New to Genealogy...What to keep?

[CSGiord]

Hi! I am a newcomer to this hobby. I've been scanning and storing photos, birth and death certificates, diplomas, etc. I figure I should keep these originals, but what about wedding invitations and ceremony programs, birth announcements, and the like. I don't want to get too overwhelmed with paper, but also don't want to discard anything I should be keeping. Sorry if this is a ridiculously basic question, but I'd like to get started correctly from the get-go. Thanks!

[Olde Crone]

Hello and welcome.

If you have room, keep everything! I have been helped immeasurably by bits of ephemera, including a doctor's prescription which gave me a hitherto unknown address, a wedding gift card which led me to an unknown relative, a parish magazine with "letters from America" in the 1840s and much other ephemera. By all means scan it all but let the next generation decide when to throw it away, haha.

OC

[Chris in Sussex]

I agree with OC 100%

When I scan and name documents I can't include every name mentioned in them so when researching, if, I come across a name that sounds familiar I can go back through the original ephemera and hopefully find out why it does.

To enable me to do the search quickly I set up an indexed file of names (surname, first name) of anyone who appears in ephemera and then cross referencing with the scanned item.

It was a real pain for me to set it all up retrospectively but if you are just starting out then it shouldn't be too much of a bother and, believe me, it could save time and frustration in the future!

Chris

[Kit]

I agree too. If you can keep it all.

Also welcome. If you are not aware yet, this hobby is extremely addictive. :)

[CSGiord]

Thanks for the advice!

[Phoenix]

My aunt has a box of such ephemera. She is in a home, and hazy about the past.

If she had put those items on a memory stick, it might not be readable in five years. If she stored it on the cloud, would anyone know the username and password?

Ephemera is likely to have increasing importance as so much of it vanishes from our lives.

Like everyone else says, keep it if possible.