21COFH - Preserve Current Events - Week 12

Recent history is just as important as ancient history. Last week we cleared our digital images off our cameras, and other digital devices. This week document an important event or vacation in your family's history. Perhaps it's that spring break trip your family just returned from, a birthday or wedding or even the holidays or last summer's vacation.

In this wonderful age we live in, there are countless opportunities to share and preserve the important events in our lives. Choose a method and immortalize that trip, vacation or other event. Here are a few ideas:

• Post your pictures to Facebook.
• Share on your favorite photo sharing site.
• Make a photobook using an online service.
• Produce an online photobook to share.
• Print your pictures and put them in an album
• Scrapbook your images either online or the old fashioned way.

What are some of the ways you enjoy sharing your photos and important events? We'd all love to hear your ideas.

Personally, I'll be making a photobook using my favorite online service. It will make a nice coffee table book for the family to enjoy. I also have some pictures I need to share online with my family. Finally, I have a special tribute I'll share with my Wonderful Readers later this week.

The URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/03/21cofh-preserve-current-events-week-12.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

21COFH - Digital Files - Week 11

March is the month for spring break, family vacations, and maybe the chance to catch up with processing digital files you created during any recent research trips (such as RootsTech!). So, this week we are going to repeat our mission from week 3.

Select at least one (more if you have time) of your digital gadgets and do the following:

1. Transfer the files to your computer (or wherever it is you store such digital items).
2. Remember to use your organizational and file naming scheme.
3. If you have decided to utilize metadata for citations, tags and other information, be sure and include that into your workflow.
4. If some of your items need further processing or analyzing, add it to your to do list (unless you have time to take care of it this week).
5. Make sure this work is backed up. Always make sure your work is backed up! If you don't have a backup plan, there are numerous resources at GeneaBloggers.

Remember, the main objective here is to get your files organized in such a way so that you can easily and quickly locate them.

Good luck! As always, you can complete this week's mission by leaving a comment or writing your own post and leaving the url to your post in the comments section. If you don't have a blog, keep your own journal!

URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/03/21cofh-digital-files-week-11.html
© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

21COFH - My Quick & Dirty Photo Sort - Week 10

This week, our project is A Quick & Dirty Way to Start Organizing Photos. Here's what I did with one liquor box of Dad's family photos.

• Since the pictures all are 4x6 inches or smaller, I selected a box and archival photo envelopes that would hold that size. See picture below.
• Started at the top and took out a box that originally contained Canterbury Chocolates. Some of the pictures were loose while others were in an envelope.
• The envelope had the note, "Dick Jr. & his Daddy & Mother" written on it. I removed the photos and placed them in an archivally safe envelope. The original envelope with the note went in the back of the archival envelope. Since there is a divider in the envelope, that will act as a barrier between the old envelope and the photos.
• Then I put the photos of Dick Jr. in the front of the archival envelope.
• The loose photos I quickly divided into 3 groups:
1. Portraits of Dick Jr.
2. My newborn pictures.
3. Old pictures from grandma's side of the family.
• Each of the archival envelopes was appropriately labeled in pencil.
• Using an index card, I made a divider for the new storage box labeled, "These were in a Canderbury Chocs box." Not very exciting but it tells me these pictures were all together at one point for some reason. (The index cards are regular office supply variety. Since the pictures are now in archivally safe envelopes, there is a barrier. I'll get more appropriate dividers set up later.)
• Back in the liquor box, I went on to the shoebox that was underneath and went through the same process, making a divider for the box labeled "From the same shoebox." If the pictures were in an envelope together, I kept them together. If the envelope had something written on it, I saved the envelope with the pictures.

• Then I went to the big envelope tucked in the side of the liquor box and made a divider for the archival box labelled "Together in envelope"
1. The negatives went into one archival envelope which was so labeled.
2. The pictures that were clearly from the same roll of film and had been stamped with a September 1954 date went into their own appropriately labeled envelope.
3. The envelope addressed to my grandmother's sister c/o my grandfather that was full of labeled family photos went into another archival envelope with the original envelope containing the return address in the back section of the archival envelope. (Had to force myself not to stop and get distracted by these pictures!)
• When I was finished, I made a temporary label for the box using a yellow sticky note. 

