Archive family photographs on Delkin gold CDs
Every year I research –yet again–the options for archiving family photos and mpg/audio files to see if anything has changed.
Two hours on the phone this week verified what I recommended last year, which is Delkin professional-grade gold CDs purchased from B&H photo. Not gold DVDs,and I will explain why. You can store hundreds of photos and videos on a DVD, as opposed to the current 700 MB limit of a CD. However, due to the difference in how each is made, a Delkin gold CD will keep data stable for 300 years, as opposed to 100 years for a gold DVD. (Technology changes every day, hence my annual search to verify archival materials.)
I do not recommend the other, cheaper brands found at Sams, Walmart, drug stores, etc. If you want to sleep at night (or just plain old die) knowing that your family photos are stored in the best archival manner possible, spend an extra thirty bucks and get the professional-grade.
Lastly, be sure to scan at a minimum of 300 dpi and create TIFF files and not jpg files, because a jpg file loses a few kilobytes of data every single time you click into it. (Do your own test and see.) A TIFF file retains its integrity. From the high-res TIFF, you can create a jpg of any size.