Creating Picture Albums By Wendy Whipple Here's how my family has dealt with sharing photos. Years ago, my grandmother made three photo albums for her children. The albums contained photos of them as children, as well as children they had. When there was a single photograph of something all three should have, like a great-grandparent, Grandma had copies made. She also labeled the photos as best she could (some of the photos were 40 years old or more, and she couldn't remember everything). She died a few years after compiling those albums, and we are all grateful to her for having done it. Old photos are precious to everyone in the family. They are also in many cases fragile. I personally believe that a collection of old photos should be scanned and archived on CD anyway, and why not pass out copies of the CDs while you're at it? That way the decision is a little easier. The photos can be divided like Grandma did, with all photos pertaining to a single family member going to that person, and others copied and shared with everyone. * * * Word of Caution on CDs By Diane Hall-O'Dell I've read in photo trade journals that the life expectancy of current CD disks stored in home or office is 30 years. Printing photos from the scanned images for long-term viability may be advisable. **** Previously published in RootsWeb Review: 29 September 2004, Vol. 7, No. 39.

Here is what Kodak and 3M have to say about CD Liftime: So, How Long Can CDs Last? Leaving aside scratches, fires, floods, and peanut butter sandwiches and concentrating on the slow chemical changes that determine the inherent life expectancy of a CD, extensive accelerated-aging tests suggest that Kodak writable CD products, including Photo CD discs, will not reach a BLERmax of 50 for a period of around 200 years when kept in the dark at moderate storage conditions. This long potential life expectancy is mainly a function of the greater dark stability of the dye used in Kodak writable CD products. Considering that BLERmax 50 is still not an unreadable level of error, Kodak writable CDs have a very long life expectancy indeed. Similar research by the 3M Company shows that CD-ROM products made by them will not attain a block error rate of 50 per second for more than 100 years in moderate storage conditions. Accelerated aging is subject to uncertainties, but it does rest on firm scientific footing. Behind the data is the simple assumption that raising the temperature causes the reactions of decay to happen faster--so fast, in fact, that they occur within a few months, rather than decades. The science of reaction rates is called kinetics, and the lifetime predictions are based on well-established principles of that branch of chemical science. These same principles are used every day to design the chemical plants and processes of the modern world. Because there is so much practical experience with the laws of kinetics, lifetime predictions based on them are approximately correct. Such test methods soon will be part of a forthcoming ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard dealing with tests for CD permanence. Tim ----- Original Message ----- From: <LaDarlaK@aol.com> To: <TXWISE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 8:10 AM Subject: [TXWISE-L] FYI-Label and save for future generations > Creating Picture Albums > By Wendy Whipple > > Here's how my family has dealt with sharing photos. Years ago, my > grandmother made three photo albums for her children. The albums > contained photos of them as children, as well as children they > had. When there was a single photograph of something all three should > have, like a great-grandparent, Grandma had copies made. > > She also labeled the photos as best she could (some of the photos were > 40 years old or more, and she couldn't remember everything). She died a > few years after compiling those albums, and we are all grateful to her > for having done it. > > Old photos are precious to everyone in the family. They are also in > many cases fragile. I personally believe that a collection of old > photos should be scanned and archived on CD anyway, and why not pass > out copies of the CDs while you're at it? That way the decision is a > little easier. The photos can be divided like Grandma did, with all > photos pertaining to a single family member going to that person, and > others copied and shared with everyone. > > * * * > Word of Caution on CDs > By Diane Hall-O'Dell > > I've read in photo trade journals that the life expectancy of current > CD disks stored in home or office is 30 years. Printing photos from the > scanned images for long-term viability may be advisable. > **** > Previously published in RootsWeb > Review: 29 September 2004, Vol. 7, No. 39. >