Photographs are some of our most precious memorabilia. Andrew J Morris' comprehensive site, 19th Century Photography, covers the history of photography, gives help on dating by identifying type, and has an excellent article aimed for genealogists that includes information on protecting photographs. For pinpointing the date a photograph was taken, Ron and Maureen Willis in their article, Photography As a Tool In Genealogy, provide very detailed information on types of old photographs.
For more information on preservation I found the following two sites to be helpful. For complete preservation methods, from the simple to the elaborate, try http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6662/... In the article Guidelines For Preserving Your Photographic Heritage, Ralph B McKnight focuses on the photographs you take now. Then, for other paper documents, as well as photographs see http://members.aol.com/tmcorner2/hints.h... Helpful Hints for Preserving Family Collections.
Old photographs that have been passed down through the generations may have already sustained damage. There are ways to bring back some of their original clarity. The processes and warnings are given in David L. Miskin's article, Restoring Damaged Photographs.
The electronic age has brought us an invaluable way to save our records and photographs indefinitely. The Scanning Information Page by Bill Netzlof provides technical information about these new processes.
Finally, it is time to make those photographs an integral part of your genealogy. Some great ideas are found in Lyman D. Platt's article, Using Photos in Your Research. One of the ways to pass on your genealogical work is put it in book form someday. The Gene Pool provides help for this goal. Publish Your own Family Keepsakes shows you that it is something you can accomplish.
HOT TIP OF THE WEEK: GenExchange will do free look ups. It is also looking for volunteers.
Next Week: Using RootsWeb
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