Introduction
The Role of This Book

Fourteen years ago, my husband and I bought and moved into our first house as a couple. I began unpackiing personal papers and heirlooms that had been boxed in apartments for years. They would have taken up too much space in our cramped quarters for me to permit their release from confinement, but our new home afforded us the room to settle in and unpack the things that represented our family memories. As I worked, I took time out to flip through long-neglected albums and began noticing problems with them. All of the causes for concern were common preservation issues I confront every day as an archivist: The images of my childhood in the 1970s were beginning to discolor. The glue on the "magnetic" pages on which the pictures were stuck, not intending to budge, was browning. I found that I needed professional skills in my personal life. Up until that time, I primarily thought of applying my archives background to collections within institutions. Afte this experience, I began thinking of all archives (records with long-term value) and personal memorablilia within anyone's possesion as mini "collections," requiring similar care to those materials housed in professional repositories.

Chapter One: Your Story
Personal Narrative

A narrative is a series of descriptions about connected events that form a story. Your personal narrative is the account of your life that includes details providing a well-rounded view of your personality and existence. This book focuses on archives as the foundation for your own personal tale. I aim to show you which documents reveal your individual narrative to reflect your unique and valuable presonal history.