The following news release is from PRNewswire. I found it interesting and the free 7-step guide useful. Keep in mind that this is from printing company, so they have a vested interest in printed paper records. But they have some good points, that it certainly couldn’t hurt to follow.
Seven-Step Guide to Preserving Irreplaceable Digital and Print Genealogy Records Released by Ancestry Graphics & Printing
WINFIELD, Ill., April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ –Ancestry Graphics & Printing announced the release of a new seven-step guide addressing how the challenges facing today’s family historian and genealogist are different than at any time in the past. Their new guide discusses how over the long term, digital records are more fragile and subject to loss than any other form of record-keeping and communication that has been used in the past. The four main threats to digital longevity are discussed along with seven simple solutions for preserving important genealogy records.
The guide discusses whether the genealogy research and the story you want to tell your future descendants about their ancestors will survive to be told. Company founder Larry Spiegel said “digital files may become useless for future generations if they remain untouched for as little as one generation, or about 25 years, and that is a drop in the bucket when compared to the 100 years or longer that most genealogists envision their research lasting”.
Experts in digital preservation are in agreement that today’s digital records probably won’t survive and be readable for as long as they were originally intended. This means the genealogy data we have all worked on tirelessly may become no different than dust in the wind. Most people are totally unaware of the four main reasons why the data stored on their PC or other storage devices won’t survive for long periods of time and what they can do to deal with this problem.
Larry Spiegel said that for genealogists who are storing their research digitally, physical decay of the media, technological obsolescence of the storage medium, technological obsolescence of the file format, and physical loss of the media are all discussed in detail in their new guide for genealogists. Moreover, important and irreplaceable paper documents are also discussed because a definitive plan for their retention, preservation, and inheritance is equally necessary.
Spiegel went on to say that when it comes to the longevity of our digital data, we don’t realize how much of a weak link our digital files really are when it comes to long-term preservation. While various forms of digital storage are great for us to use in our daily lives, none of them are viable or reliable as the sole long-term method for storing and passing on our genealogy information to someone who will treasure it 25, 50, or 100 years in the future.
The free seven-step guide to preserving genealogy records can be found at: http://www.ancestryprinting.com/genealogy-preservation.html.
Ancestry Graphics & Printing has been in business since 2003 providing family tree chart printing services to genealogy customers nationwide and around the world.
