Tracing your Caribbean family
Storing and preserving documents and visual material
Think about how you will store your documents and information. Protect fragile, old photographs, film and documents, they are valuable! Advice on preserving family history documents can be sourced from family history magazines and websites. Southwark Archives are also happy to provide advice, but we have listed the most important points here:
- Keep documents and photographs flat and file them in acid free folders.
- Do not laminate documents or photographs.
- Precious documents should be handled as little as possible.
- Keep documents and photographs in a dark place (daylight will cause them to fade).
- Remove paperclips and other such metal stationery from documents and photographs as they can cause damage.
- Make a copy of your films, video and audio and if possible a digital copy that preserves the integrity of the images and sound (We advise that you get advice about film transfer).
- Keep all material in a safe, dark and damp free place.
Page last updated: 15 September 2023