Family Archive: So Future Family Members Can Find It

Connect photos, family letters, oral histories, and family relationships using a consistent numbering system.

A guide to organizing information. The examples are fictional demonstrations, not historical cases; please verify conclusions involving people, dates, and lineages against original sources.

Build a Minimal, Usable Catalog

Start by organizing materials into four categories—photos, documents, recordings, and genealogy pages—with one ID for each item. Keep IDs stable; do not change them casually when descriptions are updated later. The same person can be linked to multiple items, but each original item should have only one master record.

Don’t Make File Names Carry All the Information

File names can include an ID and a brief description; put detailed information about people, sources, and permitted uses in the catalog. Do not rely on one very long file name to record all family relationships, as this can easily cause confusion when files are copied across devices.

Distinguish Original and Processed Versions

Scanning, cropping, restoration, transcription, and excerpting are different stages of processing. Preserve the original version, and note the processing date and changes made for each processed version. When correcting transcription errors, retain a reference to the corresponding location in the original recording.

Schedule a Recovery Drill

Having a backup does not necessarily mean you can recover your files. Regularly try restoring one photo, one recording, and one catalog from the backup, and confirm that they open, their IDs match, and family members know where they are stored. Important cataloging notes should also be backed up with the materials.

Copyable Record Sheet

资料编号：
类别与文件位置：
关联人物编号：
原件来源：
处理版本及说明：
访问与公开范围：
备份位置：
最近恢复检查日期：

Download Blank Record Sheet