs prevent you from organizing, archiving and sharing your photos. At the end of the day it’s the photos and the stories behind them that matter.

Organizing Photos for NON-Scrapbookers:

• Remind yourself before you start that the presentation is the icing, not the cake itself.
• Choose the photos you love the most. The ones that stop you in your tracks. That make you grin, or cry. Whatever. The ones that really MEAN something to you.
• Write down the stories behind your photos – the stories that will disappear after you are no longer here to tell them. I use Denis LeDoux’s Photo Scribe method, which is designed specifically for people who are intimidated by writing. It’s one of the 5 books I recommend to every family historian, see Practical Archivist Recommends for more details.
• Regardless of your personal style, be sure to use only PAT-passed materials. See this article of mine to learn why so-called “archival photo boxes” might not be as safe as you imagine.
• Start with one album that chronicles you and your partner’s lives together. If you have kids, start with an album about your lives together before kids.
• Next, you can create one for each of your kids. Skip the baby pictures if you already have an elaborate baby book with pictures.
• After that’s done, make the “extra” scrapbooks for individual vacations, etc.

Two final thoughts:

PRESENTATION IS THE ICING, NOT THE CAKE.

Perfection Is the Enemy of the Good

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We place a high value on the photographs we treasure most, and that is perfectly reasonable. Just thinking about them disappearing is horrible to contemplate — so horrible that we might actually go back inside a burning building to rescue one.

So, how on earth can I talk about photographs as clutter?

It’s simple, actually.  All photographs are not created equal. They do not have the same value.

What I think happens is that we generalize our intense love of specific photos to a love of all photographs. As if the value lies in the medium, rather than the content.  This is misguided.

But before we can decide if photographs can be clutter, we should probably get a handle on what clutter is.

What is clutter?

I’ve been reading up on organizing and clutter busting lately, so I’ll let the experts tackle this question for us.

“Clutter is anything in your life that no longer serves you.”

Brooks Palmer, Clutter Busting: Letting Go of What’s Holding You Back, p. 12.

Brooks is my favorite of all the “get organized” authors. I just love his style. He is very calm and extremely supportive. He points out the outward signs that reveal whether a specific object is clutter or not: If thinking about it makes you tired, it’s clutter. If it brings you joy and energy, it’s not. Easy peasy.

If a photograph no longer serves you, get rid of it.

Blurry ones are obvious. As are the end of the roll shots we used to take so we could take the film in to be developed. (Something kids these days will never have to do!) Those snapshots of childhood acquaintances whose name you can no longer remember? Let them go. Photos of childhood friends you still love and adore? Keep. But remember you don’t have to keep every single snapshot.

“Clutter is postponed decisions.”

Barbara Hemphill, Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever p. 41

This one’s a kicker, let me tell ya. I would like to remind you that no one knows your story as well as you do. If you insist on keeping every single photo you are setting up a disaster down the road. Your kids will not be able to discern which images are significant, and which are meaningless. The inevitable result is that they will toss them.

Much better for you to invest some time now and purge the low value photos. Then you can focus on taking proper care of your high value photos. Write down the who, what, where, when and why. Share the stories behind the images. Make it as easy as possible for your kids to say “Yes, I’ll keep it!” by leaving them only the best photos.

Note: Book title links take you to Amazon.com. If you decide to purchase from that link, a small fraction of your purchase price will go to yours truly. Like a tip jar!