Starter Kit. Idea 319 of 500. Cluster 15
Digital archives for family papers and photographs, a service Sri Lankans abroad will pay for
The mechanism, from the book
The proof exists in Malabe. What is missing is a thousand small versions of it.
The first step
Scan, restore and catalogue the photographs and papers of three families at cost, and produce a searchable archive with names and dates. Show the result to Sri Lankan families abroad through their associations and quote a price per box. Paid bookings from families who cannot sort their papers any other way are the proof.
- Who pays first
- A Sri Lankan family abroad whose parents' photographs and deeds are fading in a house on the island, and who want them safe before it is sold.
- What leaves today
- Family records decay in humid houses or are thrown out, so the island's personal history is lost instead of preserved and paid for.
Ask first
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what care is needed with family records holding other people's personal details.
- Department of the Registrar of Companies. Ask which business registration suits a scanning and archiving service.
Check before you spend
Who in the family owns the papers and agrees to scanning, how originals are insured while in your care, and where the digital copies are stored.
Find out these three numbers
- What would a family abroad pay per box of papers?
- How many hours does one box take to scan and catalogue?
- How many families in one association have papers waiting?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.