• Last but not least, I updated my inventory and wrote a very short descriptive paragraph. A printed copy went in the box. Now when I'm rooting around for something, I'll have a better idea as to whether this box might contain what I'm looking for.

Here's what the completed box looks like. Nothing special but I've taken another baby step toward conquering this photo beast in my home.

Whew! I'm glad that's done. It was hard not to get distracted by some of the interesting pictures that showed up. Now that there is some semblance of order, I can go back and browse when I've got a little time.

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© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

21COFH - Quick and Dirty Way to Start Organizing Photos - Week 10

In the pre-digital days, many of us, including our ancestors, took pictures with the good intentions of organizing them eventually. Then life got in the way and boxes or piles would accumulate. Sound familiar? My dad's parents were no different. So this week I'm going to do a quick and dirty sort of some pictures so that they can be worked with at a later date. The objective is to improve their storage conditions and begin to identify what you have on your hands.

Your selection for this week should be a group of photos you know just enough about to be able to work with. If you've got some old family photos and you've no idea whose faces are peering out, save them for later. I'm working with some early to mid 20th century photos from Dad's side of the family.

1. Examine your pictures to get a feel for this mini collection. Try not to disturb the original order.You might consider photographing the box or pile as you remove the layers. Just a thought.
2. Decide how they should be stored, and what materials you will need.
3. Work through the box, envelopes or files and
1. Re-folder or re-envelope them in archivally safe material.
2. Make a note on the outside of the envelope as to the general subject(s) and time frame, if you know. When I'm the one drawing conclusions, I like to put "per MG" and the date for future reference. That piece of knowledge has come in handy on more than one occassion.
3. If the envelope or box these items are in has writing/notes that might be clues, consider saving, photographing, or otherwise preserving the information.
4. Make dividers for the new box you are putting the pictures in, if that makes sense to you.
5. Label the outside of your new box.
6. Don't forget to update your inventory with what you did this week or you will be wondering whatever happened to this box/pile of pictures. If you have to stop before you are done, make a note of where you are and what has been done on your inventory sheet. Also, put a copy of your note with the pictures you were working with. Tell yourself enough that you can pick the project back up at a later date.
7. Finally, write a short descriptive paragraph for this group of pictures to go with your inventory. Also put a copy in the box of pictures.

Congratulations! You now have the start of some semblence of order so you can work with the pictures in more detail later. After you give yourself a pat on the back, tell us how your project went either in the comments or a post of your own. Be sure to leave the url in the comments section, if you write your own post.

I've been working on my project this weekend and am almost done. So check back tomorrow for my post.

URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/03/21cofh-quick-and-dirty-way-to-start.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

21COFH - The Candy Box (of Heritage Photos) - Week 9

My great grandmother, Frances Lowe, stored many of her family pictures in candy boxes. Older family members have commented to me that they remember going through those boxes and looking at the family photos. I guess it was the Lowe family equivalent of a photo album.

One of those candy boxes contains the family's oldest pictures and it is this one I chose to work with this week. Following the eight steps I outlined, here are the challenges and observations I encountered.

• I didn't have an appropriate box to store them in so I opted to leave the pictures in the candy box and order a couple of boxes from one of the archival suppliers. This way they will be in the best possible storage container and can be stored upright making it easier to locate a particular picture.
• I wrote the descriptive paragraph and put together an inventory table in OneNote. See below.
• The scanning process was painstakingly slow. I've gotten spoiled with the FlipPal and had forgotten how slow the flatbed scanner is for scanning .tif files at 600dpi.
• In order to speed up the scanning process, I opted to scan the pictures into their own special folder and let the program name them. So initially they were named scan001, scan002, etc. See below.
• Then after I was done scanning and had completed the inventory table, I added a column for file names and developed names for the files.

Then it was easy to copy and paste those names as a rename to the actual .tif file. The letter a or b was appended to the end of the file name to designate the front and back.

• As for maintaining the original order. Weelllll, I've kept the actual pictures in the order they were in the candy box. The inventory is numbered so I can see what order they were in but the digitized files will not be in the "original" order. I'm not too concerned as Frances was so very good about labeling these photos and we can still see the order in the inventory.

