Going Digital

Recent floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and other disasters remind us that documents and photos are fragile and often irreplaceable. There are several ways to protect your family’s precious history. Photos and important documents can be scanned easily and inexpensively. Family details (names, dates, places) can be entered into PAF or other genealogy software. Copies can then be shared digitally via CD or DVD, thumb drive, e-mail, or web page.

There are at least two good reasons to enter your family information into genealogy software, and to scan documents and photos. The first is that it is much easier to share information with others if it is in digital form. (How many descendants can have the original of great grandpa’s immigration papers?) The second reason is that if disaster strikes, you can view and print copies of documents and photos that have been lost or destroyed.

Digital copies don’t hold quite the same nostalgia as the original. But every descendant’s life can be blessed by seeing the faces and reading the stories of our ancestors’ lives – if we will protect them and share them!