Provo, Utah -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/12/2007 -- WorldVitalRecords.com announced today a new genealogical service to preserve photos, documents, videos, and slides.

“The idea behind our Preservation Package was to provide a much broader dimension into helping people preserve their family legacy. With thousands of printed photographs and old videos that can become damaged or deteriorate, it only made sense for us to offer a service that allowed people to convert their items to a digital format. It has never been easier nor more cost effective to do that than today,” said Scott Spencer, Call Center Manager, WorldVitalRecords.com. “Customers can experience the piece of mind knowing their precious memories are safe and secure. Best of all, they can share them with family and friends quickly and easily, anywhere, any time, online through FamilyLink.com.”

Many people have stacks of videotapes and old photos at home. Unfortunately, the quality will not last. For example, videotapes have an expected life of 7-15 years before the quality deteriorates, whereas DVD’s have an expected life of 100-500 years. Over time, photos and film can fade, discolor, deteriorate, dry out, or become brittle, regardless of how well they are stored.

In an effort to preserve these valuable tapes, photos, and documents, WorldVitalRecords.com now offers the following Preservation Package services:

• Converting 8mm, 16mm, miniDVs, and VHS tapes to a DVD
• Scanning photos and documents
• Digitizing slides and negatives
• Secure storage filing
WorldVitalRecords.com decided to offer this service after discovering that 91 percent of the WorldVitalRecords.com survey panel said they were concerned about preserving their family photos, videos, and/or documents in a digital format.
“I really see the need for digitizing documents, photographs, and other family history artifacts. These items that we have been collecting throughout our lives can be digitized so that they can be easily shared using the Internet, modern social networks, as well as emails,” said David Lifferth, President, WorldVitalRecords.com. “We should share these artifacts with friends and family who need them for their own family history research, as well as to preserve them for posterity.”
The stories on the importance of preserving photos and old documents are endless. For example, an employee at WorldVitalRecords.com mentioned that recently the water pipe broke in his basement. He had lots of photos nearby that were almost ruined. Other catastrophes such as the fires in San Diego and Hurricane Katrina have also caused many people to realize the importance of converting their heirlooms to a digital format for backup and preservation.
“A few years back we had some of our genealogy stuff in boxes in our garage. We had a flood, and it ruined everything in the boxes. I called my uncle the night before he died, and he gave me some information on my grandmother’s family, including information on our family line from Denmark. I wrote it down and had it with some other genealogy papers in my garage. All of that information was destroyed in the flood and no one has been able to track it back since. Everything that has to do with genealogy is in the house now,” said Alice Danby, Provo, UT.

One of the benefits of using WorldVitalRecords.com’s scanning services is that individuals have the option of having WorldVitalRecords.com upload all of their photos, and also store them for free on a secure server at FamilyLink.com, a social network for genealogists.

Half of WorldVitalRecords.com panel members said they were interested in a service that could upload their photos to a secure site to share with other family members of their choice.

Preservation packages are priced very competitively at WorldVitalRecords.com. Some packages are 50-70% off of the retail value.

Individuals can take advantage of this new offer by calling WorldVitalRecords.com at its toll-free number (1-888-377-0588).

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Media Contact
Whitney Ransom
Corporate Communications Director
World Vital Records, Inc.
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com
whitney@worldvitalrecords.com

About World Vital Records, Inc.
Founded in 2006, by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, World Vital Records, Inc. provides affordable genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 350,000 monthly visitors and nearly 20,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to extend your family tree. World Vital Records also runs FamilyLink.com, a social network for genealogists, and We're Related, a popular Facebook application. Partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Ancestral Quest, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch™. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.