>From another list! Outstanding Tip! Moira Neville writes: Recently my apartment building burned, and I lost virtually everything. Here are a few brief tips that I should have followed. - First, find someone who can make copies, or even a video record of all your family pictures. (My cousin, the graphic artist, volunteered to do this ages ago, but I was waiting to send him everything. Ouch!) I had five generations of my mother’s family. They may be in the basement and if we can find them before they get fungus on them we might save them. - Second tip. All is not lost until it is lost. A friend of mine is checking on what chemicals to use to restore the wet photos when and if we find them. He is using the Net to get the info. He is a photographer and he says that they can be saved by a chemical bath providing no fungus has gotten to them. - Never assume that you have enough copies and if you do not have them, make duplicates and pass them around. I had eight copies of my mother’s wedding picture that included rare pictures of other relatives. I was trying to give them to one of my aunt’s descendants and I had given one away, but did not trust this kid to send them around when I discovered he was not on good terms with his mother. Thankfully, one of my grandmother pictures--I believe her high school graduation picture from ca. 1898--was found in a pile of charred remains. The enamel picture frame, tucked into a box with some stuff too tight to burn, protected it from all damage. My cousin has a copy of my grandmother's college graduation picture and I can get a new picture from her. - If you do not back up your computer, then do so from now on. But remember that your backup should not be kept near the computer, and ideally, not in the same building. (In case of fire, records can be retrieved only if the backup is somewhere safe.) If you cannot store your back up, and family archives offsite, then get a fire-proof safe or two, if necessary, to hold them in. If you are storing these things in the basement use plastic bins that can keep out water until you can get to them. Most of the damage done to my stuff in the cellar was due to water damage. If the first smaller accidental fire had been all there was, such containers would also have saved much from smoke damage. Unfortunately an arsonist finished the job. - And, of course, always try to work together and share all information. Make copies whenever possible and send to someone else in the family who shares your interest. Even e-mails of new finds to a relative can be used to piece back your materials. - Some more tips, although they are not genealogical. Make sure that your smoke detectors are working, and that you have fire extinguishers handy. One of them could have prevented the first fire, which we believe inspired the second. If you have one, make sure that it works and is current. They need to be replaced periodically. It may seem silly to keep buying one every few years, but it is well worth it. Moira Neville Massachusetts To add to this, I make several back up copies of all photos and save the back ups in several locations. In adition to this, I also distribute e-mail copies to relatives. Another tip is; To those who have a CD-writer, copy those photos to a cd-writer! Cd's supposedly last over 30 years.. In scanning the photos, in "options" make your size changes, and in the best copy BETWEEN initial (first) scan and final scan! To do this may prevent your photos from looking ''dirtied" (dithering) or resembling a paint by number photo etc. Glory Bee