I would like to acquaint you with the work of Denise Levenick, The Family Curator. (www.thefamilycurator.com) I first came across her work last spring at the Family History Fair hosted by the Bangor LDS Family History Center. They were showing videos of presentations from the RootsTech Conference and her workshop: “How to Scan an Elephant” intrigued me. With a title like that, how could I not investigate?
I am so glad I did. In addition to scads of detailed information, I found inspiration to begin tackling some of my more mountainous genealogy and heirloom organizing tasks. Her personal style is entertaining and she makes very complicated information understandable for those of us who struggle with terms like “DPI” and “TIFF”. That particular workshop dealt with how to organize and catalogue family heirlooms, and included specific details of the things one should consider before buying and using a scanner or digital camera for family history.
Since the workshop, I have visited her website many times, and recently signed up for her email newsletter. I sent a question through her website about how to digitize “oversize” negatives and received a helpful answer within minutes. I also am reading her book “How to Archive Family Keepsakes”, which is available as both an electronic and a print book from $11 to $19 depending upon the format and your source.
Levenick says, “In every family, someone ends up with ‘the Stuff’.” Her book, website, blog, newsletters, handouts, magazine articles and web links (not only is she helpful, she is prolific) will help you figure out the best way to handle all of the “stuff.”
She says you first need to decide what you want your role to be, “Curator”, “Creator”, or “Caretaker”; that will help you decide your best next steps. A “Curator” will organize and preserve the family history whether it is a well-written genealogy, research notes on scraps of paper, or a collection of salt and pepper shakers. The “Creator” may turn the family archive into shadow boxes, photo albums, quilts, etc. The “Caretaker” may hold the family treasure for the next person in line to “inherit.” The Caretaker may be reluctant, and only take the boxes of “stuff” because no one else will do it.
Just like a Dr., “First do no harm.” Second, do not try to sort and organize. Next, remove anything that may cause damage — leaky bottles or pens, newsprint and cardboard, rusting metal; but try to leave items in the original order, even if there seems to be no order.
The next steps after that depend upon the role or combination of roles you have decided to take. Levenick will walk you through the best ways to begin to tackle the job. She understands that while it is important to save things for the future, most of us have limited money to purchase archive safe storage; and we have jobs, families and other considerations to which we must devote our time.
Levenick offers practical solutions that make the job manageable. Most importantly, she will give you hope that you can handle your own family archive.
Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft is a longtime genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader emails are welcome at ninabrawn @gmail.com. Her semimonthly column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society which meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center at 6:30 p.m. Guests are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
