Blog
Organizing, Preserving, and Disaster-Proofing Your Family Archive
- August 24, 2025
- Posted by: Melody Daisson
- Category: Uncategorized
A Revolutionary Approach to Family History
Welcome to “Organizing, Preserving, and Disaster-Proofing Your Family Archive” – a comprehensive course designed to transform you from an overwhelmed “keeper of the stuff” into a skilled family archivist who can professionally organize, preserve, and safeguard your family’s treasures for future generations.
We all have family archives, whether we think of them that way or not. As family historians, we often become the designated guardians of papers, digital files, photos, and precious keepsakes that tell our family’s story. This innovative course teaches you to think like professional archivists while providing practical, actionable strategies for home-based family collections.
What Makes This Course Unique
Rather than letting family treasures deteriorate in cardboard boxes and digital chaos, you’ll master a systematic approach to family archival management through three essential areas:
- Professional Organization Techniques: Learn archival-quality methods for sorting, cataloging, and storing diverse materials from photographs to digital files
- Preservation Best Practices: Master techniques for protecting documents, photos, and keepsakes from deterioration using affordable, accessible materials
- Collaboration and Legacy Planning: Develop strategies for sharing with family members, digitizing for broader access, and creating succession plans for your archive
Was your ancestor’s trunk filled with century-old letters and mysterious photographs? Through hands-on exercises and personalized consultations, you’ll learn to safely handle delicate materials, identify preservation priorities, and create systems that work for your specific collection and living situation.
You’ll become a detective of family artifacts, learning to read the clues that help identify mystery photos and understand the stories behind family keepsakes. This isn’t just about organization—it’s about ensuring your family’s legacy survives for generations while making it accessible and meaningful to living relatives.
Meet Your Course Coordinator
Annette Burke Lyttle, CG®, owns Heritage Detective, LLC, and is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She is a course coordinator for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the British Institute, and editor of The Florida Genealogist. Annette specializes in helping people uncover and share their family stories through research, education, and writing.
Meet Your Expert Faculty
Melissa Barker is a Certified Archives Manager and Public Historian at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives & Museum. Known as “The Archive Lady,” she has been a Professional Genealogist for 20 years and lectures internationally on genealogy research processes, archival research, and records preservation. She writes the popular blog A Genealogist in the Archives.
Carol Roberts serves as Director of the Bedford County, Tennessee Archives and Records Department after 33 years as Conservator of the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Her expertise encompasses physical preservation of original records, microfilming, and digital imaging of state and local records for long-term preservation.
Allyson Maughn, AG, holds an Accredited Genealogist credential in the Southwest Region from ICAPGen and a BS from Idaho State University. She lectures on pictures, methodology, and writing at national conferences, including SLIG and RootsTech. As a UGA board member and APG member, she specializes in photo organization and digital preservation strategies.
Laura Kovarik holds an undergraduate degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Illinois and completed advanced training in Family Archiving: Heirlooms in the Digital Age at GRIP. With 30+ years in genealogy and experience as Illinois State Genealogical Society education chair, she specializes in organizing and digitizing family archives, particularly 3-D artifacts and heirlooms.
Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, helps clients with photo-related genealogical problems. Her pioneering work in historic photo research has earned her the title “the nation’s foremost historical photo detective” by The Wall Street Journal and led to appearances on The View, The Today Show, Pawn Stars, and other national media. As a renowned expert in photographic identification and preservation, Maureen brings unparalleled expertise in helping families unlock the stories hidden in their historic photographs and properly preserve these irreplaceable visual treasures.
Note: Each student will have the opportunity for a personalized one-on-one consultation with a faculty member to address their specific archival challenges.
Ready to Begin Your Journey?
This engaging and interactive course will equip you with practical tools to organize, preserve, safely store, and share your family archives while developing a solid plan for their future care. This isn’t just another organization course—it’s your pathway to becoming the skilled guardian your family’s history deserves.