Formats, Copies And The Files You Can Still Open

Storage keeps the bytes. It does not promise that anything in thirty years will know what to do with them.

There are two separate risks and families usually think about only one. The first is losing the file. The second is keeping the file perfectly and losing the ability to read it, because the format was unusual, proprietary, tied to a particular program, or wrapped in protection that ties it to a purchase or a login. Ordinary, widely used, plainly documented formats are the safest bet for the long term. For images, common photographic formats. For audio and video, common uncompressed or widely supported ones. For text, plain and simple beats richly formatted every time.

Scan and record at a size worth keeping. Storage is cheap and rescanning a fragile print is a real cost, so capture generously the first time, keep the full quality original untouched, and make smaller copies for sharing. Do not let the shared copy quietly become the only copy, which is the most common way good scans are lost. When you record an interview, keep the original recording as it came off the device even after you make an edited version, because the edit reflects today's judgement about what mattered and the next generation may disagree.

Name and organise for a stranger. Folders by year and event, files named with date and a plain description, and a short text document at the top level explaining what the collection is, who made it, when, and how it is arranged. This one document is the difference between an archive and a hard drive of mystery. Write it as though the reader has never met you, because eventually that will be true. Spell out relationships in it, since a list of first names means nothing to somebody two generations away from the family table.