Now it's confession time. I realized midway through this week's project that a bunch of pictures I remembered as being in that box were no longer there. Apparently I had removed them several years ago and organized them by the 3 surnames to which they applied. So now they are back where they belong. Sheez.

Finally, the write up and inventory table will be printed off and put in with the collection of photos.

So, I still need to put this mini collection in it's special box when it arrives and I need to burn some CDs to distribute to family members. It occurs to me that it might be fun to do a story or chart type presentation with these pictures because Frances pretty much has her entire family tree in this box. Trying not to get too distracted... but it's an appealling thought. Any ideas on how to go about doing something like that? Powerpoint maybe?

URL for this post: http://turning-of-generations.blogspot.com/2012/03/21cofh-candy-box-of-heritage-photos.html

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

If Everyone Does a Little...

...no one has to do a lot.

That was the mantra of the parents of our childrens' elementary school PTO in its early days when the school had first opened. We were a close knit bunch, much like the genea blogging community, and we accomplished so much for our children. It was all because everyone chipped in and helped a little.

I haven't previously helped out with any indexing projects but am ready to jump in when the 1940 US Census comes out in 33 DAYS! So I'll make you a deal. I'll do some indexing and you do some indexing. If we all do a little indexing, no one will have to do a lot and I'm betting that one of us will index the family of someone in our genea community. So let's get on it!

You can sign up to help with indexing at the 1940 US Census Community Project. They say it's easy and I believe it. After all if we can track down dead people, how difficult can it be to index a few names?

You can apply to become an ambassador for the 1940 US Census Community Project here.

Remember, on April 2nd the 1940 US Census will be available at NARA's 1940 Census website. I hope they are ready for us!

URL for this post: © 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum

21COFH - Eight Steps to Organize Heritage Photos - Week 9

This week we are going to take a group of photos, scan, organize, preserve, and store them in 8 easy steps. We will be focusing on a group of what I'll call heritage photos; card photos from the late 19th and very early 20th century. Find a group of photos, hopefully of a similar type and follow along. Perhaps your project is straight out of a dusty old box or it's one that you have done some work on previously. You can start from the beginning or at a step appropriate for your situation.

Remember, as you work through this project you will want to preserve the original order by working from the top of the box down, one item at a time.

1. After examining this mini collection, decide how it should be stored. Factors to consider:
1. Size of pictures
2. Condition
3. How much handling you expect them to have in the future.
2. Gather your materials. Will you be storing them upright or flat in boxes? Do you want to use envelopes or folders? Should they be placed in a clear plastic cover?
• The Sassy Jane Genealogy Blog mentioned earlier this week that Hollinger is having a winter sale until March 15th. This might be a good time to order some quality archival materials.
• If I have the time to work a project now but don't have all the materials on hand, I'll use temporary materials while waiting for an order to arrive. Unless, of course, I'm working with some very fragile items.
3. Briefly describe this series of pictures. Who/what are the subjects? What time period and localities does it cover? How many photos are there? What size and type are they?  What is the provenance and how did it come to be in your possession? You can do this on a form or in a short paragraph.
4. Prepare an inventory. You might want to do this at the same time as step 5.
• Consider preparing a spreadsheet or a list to include information like:
• ID number or file name
• Description/subjects
• Photographer and location information
• Notations on the picture
• Size
• Type of photo
5. Scan. You might do this at the same time as step 4.
• Scan both the front and back. Even if there is nothing on the back. That way you know what is or isn't on the back of each picture.
• For these types of photographs, I prefer to scan them in a .tiff format.
• Use the naming convention you previously developed.
• Consider including metadata.
6. Make a note as to what you have done on the inventory you started back in week 6.
7. Make copies and distribute to interested family members.
8. Label your box and put in a safe place, also remembering to note on your inventory where you have stored your precious pictures.

There you have it. Eight easy steps to organize, digitize, preserve and store a small collection of "heritage" photos.

If you don't finish this week and have to set the project aside, make some notations as to what you have done and what the next steps are. Then place the notes with the physical photos and on your hard drive with the digitized work you have completed to date. That way you can pick your project back up and run with it later.

You can complete this week's mission by leaving a comment or writing your own post and leaving the url to your post in the comments section. If you don't have a blog, keep your own journal! Good luck!

URL for this post:

© 2012, copyright Michelle Goodrum