Reviews
Bench setups compared for family archive work, from paper to textiles
A mixed family collection needs one bench that changes shape, not three. Here is how each setup is laid out for paper, photographs and textiles.
Archive
September 2026
Guides
A family document scanning workflow overview
This family document scanning workflow overview follows a home archive from sorting and pilot scans through file naming, quality checks, metadata, and backups.
Maintenance
Family archive mold: it starts with humidity, not with bad luck
Mold needs humidity above 65 percent, warmth and still air. What to do in the hour you find it, and the four things people do instead that make it worse.
Reviews
Cellulose nitrate in family collections: recognize it before you store it
How to spot cellulose nitrate in old family objects by date, look, smell, and trade names, and how to store it ventilated, cool and labeled.
Reviews
Building a family archive emergency kit: before the crisis, not during it
Kit for the emergency you have not had yet: emergencies become disasters when nobody prepared. The short household kit, the one-page plan, and who to call.
Industry
What the published project accounts agree on as of 2027
What the published project accounts agree on: across film, tape and digital preservation guidance, the same four conclusions recur. What they.
Industry
Family archive case studies are rare: what to use instead
Family archive case studies are rare, so this looks at what published evidence from the NIST disc study, LOCKSS and NDIIPP can and cannot show you.
Features
Home archive supplies get tested through two contained practice projects
Testing a fabric for colorfastness and preparing a mount board: two contained projects that teach you to test materials before trusting them with anything.
Reviews
Storing home archive supplies: where board, tissue and foam go, and what the grab bag holds
How to store mat board, tissue, folders, foam and sleeves so they stay usable, plus what to keep in a grab bag for records you cannot replace.
Guides
Home archive supplies learning plan: practice a double box
A home archive supplies learning plan for a weekend: practice building a reusable double cardboard box, place hand holes, cushion it, and test it.
Reviews
Home setup for digitizing family cassettes: deck, cleaning, and audio routing to a computer
Set up a playback deck, clean the tape path, route audio into a computer, set safe levels, and store family cassettes and captured files at home.
Reviews
Digitizing Family Oral Histories: A Workflow from Interview to Digital File
A step-by-step workflow for digitizing family oral histories, from recorder setup and consent notes to file naming, transcription, and safe storage.
Reviews
Measuring tools for a home archive, compared for a first-time buyer
A first-time buyer's comparison of hygrometers, light meters and moisture meters, and which measuring tools a home archive should actually own.
Reviews
Oral history recording gear for family archives: what to buy first in 2027
Which recorder, microphone, and room setup to buy first for family oral history interviews in 2027, from XLR handhelds to dynamic mics and soft-room treatment.
Guides
4 points on home archive lighting that matter
Lighting a collection: lamp choice is a preservation decision as well as a photographic one. Why some LED lamps fade material faster than the lamps they replaced.
Reviews
Home archive shelving: line the wood or replace the unit
Home archive shelving decides what the boxes sit on. How to choose between lining bare wood and buying steel, and what upkeep each choice asks of you.
Guides
Former homes map, one decision at a time
Former homes map research: use Sanborn atlases, USGS topographic maps, aerial photos, and lidar to compare a building across editions.
Industry
Which questions actually separate a restoration specialist from a reseller?
A reseller quotes a rate and sends the work out. A restoration specialist names the formats they run in house and the equipment that reads them.
Guides
Packing a photograph for restoration takes five careful steps
Preparing an original to leave the house: sending a family item to a studio is the riskiest hour of its life. What to check before it travels, how to pack it.
Costs
Specifying a restoration job well is what makes quotes comparable
Commissioning restoration work, and what to ask before the price: how to specify a job so quotes are comparable, the questions professionals ask vendors.
Reviews
4 things to check in photo restoration services
What to specify when you have new prints made from family photographs, and how to identify a glass plate before anybody scans, cleans or handles it.
Reviews
St. John's and Halifax storage compared for wet Atlantic family collections
Atlantic Canada archive storage compared: how damp, salt air and heating shape family papers in St. John's, Halifax, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.
Maintenance
How Calgary dryness and chinooks affect paper, tape and static in storage
Calgary dryness and paper storage: how chinook humidity swings, static and adhesive failure affect documents, with humidity targets and handling changes.
Costs
What CBSA and Canada Post charge when you order archival supplies from the US
CBSA duty on archival supplies from the US adds GST, possible tariff, brokerage and Canada Post handling, so compare landed costs before ordering.
Industry
Digitizing immigration and residential-school records under Canadian access rules
Digitizing residential-school and immigration records in Canada means two access systems: IRPA for immigration files, community control for school records.
