Sections
Reference sections
A family archive is made up of very different things: photos, letters, certificates, voice recordings and stories that so far live only in someone's memory. That's why this reference is divided into four topics. Each has its own set of questions, but they're all connected: a labeled photo helps with genealogy, and a conversation with your elders explains the letters you've found. Pick the topic closest to what you want to do today.
An archive doesn't start with a box or a scanner. It starts with a decision: this summer, we'll finally figure out who's who in the old photos.
The topics are based on the tasks almost every family runs into once it decides to put its papers in order. We don't group articles by type of equipment and don't write about paid services: everything here is something you can do at home with your own hands.
Photographs
Paper prints are vulnerable to light, damp and fingerprints. This topic covers how to sort, label, digitize and store them.
- Your first box of photos
Five steps on the home page: piles, captions, scanning, copies and paper envelopes.
- How to digitize a family album
A detailed article on preparing an album, capturing prints and their backs, file names and backups.
- A weekend with Grandma's album
A collection for anyone who wants to go through an album with older relatives and write down their hints in time.
Documents and letters
Certificates, awards, work record books, letters and postcards are fragile paper that preserves not only information but handwriting too. Here's how to sort it and where to keep it.
- Storing papers
Answers on whether to flatten folded letters, why paper clips and rubber bands do harm and where to put the box.
- Letters and cards
A path through the reference for anyone who has a stack of letters and greeting cards piling up.
- Acid-free paper and archival boxes
Glossary entries on materials that help papers hold up over the years.
Memories
The most vulnerable part of a family archive is what has never been written down. Prepare a few open-ended questions in advance, ask permission before you start recording and let the person talk without interrupting. It's best to transcribe soon after the conversation, while the names and tone of voice are still fresh in your mind.
- Talking over the album
A collection on turning a look through old photos into an unhurried conversation, without missing a thing.
- Unlabeled photos
A short answer on the home page: what to do with a photo where you can't recognize anyone.
- Metadata and backups
Glossary entries on keeping the details of a recorded conversation and not losing the file itself.
Genealogy
It's easiest to start a tree with yourself and work backward, one generation at a time. This topic covers how to keep notes and honestly mark what's known for sure and what's still uncertain.
- Genealogy and privacy
Answers about first notes, uncertain dates, archive requests and what not to share publicly.
- A family tree for a celebration
A collection for anyone who wants to draw a tree for a milestone birthday or a big family gathering.
- Genealogy glossary
Generation, direct and collateral lines, the Russian parish register and the revision list in plain words.
Further reading
Sources
- General guidance on storing photographs and papers
- Russian Federal Law No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data”
This information is current as of the date the page was prepared. Old photographs and papers vary a great deal, so handle fragile and especially valuable originals slowly and carefully, and when in doubt, it's better to leave them alone.