Sure, one can go to the trouble of Xeroxing or scanning photos,
but how many persons will do that? And how sure are we that either
of these media will survive the ravages of time. I would venture
to guess that 50 years from now a CD or floppy disk maintained in
perfect original condition (if such were possible) would be unreadable
by any equipment of that time, except perhaps equipment maintained
at the Smithsonian.
Regards,
Charles
>Charles and Barb wrote:
>
>>PLEASE WRITE IN PENCIL ON THE BACK OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHS TO IDENTIFY THOSE
>>OF TODAY FOR YOUR FUTURE GENEALOGISTS!! (I'm as guilty and lazy about
>
>>As far as writing info on the back of our pictures, pencils don't work
>>on the modern plastic photographic papers, and the common felt tip pens
>>will fade after just a few years. There are archival markers available
>>which seem like about the only satisfactory solution.
>
>
>Please do neither of these things to original photos. Ink markers or
>any sort will eventually leach through the backing paper of the
>photos and permeate its emulsion. Pencil is better but still not
>perfect in that it can indent the paper and punch holes in the photo,
>etc.
>
>One solution is to Xerox the photo (use caution as some photos that
>were improperly developed years ago can be "burned" by "hot" lights
>in these machines -- photocopying services have "cool" light machines
>that pose less of a risk, but you have to inquire about them). Once
>you have Xeroxed the picture, you can then label any and all of the
>Xerox that you wish. Put the original photo in its own archival
>plastic sleeve and keep the reference Xerox handy, and file your
>photos in an organized fashion.
>
>For the high techies, scan in your pix, archive them all on CD and
>create a text file that references the photo file names. Then burn an
>extra copy of the disk and file the original away under archival
>conditions. Or send a copy to the Library of Congress with
>instructiosn to file and add to their list of family or genealogical
>publications.
>
>John Andrew Prime
>Shreveport, Louisiana
>japrime@prysm.NOSPAM.net (personal, remove .NOSPAM to reply to me) or
news@thetimes.com (work)
>Home page (under construction):
http://www.prysm.net/~japrime/lagenweb/prime.htm
>Bossier Parish, La., Genealogy:
http://www.prysm.net/~japrime/lagenweb/bossier.htm
>Caddo Parish, La., Genealogy: http://www.prysm.net/~japrime/lagenweb/caddo.htm
>37th New York Volunteers Infantry Home Page:
http://www.prysm.net/~japrime/37thnyvi/index.htm
>(800) 462-6436, ext. 264 (work)
>(318) 459-3301 (fax)
>
>