We take photos in order to share treasured moments with one another. Or, perhaps we tuck them away knowing they are simply, like a security blanket, there for us to circle back to and enjoy from time to time, lest we forget or our memories grow hazy.
An Inverted Pyramid
However, if you look at how photographs and treasured documents are integrated into our lives, as a flowchart, what we really want most is to focus on the ‘top down’ perspective.
We imagine the moment our friends will see our images on their Facebook wall, or in our Shutterfly gallery. It isn’t a camera or a disc, or even metadata telling us the when, where or how that is paramount in our thoughts. Instead, it is the photo magnet gift we bought our sister, so she can hang it on the refrigerator door and everyday see your nephew’s goofy grin you just happened to catch at his birthday party last month. Or, it is a life tribute presentation whirling images onto a screen in some quiet chapel as family and friends come to pay their last respects that comes to mind as we speak of...‘pictures’.
A top-down view means putting the end goal out front, and with our photos that means sharing.
The Rest of the Pyramid
Understanding the final destination offers a tremendous aid in choosing how best to navigate the journey to reaching your photo sharing goal. Photos are important and adopting a myopic viewpoint that disregards the other building blocks which lead to the much larger and grander summit of the pyramid allowing you to connect with you pictures through sharing is a surefire way of to spell disaster with any photo collection.
The other components of capture, organize and store play key roles in assuring your photos maintain their rich personal meaning for generations to come. The Library of Congress offers a number personal archiving tips for the preservation of photographs as part of its Digital Preservation initiative. There you gain a better understanding about these other key components to the process of preservation.
Preserving Your Personal Digital Memories
Looking for some help in getting started?
The Library of Congress provides a free online course as a public service to help people in the practice of digital preservation. Bill LeFurgy, from the LOC, offers attendees of this program the opportunity to learn about some simple, practical tips and tools to help you keep your digital memories safe.
Other useful information includes these PDF guidebooks;
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| Your photos and treasured documents are a vital link to the past. Digitizing them allows you to keep, protect, share & connect with them in new and exciting ways. Visit E-Z Photo Scan to learn more about the possibilities for achieving your digital preservation goals. E-Z Photo Scan is also part of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance and member of its Outreach Working Group. |
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