and good ones Edna. I am also lucky enough to have daughters who are interested in my 'efforts' at Family History and knowing how many 35mm slides we have taken over the last 50 or 60 years, gave me a 'gadget' which enables me to copy slides (New Years' Resolution to transfer more of them?) and then put them all on a memory stick. I was fortunate to have inherited a large quantity of old family photos which fill a photo album, these have all been copied and named where possible, and transferred to a memory stick, and the girls have copies each. My only problem with this N/Y's resolution is that I have no time left to clean my large, and I mean large, quantity of inherited brassware!!! Nova > Just some ideas... > > Back up all your family files, photos on a memory stick. Keep the memory > stick > in a fire proof safety box off-site if possible. Pass information etc. > around to > family members. If you have made a booklet, perhaps a copy to your local > family history centre or library. > > (;-)) > > Edna - snowy Ottawa

Memory Stick type devices or at least the storage chip inside the device have a quoted storage life of "around 10 years". However like anything they can develop a fault meaning that you could lose some or all the files stored so make sure the files are also stored elsewhere. A friend has an early digital camera with an almost credit card size memory card. It still contained photos they wanted to recover but they were unable to access them. I had a suitable multi card reader but the card was now blank. Slides were the main photographic medium from the mid 1950s until sometime in the 1970s when colour prints took over. I have many hundreds of slides dating from the late 50s some of which I would like to scan to add to my photograph collection and a few to my family history collection. The slide adaptor that came with my old HP scanner is useless and I cannot warrant spending money on a slide scanner for a one off job for a relatively few slides. I spoke to a friend who is a keen photographer and he recommended projecting the photo onto a screen then photographing the image with a digital camera. He said that it can give better results than a proper slide scanner. I tried this last winter and with practice was getting far better results than from the slide adaptor. The main problem was the low light levels my projector produces which was a bit too low for my rather old camera even with a tripod. My new camera is much more sensitive but I have yet to repeat the tests using it. Chris Jefferies Cheltenham Glos From: bristol_and_somerset-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:bristol_and_somerset-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Nova Sent: 09 January 2011 00:38 To: bristol_and_somerset@rootsweb.com Subject: [B&S] Saving family photos etc., and good ones Edna. I am also lucky enough to have daughters who are interested in my 'efforts' at Family History and knowing how many 35mm slides we have taken over the last 50 or 60 years, gave me a 'gadget' which enables me to copy slides (New Years' Resolution to transfer more of them?) and then put them all on a memory stick. I was fortunate to have inherited a large quantity of old family photos which fill a photo album, these have all been copied and named where possible, and transferred to a memory stick, and the girls have copies each. My only problem with this N/Y's resolution is that I have no time left to clean my large, and I mean large, quantity of inherited brassware!!! Nova > Just some ideas... > > Back up all your family files, photos on a memory stick. Keep the memory > stick > in a fire proof safety box off-site if possible. Pass information etc. > around to > family members. If you have made a booklet, perhaps a copy to your local > family history centre or library. > > (;-)) > > Edna - snowy Ottawa ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BRISTOL_AND_SOMERSET-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1191 / Virus Database: 1435/3367 - Release Date: 01/08/11