By: Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman

As an archivist, I would love to tell everyone to give me their precious family records for the Ottawa Jewish Archives and that I’ll take care of the rest, but I know that’s not always feasible or possible. 

Many people have a difficult time giving up their family records, and I completely understand that. It’s hard to part with family heirlooms, especially when your family members lived incredible lives. 

With that in mind, I’d like to show you how you can keep your family records safe at home so they can be enjoyed for generations to come. 

Step 1: Identify what you have

It’s important to begin by identifying what you have and what you would like to keep safe. Those boxes in the basement or attic, are they filled with photos? Government documents? Diaries? Film? 

Pull out those boxes and begin by going through everything. Check the condition they’re in. Do you see any signs of mould, dust, water damage, or bugs? 

If yes, place those items in their own box until you can properly assess the damage. It’s important to separate items with damage to prevent the possibility of spreading and creating further damage.

Now that you have an idea of what you have, think about if you’d like to organize your records. In Archives, we sort information into “fonds” which allow us to organize information by categories or subjects.

Are there a ton of items for various family members? You might consider sorting by person. If you’d like to do this, create a pile for each individual until everything is sorted. Alternatively, you could also sort by document type, such as by placing all photos together in one pile, all letters/correspondence in another, and government documents in a third, and so on.

Step 2: To digitize or not to digitize

Now that you have some semblance of organization to your documents, consider if you would like to digitally preserve your items.

Digitization is a large part of what Archives do nowadays to ensure longevity of life for records and to make them more accessible for people around the world.

The easiest place to start (and my personal favourite) is with photographs. These tend to be the items most often digitally preserved at home because they’re so universally interesting. 

Your first option, which is the one the Ottawa Jewish Archives uses, is a photo/document scanner. These come in a variety of sizes, quality, and costs, but something as simple as an Epson scanner will often do the trick. This option allows you to scan multiple photos at once.

If investing in a photo scanner isn’t in the cards, there are also a number of photo scanning apps available through your smart phone. PhotoScan by Google is a free app which allows you to scan individual photos and add them to your smartphone library. This option is the easiest for sharing between friends and family, as well as the cheapest.

It can be slow and time-consuming scanning photos one-by-one.

There are also a few companies, like Staples, that provide scanning services and devices through their stores, but this can be costly. Plus, you’re leaving your precious documents in someone else’s hands.

Step 3: Safe Storage

One of the most important aspects to consider is how you’re going to store your records. I don’t mean where you’re going to store it (that’s the next step). I really mean, how are you going to store them.

Most people toss their records in a keepsake box, chest, or plastic bins, but have you considered the materials the box is made of or how to store them within the box? 

For this next step I will give two options: professional and at-home. 

Professional: This is the costliest option and the one the Ottawa Jewish Archives and nearly all heritage institutions use.

Everything you store your paper items in (i.e. photos, letters, diaries, etc.) should be acid-free, including your storage box. 

Cardboard is a highly acidic material, and over a few decades can cause your items to degrade. At the Ottawa Jewish Archives, we use Hollinger Archival boxes which are acid-free and are built to be sturdy to avoid boxes collapsing on records.

They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be found on several museum/library/archives supplies website. We use Carr McLean to keep it Canadian!

Next, you’ll want to look for acid-free file folders and envelopes for storing your documents and photos. For the same reason as the boxes, acid free papers keep your documents from aging, staining, and fading, and also keep them protected from the elements.

If you want to go a step further, you can invest in “interleaving paper” to go in between pages and photographs to prevent ink from transferring to other documents. 

At-Home: This is going to be the cheaper option and the one most people will lean towards. 

While the professional option is great -- and the method most used by heritage institutions -- the intention is for extreme long-term preservation. Most documents, unless placed in horrible environmental conditions, will be fine without all the bells and whistles.

I suggest starting with a plastic tub and lid to keep your documents. While plastic can lightly off-gas over time, it will take a while to do any real damage to paper documents and will keep them safe from moisture. Make sure your tub isn’t clear, so light doesn’t cause your records to fade. 

For storing inside the box, I’d still suggest investing in envelopes or file folders to keep everything sorted and prevent transfers as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Step 4: Location, location, location

Congrats! You’re on the final step of preserving your family records! Now that everything has been sorted and filed away, it’s time to pick where you should keep those records. 

You’ll want somewhere where the temperature doesn’t fluctuate too much throughout the year, where humidity is at its lowest and where moisture and light damage aren’t a threat. 

Basements, attics, and garages are some of the worst places to keep your records because they’re at the mercy of the elements. Somewhere like a bedroom closet or linen closet (NOT near a bathroom) would be the most ideal locations, especially if they’re on a visible shelf where there’s a low chance of them getting crushed. 

If at home isn’t an option, locations like Dymon Storage, where they provide climate-controlled storage rooms are a great alternative. 

And that’s it! If you want to keep your family items safe, these are the easiest steps to take to ensure your family memories are preserved.

That being said, if that all seems like too much and you would rather see if your records qualify as archival, send us an email at archives@jewishottawa.com, and we can discuss the possibility of donating your family records to the archives.

Happy preserving!

- Teigan Goldsmith Hitsman is the archivist at the Ottawa Jewish Archives