Starting My Family Digital Archive

I have been researching my family history since 2011. I have found some wonderful and exciting information. I have also acquired a lot of photos, records, funeral programs, and VHS tapes. Until last year all of that was sitting in a trunk. I would occasionally take out the VHS tapes and look at them when I needed some research inspiration, or I would go through the photos looking for my next Wordless Wednesday post. But now my kitchen table is lined with photos and records with my VCR/TV combo in the corner because I have made it a priority to start a Mays Cummings Digital Archive.

It started when I discovered that the Family Search Library in Salt Lake City, Utah had opened memory lane when I was planning our trip to RootsTech 2023. Memory Lane is a part of the library where they have all the equipment to digitize photos, scrapbooks, VHS tapes, home movie slides, records, and so much more. So, I decided that I would take my VHS tapes, funeral programs, and photos with me on that trip. I made my appointment with memory lane, packed as much of my family history research that my luggage would allow, and spent just over five hours that first day at the Family Search Library starting the Mays Cummings digital archive (Click HERE to read more). I haven’t looked back since.

At first, I thought I was limited to digitizing only when I was in Salt Lake City. But that is not the case. It was almost like the universe knew this is what I was working on and made it possible for me closer to home. There is a Family Search Center in the town that I live, and they have an Epson FastFoto machine that scans up to 25 photos in under a minute. It also scans the front and back of the photo. So, it will capture any writing on the back of the photo which is great. One of my favorite repositories, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies in Little Rock, Arkansas has added equipment to digitize photos, cassette tapes, and VHS tapes. The Mid-West Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri has digitizing equipment as well. Most recently I learned that the Joplin, Missouri public library has added equipment for digitizing VHS tapes. I’m sure it is only a matter of time before my local library, or the University of Arkansas library will add some equipment as well. But until they do, I have some great choices that I will be utilizing.

Here are a few tips if you are planning to start your family digital archive.

• Google your local libraries to see if they have digitizing equipment. Follow them on social media to keep up to date with any additions they might have in the future.
• Go to the library website and review what equipment they have available and if you can use multiple devices during one appointment. For example, can you use the digitizing equipment for VHS and scan photos at the same time.
• Make an appointment at the library and make sure you arrive early for a short tutorial because most of the libraries is DIY digitizing.
• Purchase a USB flash drive or external hard drive dedicated to digitizing your photos, videos, and records. You should use at least a 16GB of storage space or larger if you plan on digitizing more videos than photos.
• If you are using the Epson FastFoto machine, sort your photos by size before you arrive at the library. The FastFoto machine can also scan documents up to 8×10 such as birth/death certificates, funeral programs, or military records.
• Most equipment for digitizing VHS tapes are in real time. You will have to play the VHS tape as it is digitizing. It can’t be sped up. So, if your VHS tape is three hours and 45 minutes. It will take three hours and 45 minutes to digitize.