Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Image Storage Formats and Media...What To Do?

"Here's the bottom line: Storing images today in a common format (JPG, GIF, TIFF, PDF, etc.) on any sort of common storage media is an excellent method of making sure that the images remain available for future generations of genealogists. In theory, creating images today in a common file format and storing those images on CD disks, DVD disks, or even online, ensures that such information could remain available for 100 years, 200 years, or even longer."

That statement was made by Dick Eastman, our seminar speaker on 13 February 2010, in a recent article in his online newsletter. The article is an in-depth discussion of the problems genealogists face when deciding how to store images...microfilm, digitally, paper, pdf, jpg, disc, USB drive, etc.

Dick, as most of you know, is a technology-oriented guy, and that background gives him a unique perspective on the problem of image storage. The quote above is his "bottom line," but reading the entire article to see how he got there is well worth the time. The issue he addresses is of great importance to us all.

Dick's article is at: http://tinyurl.com/yaw7cws

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