In case you missed all the hoopla that resulted from a recent article published in the March edition of the AARP Bulletin (20 Tips to Declutter Your Home), I urge you to go read the article and then the rebuttal from my fellow Buckeye and professional genealogist, Amy Johnson Crowe – Don’t Burn Your Family Letters When You Declutter. Feel free to add your two cents worth – or better yet, write a blog post about it and leave a link in the comments! (I’ve written a few articles about the letters that I have!)
Do you add metadata to your digital photos? I guess the bigger question would be do you know why you should? You know all those boxes/albums full of old family photos that you have? How many times do you think “why didn’t anyone list who, what, why, where, when, and how?” so you wouldn’t be left scratching your head and trying to figure out that information. Metadata serves the same purpose. It gives you the information you need – as well as a source. Did you inherit it from your paternal grandmother? Was it part of a scrapbook from your favorite aunt? Was it a loose photo stuck inside a Bible or letter? You will want to source all of that so in five years when you pull up a photo from the cloud or your hard drive, you aren’t scratching your head trying to put it in the right context. Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist has written a wonderful article about this – Repeat: an image citation how-to. Go read!
Yesterday, I posted a photo of Ellis Island and a link to Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak’s article about Annie Moore. Last night, Megan posted on Facebook that she had found Annie’s relatives! Here is the story – Generation Saga: Relatives of Annie Moore Traced. Fascinating story!
This past week, the story of the Purple Heart found at a Goodwill store was making the rounds on Facebook. Within 24 hours, a family member had been found! Power of social networking! Here’s just one article about it – Purple Heart Found at Goodwill.
Last but certainly not least, I want to call your attention to a photo/travel blog with excellent photos of landscapes, nature, events, and animals. Recently, Broughton Images spent a day in Dallas photographing the skyline. Go check it out! You can also follow on Facebook.
All My Branches Genealogy 
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