A Powerpoint for those interested in genealogy and family history - a "how to" get started and what to do and what to avoid to ensure the longevity and ease of access to your treasured heritage!

1. Preserving
Your Family
Papers
Heidi Bamford, Regional Archivist
Documentary Heritage Program
October 24, 2013
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2. Collecting & Saving Family History
• A “family story” is more than just dates and names
o There are personal and professional interactions being documented
o There are “older” and “newer” stories to be preserved
o The stories may be of interest to people other than your own family!
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3. First Steps:
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Have a Plan!
Set aside specific times, spaces, and materials for sorting through
collections
Table, gloves, notebooks, folders or envelopes, boxes, pencils
Begin at the Beginning – Look at family history. Start with most recent
materials and work backwards

4. Create an Inventory
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• Helps with:
o Locating items and
information
o Cutting down on handling
fragile or sensitive materials
o Assessing time and
resources needed to
address organization and
preservation activities
o Knowing what gaps are in
your stories
o “Weeding”
o Getting Organized!

5. What to Keep?
Unique Informational
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• Certificates
• Deeds, Wills
• Awards, Citations
• Memorabilia
• Creative works (poems,
sketches)
• Membership records
• Correspondence
• Diaries and journals
• Scrapbooks
• News clippings and
newsletters
• Photos & slides
• Audio, video, CD, DVD
• Oral histories

6. What to
Keep?
Also must consider:
Volume
Age
Condition
Authority
Propriety
Uniqueness
Informational
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7. Organizing Your Collection
• Resist the Urge to “Reorganize” the Stories!
o Remember, history, including family history is organic – it develops as a
result of day-to-day actions and interactions
• Use archival principles of:
• PROVENANCE – Keep records of each creator together
o Group by creator
• Divide into distinct “series”
• RESPECT DU FONDS – Keep records arranged the way the creator
arranged them
o Organize following lead of creator
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*For each grouping, you can store & preserve similar types of materials,
Rather than storing all diaries together, all newspapers, etc.

8. Finding the Right Storage Space
• IDEALLY:
o A room or part of a room not in the attic
or basement
o A stable temperature of 65-70 degrees F
and, relative humidity of 40%
o Minimal light source
 The invisible enemies: pests, dust/dirt, pollutants
 Watch your step – avoid carpeting or linoleum
 Be sure to regularly monitor the space!
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10. Storage Supplies – First Tier
• Shelving – for most
materials, this should be
open steel shelving
o Enamel-coated is best
o Lowest unit at least 4-6 inches from
floor; highest unit at least 10-12 inches
from ceiling – avoid pipes!
o Alternatives – paper or board-lined
wood shelving for short term
• Cabinets or cases –
should be steel
o Same positioning as with shelving
(floor to ceiling)
o Do not over or under-fill drawers!
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12. Storage Supplies – Second Tier
• Boxes – Manufactured
or custom made for
support & protection
• Folders and Envelopes-
for instability or fragility
• Sleeves – for fragile,
single or acidic items
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14. Storage Supplies - Documents
• Use vertical storage boxes for
stronger, standard size papers and
horizontal storage boxes for fragile,
oversize materials
o Use rolled storage when items are too large for
flat storage
• Boxes should be strong, have
reinforced corners and match size
of materials
o too small will cause mechanical damage from
stuffing;
o too large will cause mechanical damage from
sliding around or drooping.
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15. Storage Supplies – Books and
Bound Materials
• Parts of the book to be
protected:
o Text block
o Boards
o Spine
o Flyleaf
o Hinge
o Head/cap
o Tail
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• Enclosures:
o Pre-made clamshell
boxes
o Custom size book boxes
o Tying or wrapping
o Polyester book jackets

16. Storage Supplies – Photos & Negatives
• Three basic parts of
structure include:
o support layer (metal, glass,
paper, plastic),
o image layer (silver,
platinum, dyes, iron) and
o binder (gelatin, albumen,
collodion)
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• All photo storage
materials should pass
PAT test*
• Use plastic** enclosures
for frequent viewing –
unless flaking occurs
• Use paper for
interleaving if multiple
prints are in folders or
boxes
• Negatives go in paper
enclosures
• Archival binders are
acceptable for prints

17. Storage Supplies - Other
• Textiles
• Ephemera
• Small Objects
• Works of Art
• Digital
o NPS Conserv-O-Grams
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• Types of Damage
o Chemical (all organic materials: paper,
textiles, plastics, dyes, leather, fur, etc)
• Chemical change attributed to
location
o Mechanical (Rare books, paintings,
furniture, textiles; any bound or
composite object)
• Temp/humidity
• handling
o Mold decay (All organic materials
(paper, textiles, plastics, dyes, leather,
fur) or inorganic materials with organic
films)
• moisture
o Metal corrosion
• moisture

18. What If….
• What if you can’t provide this kind of
storage environment for your collection?
o Consider donating your family history collection
to a local repository
• Selecting a repository
• Creating a Deed of Gift
• Supporting your gift with an endowment
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19. Donor Deed of Gift Form
Usually includes:
• Name of donor
• Name of recipient
• Date of transfer
• Brief description of materials
• Transfer of physical/intellectual rights
• Restrictions – legal, personal; length of time
• Disposal criteria/authority
• Signatures of donor/recipient – witness
o See sample deed of gift forms
o http://www.archivists.org/publications/deed_of_gift.asp
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20. RESOURCES
Where to go for more help:
• Archival Supply Vendors (New York State Archives)
• Gaylord online catalog
• Conservation Online
• Conserve-O-Grams from NPS
• North East Documentation Conservation Center
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21. That’s It!
Any Questions?
Good Luck!
Thank you!
hbamford@wnylrc.org
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