1: Gather Your Records
2: Gather Records from Others
3: Interview Relatives
4: Browse Memories
5: Prepare Uploads
6: Add and Tag Photos
7: Add Documents
8: Add Stories
9: Write a Life Sketch
10: Add Audio Files
11: Use the Gallery
12: Solutions Gallery
Translation Tips
Music
Project 2: Memories
Goal 2: Gather Records from Others
Goal 2: Gather photos and documents of ancestors from others, and organize them.
This helps you learn about your ancestors' lives in a personal way.
Choices
A Contact living relatives or others who might have photos or documents for you to add.
In some cases, these people may have already added photos and documents to Memories.
Summary- Find living relatives, and find out what they know or who they think would be best to talk to. Older relatives may have more first-hand memories about documents and photos.
- Click a photo for an ancestor in your tree. In FamilySearch Memories you can click the Contributed by link to show the email address of the contributor (if available). In Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast, the contributor information appears next to the photo, for other trees you are viewing.
- Compile a contact list from contributors discovered in the previous step.
- Read the articles for ideas on reaching out to others for photos and documents, and then make the contacts.
FS—How to Gather Family Information
FS—Collecting Previous Research by Others
- Offer to send physical copies of photos or documents to relatives if they would like them.
- * Good: Contact a living relative who has additional family history items to share, and then work out an arrangement to share the items.
- * Proficient: Same as above, for two to five living relatives.
B Add photos and documents from others to your collection, and catalog them.
VaultSummary
- Label photos with as many details as you know (age, name, date it was taken, location, etc.).
- When physically labeling the photo, use the correct type of writing utensil to preserve the photo as much as possible.
- Journals, letters, and diaries are some of the most valuable family records, but photos and documents are just as useful.
- You can often unlock family mysteries by looking through family records. Identify unknown individuals in photos by comparing them to other labeled photos or by taking them to a relative and seeing if they know.
- Organize photos and documents you receive into your collection. Store physical copies in a safe place, and store digital files on your computer and in a backup location.
- In a separate document, add descriptions for each item (catalog them).
- Make notes of missing information and questions you have about any items.
Resources
- Here are some additional ideas on gathering memories.
GC: Getting Started in Research - Sources: Learn about other sources for finding family photographs.
AF—Unusual Sources for Finding Old Family Photos - 2017 - Photo Labels: Learn how to add labels to your photographs.
TH— How to Label Your Digital Photographs - 2019 - Metadata: Learn how to add metadata (descriptions) to your digital photographs.
FS—Adding Metadata to Your Digital Photos
FS—Metadata Basics: How to Keep Your Stories Alive Digitally
Exercises
- * Good: Add descriptions for each of the family history items you receive from others.
- * Proficient: After adding the descriptions, make notes of missing information you want to investigate.