Guest Blogger: How to Preserve & Protect your Family Memories

 Guest Blogger #290, Entry #823, December 8, 2011

Some family memories come in the form of photographs that visually document important events like holidays and the progression of birthdays that track a child from infancy to adulthood, while others may be stored in video footage, audio recordings, artwork, correspondence, and even oral histories that have been written down over time.  And when it comes to the things in life that people treasure the most, it is often mementos such as these that they list as their most valuable possessions.  But they can be difficult to protect.  These items become bulky over time, filling photo albums, file folders, and media storage centers in your home, or residing in boxes in the basement or attic, which can make it hard to move them in an emergency or disaster situation.  Plus, you cannot stop the ravages of time that lead to loss and damage, like yellowing and fading of old photographs and the degradation of video and audio tape.  Luckily, an online cloud cache can solve all of your problems.  Here are just a few tips to use one to your advantage.

How do you cherish your family memories?

Image via: A Couple of Dreamers

Digitize

The first step towards moving your family memories into safekeeping in a cloud network is to transfer them all to a digital format.  Most people have the ability to do this on their own to some extent.  For example, you can use a home scanner to digitize photographs, letters, your kids’ artwork, and pretty much anything two dimensional.  But when it comes to transferring other items you may need to seek help.

Go to the pros

Old family films that are actually on film strips and tapes that are analog can be a bit tricky to transfer to a digital file format.  Not only could you be dealing with delicate items that are beginning to deteriorate, but you also have to have certain equipment on hand to make sure the transfer is of the highest quality.  And if you want to preserve these memories indefinitely, you should do more than point your digital hand cam at the wall while you run your grandma’s old reel-to-reel.  In this case, your best bet is to seek professional vendors that offer this type of transfer service to make sure it’s done right.

Find a cloud

Now you’re ready to move your files onto a cloud network, which operates by spreading information across a multitude of servers in order to protect stored files from damage, loss, or outside attack.  It’s really as simple as purchasing an account and uploading your files, but you want to find a service that is reliable and affordable, so take the time to read reviews and select the provider that is right for you.

Take your family memories and make them digital too!

Image via: Southern Living

Share files

Once you’ve uploaded all of your memories for safekeeping, you want to make sure that the right people have access, i.e. your family.  Luckily, cloud caching information is ideal for the purposes of sharing, so you should have no problem directing your extended family to the location of your files so that they can download whatever they like as well as upload their own additions.

Make a backup

Like every aspect of the digital era, you do need to exercise some caution by making backup copies of everything.  Since your computer memory could get wiped out by a virus, and there’s really no guarantee that a disaster won’t occur with the information stored on the cloud, you should always copy your important memories to disc or hard drive for additional insurance.  If you truly treasure these files and you want to preserve them for future generations, multiple copies at multiple locations is always the way to go.

Evan Fischer writes for DVD Copycat,  CD Manufacturing San Francisco company where you can make DVD photo album copies for the entire family.

For more family ideas on Stagetecture, click here.