Preserving Your Family and National Treasures :. Archiving, conservation, and preservation resources Books about preservation. Digitizing media Adding metadata to photos Suppliers of archival materials.
The big picture Family trees genograms Genealogy gateway sites The joys and perils of genealogical research Genealogy-related TV shows Books about organizing and preserving family history materials Genetic genealogy testing DNA Searchable genealogy and family history databases, sites Online newspaper archives historic newspapers U. Online guides to doing oral history Transcribing oral history interviews Books about doing oral history Oral history as social history Stories about oral history Further reading about oral history Oral history collections online Oral history organizations.
Sadly, the organization declared bankruptcy and folded in Everyone has a story to tell but many of us need help telling it — or finding the time to record, collect, and edit the stories of other family members. Once we overcome shyness or modesty, however, we almost all enjoy reminiscing. As the years advance, a "life review" is particularly rewarding, but at any age it can be a great pleasure and an amazing source of insights.
If you're one of the younger members of your family, take my word for it: You may not be eager to hear family stories now, but eventually you will. Get those stories now — before memories fade, and while people are still alive. If nothing else, get those stories recorded — you can decide later whether you want to do something more formal and coherent. Having those voices on tape, having the stories behind those photographs preserved, is a far more meaningful legacy in the long term than most other physical legacies.
And in the short term the material can enliven a special occasion, such as a major anniversary, birthday, or memorial service. Indeed, one way to improve the care an elderly patient receives in a hospital or nursing home is to write a brief history of their life and tape it to the door, making them a person with a story and not just another old patient. An experienced interviewer with a good tape recorder can capture memories that your family will cherish for generations.
