| Home What Story and Why How to Tell
What's New Blog Life Story Resources Research is Fun Get Started Highlight Site Sample Writing Free Newsletter Articles About Contact Us Privacy Terms
|
Digital Family History – Telling Your Life Story in Multi-Media on CD, Website, EbookOnline or Hard Drive – Preserve Your Story in a Digital FormatWe’ve already discussed the many ways of telling your life story. I’ll admit there is a certain pleasure and comfort that comes from reading a book. There is the feel of the pages, the convenience of taking it with you. Still, today’s technology is affording us some wonderful alternatives.The computer age has been here long enough now that many take a PC for granted. It’s surprising sometimes to recognize that twenty years ago this was an unusual or luxury item and just over ten years ago the Internet was a vast unknown. Today there are desktop computers, laptops/notebooks, PDA’s (personal digital assistants), wireless and broadband online connections, mobile phones ad nauseum. It’s a high-tech world and we might as well get used to it. Even if you are "old school" there are some real advantages to putting your life story into a form that is readily available on a computer and/or online. It certainly makes it easier to edit. The files are stored there and you won’t lose them as easily as discarded pieces of paper or worn and crumpled notebooks. (Do make backups!). Having your story or your family history on a web site is pretty cool. Because you can combine text with some nice visual design (colors, layout, pictures and even audio!) the story of your life can come alive in ways that are limited by just print. What's the Deal with E-Books?I really like the advantage of e-books. What’s that, you ask? An electronic book is a way to put the words into print in a digital format. The files are stored in code, like PDF files (what you see so commonly and read through the free Adobe Acrobat Reader - if you don't already have it on your computer get it now as a free download E-books still have a long way to go to approach the popularity of printed books (and in my opinion will never replace them), but they are rapidly gaining acceptance. The cost is much less than traditional printing, certainly for the writer/publisher, and often for the consumer. Putting your life story into an e-book format can have some real advantages. ***Note:
If you want a better idea of what an
e-book is like you can find many free ones throughout the World Wide
Web. Of course, I’ve mentioned how great the Memorygrabber
e-book is as a life story/family history tool. You can purchase it and
download it right away here.
The value is many times the price.
CD-ROM or DVDA great way to preserve your family history/life story is to a CD-ROM or DVD, complete with audio and video. We touched on this in the Oral History and Video Biography pages. Put Your Story or Family History OnlineWeb sites are a great way to share family stories and history. It can be one person as the "webmaster" or get several involved. It really isn’t as hard or intimidating to create a web site as you might think. Especially when you have those who specifically cater to this service.The primary purpose of Margaret Randall's TellOurLifeStories.com is to get you to write and post some short stories about your life. You can share these stories with just your friends - or the Internet community at large. Another option is MyFamily.com. Explore and you’ll get an idea of what I mean. One of my favorite online family history sites is Family Learn. This site allows family members to all participate in building a family library, by storing personal history stories, uploading photos, images and much more. You don't have to be a genealogist to use and love it. It's a learning experience as you use it and I recommend checking it out. Your Life is Your Story has
partnered with Family Learn and you can create a
beautiful book of memories for a fraction of the typical cost. MemoryPress Books are a great way to share your life story. More info here. Find what works best for you. Maybe it is using one of these services. Perhaps you will simply find some web space and build a site from scratch. Be sure to come back here often as we offer additional help.
***Tip*** You can build great web sites for your biography, life story, family history or for any purpose (especially one that brings lots of great traffic to your site) by using Site Build It! - see more. It's
what I use for this site and if you are serious
about establishing a real Internet presence and/or online business go here to find out more. Online Tribute SitesThe growing trend of tribute online sites for those who have passed on is another option. These memorials in cyberspace are the focus of Legacy.com and Livingtribute.com.Memories Are Forever is a site that provides lots of ideas and assistance for preserving your memories of loved ones who have died. The site is rich in content and community driven with a forum where you can ask questions and learn from others. There are also links to a variety of grief support sites and organizations. There's a lot of sensitivity to the emotions and issues people go through when dealing with the death of a loved one. There's no cost to use the site's resources. Memories Are Forever is a former Highlight Site and you can see the up close information here. I’m also willing to give you some personal direction and answer your questions. Feel free to drop me an email.
Everybody has a story to tell! |
