JLB and Robert Austen, Thank you both for your kind remarks.
On the further subject of archiving images in Legacy and elsewhere, while I was working through the thousands of documents, articles and images a lady delivered to my friend a pair of cardboard boxes, each measuring about two feet on each side. Both boxes were filled to the brim with beautiful photographs, mostly from the last quarter of the 19th century, though some were as late as the 1920s from the styles of clothing, and some were early cabinet photos from the 1860s. They were all extremely well preserved and unblemished, mounted in mats and folders. The product of a variety of studios in a variety of geographic locations. The lady who brought them had no idea who they were, or to whom they might be related. She knew that we were doing some fairly intensive work on family history and thought we might be able to identify some of them or find descendants who might like to have them. Unfortunately not a single photograph had any identifying markings. Those photos should have been scanned and posted on web sites for others to view and possibly identify. I have no idea what the disposition of those photos was. What a tragic loss to the families of those in the photos. I urge all of you to mark the photos you have with names, dates, places and circumstances where know, and also to scan each image and develop a file naming standard that will allow anyone viewing the file names to know who, what, when and where they were taken. Paper, or electronic filing systems that tag photos and image files with numbers and require separate index lists to identify those in the photos, or systems that place photos and image files in folders by surname, but only use given names on the photos themselves, often end up with the index lists disappearing, or the photos being separated from the surname folders. Each individual photo, or electronic image file should bear enough information to identify the people in the image, along with the date, place and ideally the circumstances of that photo or image file. I strongly urge that your file naming standard be based on surnames rather than on dates. Our goal is to document the lives of people, not the happenings of years. Those who come after us may not have a clue what year look at for a particular image, but they will recognize the surnames, and often the given names, of those whose image they seek in a list of electronic file names. There is much more that can be done to develop a useful file naming standard, and I have documented such a standard in previous submissions to this list. I developed my personal standard over a period of years working with thousands of photographs of other peoples families. Having such a file naming standard allowed me to organize those images so that I could find anyone easily in seconds. That standard us now fairly well-established, though minor changes continue to evolve as needs arise. One of the additional benefits of the file naming standard I use is that it allows me to keep all of my electronic images of individuals in a single folder, and images of groups (2 or more people in a photo), documents and places & things in three sub-folders. That makes it very easy to both back up those image files, or to move them if the need arises. If anyone is interested I will be happy to send them a five-page rationale and a one-page quick reference sheet, both in MS Word format, or to publish that rationale here if there is sufficient demand. John Zimmerman Mesa, AZ On 10/12/2012 4:14 PM, Robert Austen wrote: > > I have witnessed similar ‘tragedies’ of lost files and > work. On the brighter side I discovered a binder, with all > handwritten notes, in a small town ‘research’ center that > contained info on a relative. The archivist knew the > person who donated it, called them immediately, we met and > all enjoyed the ‘family reunion’. She also gave much more > info and photos, and was grateful to hear/receive other > info on the family even though she would not be doing any > research. > > My file is much too large to print everything out but I do > share the complete Legacy file with a cousin thereby > safeguarding the information. We both spend a great deal > of time each day on research and can work through the > problems/walls that arise. It is great to have someone to > share/do that with. However, neither one of us has a close > family member that is keen on genealogy so our tree may > die with us! > > John Zimmerman’s later post is well taken. > > Bob > > *From:*gcr...@juno.com [mailto:gcr...@juno.com] > *Sent:* Thursday, October 11, 2012 2:23 PM > *To:* LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com > *Subject:* RE: [LegacyUG] What to do with genealogical > files after death of compi ler > > Lets be honest and face it. No matter what format our > life's work is in it becomes questionable as to whether it > will survive us, especially if what we do is not > appreciated in anyway by our survivors. > > I personally knew of a situation where a friend and fellow > genealogist who helped me get started had all his research > PAPERS (including correspondence spanning several years) > PITCHED when his 'loving children' thought he was on his > death bed. 40 years of meticulous gladiolus hybridizing > records suffered the same fate. He survived his "impending > death" scare only to learn when he was well enough to come > home that his children had rented a dumpster, parked it at > the front door and got rid of all his "crap". He later > told me he didn't have one scrap of paper left to show for > 40+ years of hybridizing OR genealogy. I would have LOVED > to have, at least been offered, the chance to pick through > what he had since we had a common ancestor. > > In another situation the widow of the researcher was ready > to pitch her husband's research when an in law found out > about it and salvaged it before she did. In neither case > was anyone contacted to see if "you want any of this > 'stuff' ________ (fill in the blank, Dad, Mom, Aunt Alice, > Grandpa, Grandma etc) accumulated?" > > Safe guard as best we can and hope for it to survive us > and wind up in some one (or some institution) loving > hands.......! > > gc > ---------- Original Message ---------- > From: "Brian L. Lightfoot" <br...@the-lightfoots.com > <mailto:br...@the-lightfoots.com>> > To: LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com > <mailto:LegacyUserGroup@LegacyUsers.com> > Subject: RE: [LegacyUG] What to do with genealogical files > after death of compi ler > Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:03:17 -0700 > > I'd just like to pass along my recommendation for passing > along your own legacy: HARD COPY ! No exceptions. > > > Brian in CA > > > > > > > Legacy User Group guidelines: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp > Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ > Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: > http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ > Online technical support: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp > Follow Legacy on Facebook > (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog > (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). > To unsubscribe: > http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). 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