Genealogical Insurance - Are you ready for disaster?
by Betty Jo Stockton
Florida has recently had hurricanes, tornadoes & wildfires; the Midwest had floods; the West Coast is always expecting earthquakes -- the potential for disaster is there no matter where you live. Think -- just how safe are your genealogical and family records? Listening to the news reports of evacuation with little notice made me think "what would I take?" if I had to leave with only what I would fit in the car and with little advance notice. After grabbing the insurance and other important papers, the laptop computer with my genealogy files, financial records and home inventory - what else would I take? And before anything does happen - what can I do to safeguard my genealogical records?
* Make backups and store them safely
* Photocopy, scan or photograph all your "one of a kind" records and store the copies in your safety deposit box, a relative's home, with a genealogical friend, or in a water/fireproof box on a high shelf in your home. These include family Bibles, priceless photographs, birth, death and marriage certificates, family letters, diaries and scrapbooks. A copy is never as good as the original but it certainly beats nothing. A color photocopy of old photographs turns out well; the Kodak© PictureMaker found in many discount, drug and office supply stores gives a near-perfect copy (but both may shorten the life of your original.) A digital camera will make a good copy too. Save the digital files to a floppy or Zip disk or recordable CD and store it away from your computer. Make extras of the paper copies to share. Consider submitting your Bible records, diaries and scrapbooks to the DAR for their collection.
* Photocopy, scan or photograph all your "one of a kind" records and store the copies in your safety deposit box, a relative's home, with a genealogical friend, or in a water/fireproof box on a high shelf in your home. These include family Bibles, priceless photographs, birth, death and marriage certificates, family letters, diaries and scrapbooks. A copy is never as good as the original but it certainly beats nothing. A color photocopy of old photographs turns out well; the Kodak© PictureMaker at Kmart, etc. gives a near-perfect copy (but both may shorten the life of your original.) Save the scanned files to a floppy or Zip disk and store it away from your computer. Make extras of the paper copies to share. Consider submitting your Bible records, diaries and scrapbooks to the DAR for their collection.
* Make more than one backup copy of your genealogical computer files - and store at least one far from your computer.
* Be sure that someone else (preferably in a different location) has copies of your Family Group Sheets and supporting documentation.
* Share your research - write letters to friends and relatives about what you've found, send copies of your research to interested family and researchers, submit your data to the Ancestral File, World Family Tree, Ancestry's World Tree, RootsWeb World Connect project, FamilySearch or other databases.
* Publish your research
* If you're ready (or even close), write that book on your family and get it published. Several of our members have done this with beautiful results. Send a copy to the Family History Library, our library and the local library where your ancestors lived.
* Compile your information and publish it yourself. Many of the genealogy programs will produce a "book" from your data. Make a few copies of this to have printed and bound to give to interested folks and the local library. Local print shops will print it fairly cheaply; Kinkos can add a Velobinding for $2.95, which gives a nice finish. My latest project (since I still have large "holes" in each of my family lines) is self-publishing a 12-30 page booklet on each of my family lines. These contain the family history and genealogy, sources and scanned photos; they are distributed throughout the family. While far from professional, they insure that the information won't be lost.
* Organize your Family Group Sheets and supporting documentation and bind them in a folder or looseleaf notebook. Give a copy to the Family History Library and to the local library.
* Plan ahead as to what you would protect first in your home or take if evacuated. If you've planned, you'll know which notebooks, files, etc. to grab.
* Decide what will happen to your materials when you no longer need them - too many records are lost when family members do not know what to do with papers after a death and simply throw them out. Arrange with a genealogical friend or instruct your family as to who is to get your work. If you do not have a specific person in mind, check with the local library, the Family History Library or local history/genealogy society as to what they would like - and in what form.
* Whatever you do - insure that your family records and hard work are not lost forever when disaster strikes.
[Written by Betty Jo Stockton for Treasure Chest News, the newsletter of the Central Florida Genealogical Society, August, 1998. Permission is granted for use in any genealogical or family history newsletter, provided this credit is attached]
Selected Genealogy Directories
This well known genealogy directory is one of the largest and most extensive on the net. You can search by topic or view an alphabetical index.
A long established and popular genealogy directory.
This directory is well worth a visit.
Family Tree Maker (the well known family tree software maker) offers numerous links to pages within it's own site that cover such things as beginner lessons, surname searches, and how-to guides.
Like ancestry.com and family tree maker, this commercial site has numerous links to helpful articles and lessons.