For the past month, I have been sorting through what seems like an endless collection of personal and family photographs. My goal is to preserve those images I want to keep and purge those that don’t hold as much sentimental value (by purge I don’t necessarily mean “destroy” but rather give photographs to family members or perhaps donate some to hometown historical society).  

So when I learned about the Genealogy Scan Along from my colleague and friend, Denise Levenick (aka The Family Curator), I knew this was the perfect opportunity to jumpstart this endeavor. Starting this week, Denise will host a Genealogy Scan Along at The Family Curator website with tutorials and tips to create a family history photo book. Denise calls it a “virtual scanning bee.” For four weeks, participants will each work on a scanning project (and connect via a Facebook group) following a weekly tutorial and instructions for creating a family history photo book step-by-step.

Image courtesy of Denise Levenick

The Genealogy Scan Along begins on June 21, 2017, so I have a few days to decide what my first scanning project will be. Likely, it will involve photographs from my mother’s side of the family since we are holding our 50th family reunion next month. I have a huge collection of photographs taken in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, (basically up until when I started taking digital photographs).  The first step is to scan them all and then possibly make them into keepsakes or albums. I look forward to learning from Denise, who is the author of How to Archive Family Photos. Plus, it will be fun to scan with friends!

I have already joined the Genealogy Scan Along Facebook Group. I believe this will be an enjoyable and productive way to tackle this important project. Won’t you join me?