Firstly, using the DVD example, when I look at the collection of photos on the DVD, the only information I have about these photos is that I know they are of my friend and are related to her trip. I do not know exactly when or where the photos were taken. I will be able to gather some sense of time passing (from the tans they got), as well as from the groups of similar photos which indicate a particular event. The stories about these photos do not come with the DVD and the photos themselves are do not tell me enough of the story. I want to know what the context was for taking the photo - the stories that make the photos meaningful to my friend. 

Secondly, I can say with fair certainty that those 1500 photos will contain multiples of the same event and some very similar photos, as well as some dud photos where someone's face is half cut off or something like that. It seems to be an increasing trend with the rise of digital photography to keep all photos, even the ones that did not turn out right. The reason for this may be that moving photos from a camera onto a computer is more easily done in bulk. It may be that once the photos are 'stored' on the computer, people see no need to get rid of them. Because storage is so simple, easy and cheap - there are no physical artefacts like albums, or even photos themselves - it is easier to just put them all into a folder and 'save' them. By performing this action, even the dud photos become part of the new, digital story being told with these photo collections. To me though, this new story is like listening to an old aunt's story at Christmas which goes on and on with intricate detail and has no real meaning for anyone else. 

Thirdly, and this point is related to online hosting of these photos, it takes a significant amount of time and bandwidth to look at online collections of photos. I do not know if you have noticed, but on Facebook, when you are looking through someone's photo album, after you have viewed a few photos, the program and internet start to slow down and you get that round 'loading' icon. Slow down to me means boredom. Now my internet connection is not the greatest, but it is not as bad as many. However, the last thing I want to do in a site such as Facebook is watch the 'loading' symbol. 

Facebook and other sites where photos can be shared have great tools which provide a user space to write stories and name the photos. I particularly love tagging of people and places in photos and having them link back to a profile - a tool which gives greater context and meaning to photos, collections and our 'digital selves'. However, I think that the art of storytelling and a critical eye is being lost in digital personal recordkeeping. When sharing photos I think it is critical to understand what you are trying to say with your photos. Not everyone is a born storyteller, but everyone, I think, has a sense of story and can construct meaning in useful ways. 

Unfortunately, our computers generally do not have the right tools to help us organise our photos so that they have meaning over time. We can create useful folder and document titles and even add information into the properties fields if we want to - but seriously, who does? With the practice of dumping all photos into albums onto the computer, finding the right photo again years later can be a problem. There are programs out there that can be installed on home computers to help organise photos. Not everyone can afford them though and I would have concerns about adding any extra info  - will the extra info transfer to other storage mediums without the program?

Personal recordkeeping is important. How many of the photos you have taken with your digital camera do you consider vitally important? How long do you think that you would need to hold onto these photos? 10 years? 20 years? Will you be able to find that funny photo with the monkey from your trip 20 years into the future? How would you search for it? You probably won't be using the same computer 20 years into the future, so where will the photos be stored? How will they stored? Will they be organised? 

Some other things to remember about personal recordkeeping that I have not mentioned here and might consider writing another blog post about is disaster proofing those records you consider vital. It is great to back up and we all be doing this, but what if your house burns down, or the robber takes the laptop and the external back up drive attached to it? Personal recordkeeping in the cloud is something to very seriously consider, but the cloud is not entirely free, so there needs to be some consideration of what exactly needs to be stored and where.