my latest blog post New Ideas in Digital Scrapbooking
John Giacchino had been collecting data about his Italian American house for years. He had house trees, portrait photographs, immigration and census records, Wwii registration cards, historical maps of the Philadelphia streets where his grandfather grew up, photographs from a house visit back to the villages, silent film (converted to video) of his Dad in high school and in the army, detailed biographies of most of his ancestors - and he had audio of his grandmother - now deceased - talking about her trip to America as a exiguous girl.
New Ideas in Digital Scrapbooking
John also had relatives spread over the United States, as well as back in Italy. And he knew it was time to do something with all this stuff for all these people. But what?
The talk was a digital scrapbook. Not the kind that puts pretty borders nearby digital photographs - although there is nothing wrong with that. No, he needed a bigger solution. Something versatile adequate to include all his material. For John, he had four main choices. But first, he had to make sure his stuff was in the right format.
Digital file formats
In all cases, material must be digitized. It must be in a form that a computer can read. That means you may need to scan your photographs (Jpeg format should do, scanned at no less than 300ppi) and digitize your documents (I like the Pdf format). Audio should be in the uncompressed Aiff format and video should be converted to Quicktime.
Will these formats last forever? Probably not, but if the time to come is whatever like the present then there will be citizen and programs nearby that will enable your descendants to change these file formats lickity-split.
Digital Scrapbook Options
In digital scrapbooking, there are four main options: What I call the Digital Briefcase; the Website; the Digital Presentation; and the Video Biography.
The Digital Briefcase
This is the simplest form of digital scrapbook. It is a virtual portfolio with virtual pockets. You might have one with all your scrapbook files right now in your computer - although it might not yet be as tidy as it should be. If you don't, then it is easy to create. All you need to do is create a scholar file and a estimate of sub-files. Then just slot all your material in.
Naming is important. John would name the top file "The Giacchino Family" and he would have sub-files surface each of his grandparents' biographies. Within each of the sub-files, you might create new files agreeing to the material - photographs, video, audio, and so on. It's a good idea to include a "read me first" document in the top file (maybe in Pdf or plain text) setting out what you have done and what you have included.
Once that file hierarchy is established and you have filled the bins, you can copy the scholar file to a Cd or a Dvd or an iPod or a flash drive or any other storehouse gadget and you can sent it or even email it all nearby the house and all nearby the world. Extra large digital files can be sent by vendors like YouSendIt.
The Website
This is not as crazy or as hard as it sounds. A web page - along with its sub-pages - is a powerful package for biographical data and holds and plays video and audio and displays text and photographs with ease. You can of course link to other blogs and websites.
Creating a web-site from scratch is beyond most people. But a blog is easy. Go to Blogger or WordPress (Blogger is a exiguous easier to use) and upload your digitized material there. The great thing is that it's free, can be accessed anytime in any place in the world, and can be updated by you or whatever with your log-in details. (You can even make it like a progressive banquet nearby the family, each field of the house adding pages relating to them.)
You can look at a whole bunch house digital scrapbook style websites by browsing GeneaBloggers.com.
There are also some vendors who will host biographical material for a fee. But with what a blog can deliver, for free, I don't see the need myself.
The Digital Presentation
Most folks in enterprise are very familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint. You can use it to organize personal or house biography page slides with pictures and text and you can embed video and audio and even hyperlinks. The schedule is kind of costly - but what a lot of citizen don't know is that you don't need the schedule to view a PowerPoint presentation. Just burn a Cd using the "package for Cd" button and any computer will play it.
If PowerPoint is out of your league, why not try the new open source equivalent - Open Office? It has much of the functionality (including the potential to embed images, audio and video) and can be downloaded for free from OpenOffice.org.
John Giacchino didn't go with the Website choice or the Digital Presentation. Both can be run from a computer but not the Tv. John wanted a Dvd he could send nearby to the relatives.
The Video Biography
Video biography is scrapbooking gone wild. You can join all your media - images, documents, text, music, video and audio into one continuous house biography presentation that will play on Tv via Dvd as well as all of the new digital devices like iPods and iPads (and other cell phones) as well as the web.
You do need video editing software to make a video biography digital scrapbook. Apple offers iMovie and Pc offers MovieMaker that are both more than equal to the task. And there is nothing quite like watching all your hard work arrival alive in a multimedia extravaganza delivered in wide screen on a Tv near you!
Creating a video biography digital scrapbook is especially powerful for video memoirs, life story documentary, tribute video and personal history videos
Which is best?
The great news is that for the ardent scrapbooker there are 4 great options to go digital and to elevate your creativity to new levels. As well as containing all your material, the other great benefit of each of these options is that they can be reproduced in endless numbers and shared all nearby the family!
Ultimately, the right choice will depend on your needs. John Giacchino wanted something that his folks could play using existing Tv and Dvd technology so he went for the video biography. If your audience is more computer-literate, then the Website or Digital Presentation may suit best. And if you just want to share the data without too many bells and whistles, think about the Digital Briefcase. And have fun!
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