Have you been contemplating piles of stuff, the accumulation of a lifetime? Some people are so organized it's scary. For the rest of us, especially if you've been settled in the same home for years or decades with basement or attic space, there's a task ahead.
A blog post, and material referenced in it, from the Library of Congress, has advice on how the professionals deal with collections they acquire. The headings are:
- Start Simply
- Clumps
- Be Realistic About Work Space and Time
- Nothing is Perfect
- Scanning
- Disks and Digital Storage Media
- Digital Preservation
- Archiving a Life Story
The Library of Congress also has pages on “Collections Care” and “Personal Digital Archiving.
via David Rajotte's amazing Documentary Heritage News
This Personal Archiving was most interesting, especially the 'Clumps bit. Before a huge downsizing years ago we did a triage of boxes that held family memorabilia, you name it. One pile was 'keep', another 'pich', another 'give to the appropriate kid', and finally a 'for further discussion'. Took time, but was worth it. After a move, we are still dealing with a few boxes.
ReplyDeleteYou have to start somewhere.
I like your new photo, John. Gail B