Industry
Photo restoration first steps when something is water damaged: the parts worth your time
Water damage develops over minutes to hours, and simple air drying is often wrong. The emergency sequence, and how to get a wet item out of its frame safely.
Guides
Library and Archives Canada genealogy records: what you can request and what stays closed
Library and Archives Canada genealogy records cover censuses, military files and civil records, but privacy law keeps some files closed and fees apply.
Guides
Does PIPEDA apply when you share records from your Canadian family archive?
PIPEDA reaches your Canadian family archive only when you handle personal records for payment. Here is where private keeping ends and the law begins.
Reviews
Archives of Ontario, BC Archives and seven more compared for family record requests
Provincial archives compared for family records: holdings, search fees, copying charges and request forms across Ontario and British Columbia.
Guides
Quebec parish, notarial and civil registers for bilingual family research
Quebec parish, notarial and civil registers record the same family three ways, and reading all three is how a bilingual line goes back further.
Maintenance
Storing a family archive through a Canadian winter: pick the room
Storing a family archive through a Canadian winter starts with the room, not the box. Compare spare rooms, closets, basements and garages before October.
Maintenance
What coastal damp does to a Vancouver home archive and how to counter it
Vancouver home archive and coastal damp: how mould, humidity and ventilation threaten paper, plus storage, monitoring and dehumidifier steps that work.
Industry
Restoration is actually three different jobs wearing one name
Three different jobs go by the name restoration. Knowing which one you want, and learning the vocabulary for damage, decides everything that follows.
Guides
Where to Buy Archival Supplies in Canada Without US Shipping?
Archival supplies in Canada come from Canadian vendors billing in CAD, which avoids duty, brokerage and cross-border shipping. Here is how to judge them.
Reviews
Work surfaces compared: where archive handling mistakes actually happen
Four work surfaces compared for archive handling, showing which mistakes happen on each and what to check before you lay fragile material down.
Guides
Digitize audio cassette tapes: how to check each file
Digitize audio cassette tapes, then test the file: peaks, length against the side, hiss and pitch, plus what each fault means and how to fix it.
Guides
Fireproof Safe for Documents: UL Ratings That Actually Matter
A fireproof safe for documents is only as good as its UL 72 class. Compare paper and media safes, endurance times and the one limit they all share.
Guides
Hurricane Photo Storage in Florida: A Pre-Season Prep Checklist
Hurricane photo storage in Florida starts with a waterproof document bag, an evacuation photo archive kit, and a 75°F heat limit before June 1.
Guides
Library Photo Scanning Canada: Free Options at Public Branches
Library photo scanning in Canada varies by city: which branches lend scanners, what to ask before you book, and how to store prints afterwards.
Guides
How to Preserve a Military Uniform: Padded Hangers and Acid-Free Storage
To preserve military uniform pieces, pad the shoulders, remove metal, and box the wool flat in acid-free storage. Here is the order that works.
Costs
Videotape Digitization Cost in the US: Per Tape and Per Hour Ranges
Videotape digitization cost in the US runs $10 to $35 per VHS tape or $40 to $120 per hour of running time. Compare pricing units before choosing a service.
Maintenance
Cleaning: the archive mistake that does the most damage at home
Why cleaning is the most damaging thing a beginner does, what liquids actually do inside a layered object, and what to do instead when something is wet.
Reviews
Archive materials fail quietly: plastics and rubber damage from the inside
Materials that quietly cause the damage: some of the worst things in a family collection are the storage materials themselves, degrading plastics and rubber.
Reviews
A detection and containment checklist for archive mistakes before they spread
Kit for finding problems before they spread: the monitoring and containment kit for a home archive, what to buy for detection, what isolation actually requires.
Industry
Archive risk starts with inspecting the building, not just the boxes
Inspection routine that catches problems early: active and passive detection explained, how often to inspect a home collection, what to look at in a building.
Maintenance
Why do the same archive mistakes keep happening to careful people?
What actually damages a home archive: damage in family collections comes from a short list, pests, damp, light, handling and one hopeful repair.
Features
4 things about family history organization worth your time
Family history organization options: displaying an open book safely, and burying a time capsule that survives, two appealing family history projects.
Reviews
Family history organization storage: what to keep apart
Family history organization storage: keep incompatible materials apart, support books upright, and give textiles and objects their own boxes and labels.
Guides
A beginner project: free family archive reading
A beginner project in family archive care: free institutional guides, journals, blogs and library resources for organizing and preserving family history.
Reviews
Family Collection Numbering: Schemes Compared and File Naming Rules
It compares five numbering schemes for a family collection, names software tied to some, and gives file naming rules plus answers to common questions.
Guides
Condition reports for family history collections: what to photograph and write down
A condition report for family collections: what to photograph, what to write down, what to check before handling, and why a dated record tracks change over time.