Personal Digital Archiving Tips

You don’t have to create something extravagant, but you do have to share.

Once you have your photos and videos digitized and a document full of stories and facts, what do you do with them? This part is actually the easiest.

1. Use the information from your notes in your personal digital archiving files.

You already asked Grandpa where he’s from, so now you know that your newly digitized photo of his mother in front of his childhood home was taken in upstate New York in 1911. Store it directly into the metadata.

2. It’s a social world—take advantage.

Create a Facebook group for your family and upload all your new photos into albums. Have your family comment on the photos and share them. If you want your personal digital archiving project to be more private, there are several companies that allow you to set up a family website.

3. This is where your hard work pays off!

Do something fun! Create a slideshow out of your favorite photos to show at your next family event. Use an easy editing tool like iMovie and use your favorite parts of your movies to create a highlight video. Go crazy and combine photos and videos!

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There are hundreds of other ways you can keep track of your family history, utilize whichever personal digital archiving technique fits for you and then share it because one fact will always remain the same: you have to do it. The more we do things on our phones and computers, the easier it is to forget about what came before, and the more important it is to save our physical family memories and history. 

To complement your family's personal digital archiving project, you may want to create a family mission statement. Check out these tips for better family photos and capturing the right moments in your child's life. The next generation will thank you.

Jennifer Niloff is a lifelong scrapbooker who turned her passion into the nation's leading photo-organizing business, EverPresent. Established in 2012, her company now employs over 40 professionals and serves clients nationwide. Jennifer writes on topics ranging from photo-scanning best practices to digital photo organizing to using photo books and edited slideshows as the best methods to share your important family photos and videos with loved ones.