preservation

1 May 2016

Archives MayDay 2016

Today is Archives MayDay 2016 – the one day each year when the entire archives profession pays attention to emergency preparedness by writing, reviewing, and revising disaster preparedness plans.

At home, too often our emergency planning takes second place to more pressing demands. So I think it’s smart to take a leaf from the Society of American Archivists and take time today to review the emergency plans for your family history data. (I’m going to assume that everyone has already ensured their personal safety so that we can focus on data. But if you need to improve your personal safety measures, visit 72hours.org.)

A starting place for your data and papers:

Are you backing up your data?
If you are, could you grab that hard drive and go with only a few minutes’ warning?
Is that backup automated? Don’t depend on remembering once a month to make a backup. Let your […]

26 May 2015

Archival Supplies Sale May 2015

Archival Supplies Sale May 2015 at Hollinger until June 1. Get 20 percent off everything at Hollinger Metal Edge, where professional archivists buy their supplies.
CLICK HERE AND USE CODE: XXIII
Archivists swear by Hollinger, the leader in this field since 1945. Archivists do not store priceless originals in office supplies at discount stores, home parties, or other outlets that aren’t in the preservation business. That isn’t where libraries or archives shop and neither should you.
Products I really like include the following:

[…]

1 May 2015

SOS Save Our Stuff 2015

The American Library Association is now promoting SOS Save Our Stuff 2015. Each year during national Preservation Week in the United States, ALA reaches out to family historians and cultural organizations with helpful resources for preserving archives and family records. Here are the links for SOS Save Our Stuff 2015:

Preservation Facts

Shocking facts that illustrate the need for national preservation awareness.

More Preservation Facts

More facts that discusses how items become damaged and simple steps to keep items safe.

Resources for Military Families

Information for the specific challenges that come with documenting and preserving a military career.

Preserving Your Memories

Organized by material type, these websites, books, and other sources give useful information on caring for any kind of collection.

Disaster Recovery

Information for before and after a disaster has damaged precious collections.

Bibliographies & Indexes

A list of links to resources collected by professional preservation organizations

Videos

Video resources depict ways and reasons to preserve collections

Preservation for Children

Tools to help children understand […]

7 Dec 2014

Restoring Digital Family Photos

I’d rather have a root canal – and let’s be specific about no anesthetic – than fiddle with PhotoShop. So when I think about restoring digital family photos, I think of professionals like Landailyn CPR (Conservation, Preservation, Restoration). Proprietor and family photo wizard Janine Smith promises to “breathe life into your old photos.” And I’m here to say that she’s absolutely right, because she has been successfully restoring digital family photos for me.

The image you see above is of my grandmother, her parents, and her younger siblings. The original photographic print of this family group came to me in several pieces and I sent scans of them to Janine Smith the same way. That she was able to knit them together and compensate for the many deficiencies, restoring digital family photos, is a complete joy.

Landailyn is running a holiday special for Sassy Jane readers through December 31: $50 for one digital image […]