Digitising & Archiving

Digitising isn’t just “scanning stuff” — it’s the fastest way to protect irreplaceable history and make it easier to share with family, community, and future generations. Whether you’re dealing with a shoebox of photos, inherited papers, old VHS tapes, or a lifetime of community involvement, a simple digitising plan helps you preserve what matters without becoming overwhelmed.

TOCAH’s focus is on future-proofing memories of Australian country life at risk of being lost — and digitising is one of the most practical ways to do that. ()

Why digitise?

Digitising helps you:

Physical Protection

Protect originals from heat, humidity, fire, flood, pests and handling damagearkets.

Format Preservation

Preserve fragile formats like tapes, slides and older prints before they degrade

Easy Sharing

Share memories easily with family members (and keep everyone on the same page)

Lasting Legacy

Create a “digital archive” that can be backed up and passed on safely

Smarter Organisation

Search and organise information faster (especially when you add clear file names)

What should you digitise first?

If you’re not sure where to begin, start with items that are most at risk or most important:

Priority 1: Irreplaceable

Family photos (especially unlabeled or older prints)
Letters, diaries, notebooks, handwritten stories
Certificates, awards, military/service records
Oral histories (recordings), interviews, tapes
Photos of property life: stations, farms, homesteads, machinery, workers, events

Priority 2: Community + organisational history

Local club records, show society minutes, CWA, sporting clubs, committees
News clippings, newsletters, programs, flyers, posters
Photos of community events, floods, fires, droughts, rebuilding, celebrations

Priority 3: Nice-to-have (do later)

Duplicates
General paperwork you can already access elsewhere

Best practice scanning guidelines

You don’t need museum-grade gear — just consistent settings and a sensible structure.

Photos (prints)

Scan at 600 dpi (higher if the photo is tiny and you may enlarge later)
Save a “master copy” as TIFF (best quality) if possible
Save an “everyday sharing copy” as JPG (smaller files)

Documents (letters, certificates, pages)

Scan at 300 dpi for most documents
Use PDF for multi-page items (e.g., a booklet)
Use PDF/A if available (archival-friendly PDF format)

Slides & negatives

Scan at 2400–3200 dpi if you can, or use a professional service if the images are valuable

Audio & video (VHS, cassette, miniDV, etc.)

These formats degrade over time — if they matter, prioritise them early and consider using a reputable digitising service for best results.

Sharing, privacy & permissions

Some history is sensitive, especially when it includes:

personal details (addresses, finances, health records)
family conflict or private matters
images/voices of deceased persons
culturally sensitive content

Before sharing publicly (online or in print), consider:

- consent from family where appropriate
- respecting cultural and community protocols
- copyright ownership (letters, photographs, publications)

How TOCAH can help

TOCAH exists to preserve and promote Australian country history — and we welcome community members who want to ensure their records don’t disappear.

If you have:

family archives with strong local history value
community and organisation records that may be lost
oral histories, interviews, or documentary material tied to country living

…we’d love to hear from you.

Learn More

Interested in membership or have history to share?

Contact TOCAH Committee