What to Include in a Digital Family History Archive
A practical inventory for preserving family photographs, records, stories, research notes, and the context future relatives will need.
A digital family history archive should preserve both the item and its meaning. A folder full of unnamed scans may survive technically, but it will not tell a future relative who appears in a photograph, why a letter matters, or where a record came from. Build the archive around context: files, descriptions, relationships, provenance, and safe copies.
The core collection
Begin with material that is unique, fragile, or difficult to replace:
- family photographs, albums, negatives, slides, and captions;
- certificates, wills, deeds, military papers, school reports, and immigration documents;
- diaries, letters, postcards, recipe books, and annotated calendars;
- oral-history recordings and transcripts;
- home videos and audio recordings;
- family trees, group sheets, research reports, and correspondence with other researchers;
- downloaded archive records and the citations needed to retrieve them;
- maps, timelines, stories, and publications created from the research.
Do not assume that a record available online today will remain at the same URL or under the same licence. Where the repository permits downloading for personal use, retain a local copy plus the catalogue details. Where downloading is restricted, preserve a citation and research note instead of bypassing the restriction.
Preserve the information around each item
For every photograph or document, capture what the object itself cannot explain. Useful fields include:
- title or short description;
- people shown or mentioned, including uncertain identifications;
- date or estimated date and the basis for that estimate;
- place;
- creator, photographer, author, or issuing body;
- current owner and previous custody, if known;
- physical format and condition;
- source or repository reference;
- rights, permission, and sharing restrictions;
- transcription, translation, and related people or events.
Use “possibly,” “said to be,” or a confidence note when an identification is not proven. Future researchers need to know the difference between a label written by a contemporary and a later guess.
Scan for preservation, then make access copies
For flat paper and photographs, scan at a resolution that captures all useful detail. Keep a high-quality preservation master in a stable format such as TIFF where practical, then create smaller JPEG or WebP access copies for browsing and sharing. Photograph bound, oversized, or fragile items when scanning would damage them.
Include the reverse of photographs, envelopes, watermarks, covers, and blank-looking pages that contain embossing or physical clues. Use a colour target or ruler when size and colour matter. Avoid filters that permanently remove information; retain the unedited master and make corrections on a copy.
For audio and video, keep the original file and, when possible, a broadly playable access version. Add a short text summary and transcript so the content can be discovered without replaying hours of recording.
Choose file formats for longevity
Prefer formats that are common, documented, and not tied to one app. Examples include TIFF or high-quality JPEG for images, PDF/A or PDF for fixed documents, plain text or PDF for transcripts, WAV for preservation audio, MP4 for access video, CSV for simple tables, and GEDCOM as an exchange copy of a family tree.
GEDCOM is not a complete archive. Transfers can lose app-specific fields, formatting, links, or media. Keep the native database backup, an exported GEDCOM, and a readable report or chart together.
Add an inventory
Create a top-level inventory that lists each collection, its location, date range, formats, restrictions, and responsible person. A human-readable README should explain the folder structure, naming pattern, abbreviations, and how to open unusual formats.
An inventory lets you answer practical questions: Are all albums scanned? Where is the original interview? Which files contain information about living people? Which drive holds the preservation masters?
Organise by stable categories
There is no universal folder structure, but it should remain understandable without special software. One workable arrangement is:
01_photographs02_documents03_audio-video04_oral-histories05_research-and-sources06_family-tree-exports07_stories-maps-publications99_archive-inventory
Within those folders, use family, person, place, or collection groupings—but avoid creating so many nested levels that files become hard to find. Searchable metadata and links in a family history workspace can provide relationships that folders cannot.
Include research process, not only conclusions
Preserve research logs, rejected hypotheses, correspondence, transcriptions, and notes about conflicts. A polished tree hides the decisions behind it. The process explains why one record was accepted, why another person with the same name was excluded, and what remains uncertain.
Date significant notes and identify the researcher. If conclusions change, retain a concise history rather than silently rewriting the past.
Handle privacy and permissions
Separate public, family-only, and private material. Obtain permission before sharing recordings, medical information, private correspondence, or detailed information about living people. Record copyright and donor restrictions alongside the asset so a later user does not treat possession as permission to publish.
Encrypt sensitive backups and use access controls on shared storage. Do not put passwords inside the archive itself; document how an authorised family custodian can obtain access.
Maintain multiple verified copies
Keep at least three copies of important material, on two different storage types, with one in another location. Cloud synchronisation is useful, but it is not the only backup: deletion or corruption can synchronise too. Use a versioned or offline copy and periodically open a sample of files.
Once or twice a year:
- check that storage devices still mount;
- verify a sample from every major format;
- replace failing or obsolete media;
- update the inventory;
- export fresh copies from proprietary apps;
- confirm that another trusted person knows the archive exists.
The goal is not to freeze a collection forever. It is to leave a clear, portable, well-described archive that can move to new storage and new software without losing the family knowledge around it.