The Keeper's Page: A Practical Inventory of Accounts, Devices and Subscriptions

The purpose of a keeper's page

A digital inventory is a directory of the digital material and services that make up a person's records. It answers four practical questions: what exists, where it lives, what device or account holds it, and who knows about it. It does not need to contain every filename or every transaction. Its first job is to prevent important material from becoming invisible because nobody knows which computer, email address or storage service contains it.

A useful first version can fit on one or two pages. For example, it might list a home computer containing scanned letters, a cloud account containing photographs, an external drive holding an older backup, and a telephone with voice recordings. Each entry should point towards the material and explain any dependency that could prevent another person from locating it.

• Record the material or service.
• Identify its physical or online location.
• Name the device or account associated with it.
• Identify the person who knows where it is.
• Record the last date the entry was confirmed.

Begin with devices and storage locations

List the computers, tablets, telephones, external drives, memory cards and network storage devices that may contain personal records. Include a short description of each device, its usual location and the type of information it holds. A device entry should identify the manufacturer and model where useful, but a clear household description such as 'silver laptop used for family photographs' can also help someone distinguish it from another computer.

Storage location is not always the same as physical location. A photograph library may be synchronised between a telephone and a cloud account, while the original files are also stored on an external drive. Record each known copy and indicate whether it is a synchronised copy, an independent backup or the only known version. This distinction prevents a reader from mistaking a second view of the same cloud material for an independent preservation copy.

• Computers and portable devices.
• External hard drives and solid-state drives.
• Memory cards and removable media.
• Cloud storage and synchronised folders.
• Network-attached storage and shared household computers.

Make online accounts identifiable

A list of online accounts for family use should identify the provider, the account holder, the associated email address or username, the purpose of the account and the material it contains. Include accounts used for photographs, email, document storage, genealogy, social communication, shopping and subscriptions. An account may be important even when it contains no original documents, because it may control access to a separate storage service or device backup.

Keep passwords, recovery codes and authentication secrets out of an ordinary inventory document. Record where the authorised access information is maintained and identify the person who knows how to locate it. The account inventory should also note whether two-factor authentication is enabled and whether access depends on a particular telephone or email address. Provider procedures for inactive accounts and access by other people vary by service and location.

• Provider and account purpose.
• Account holder and identifying email address.
• Material stored or managed by the account.
• Associated devices and recovery dependencies.
• Location of separately maintained access information.

Include subscriptions and recurring services

Subscriptions are easy to overlook because they may be paid automatically and rarely require attention. Record the service name, the account associated with it, the general purpose, the billing frequency and where renewal information can be found. Examples include cloud storage, photograph services, domain registration, software licences and online document services. A subscription can be important to an archive when continued payment or account access is required to reach stored material.

For each service, establish whether the underlying files can be downloaded independently. A cloud storage subscription may contain the only accessible copy of a document collection, while a software subscription may merely provide editing tools for files already stored locally. These are different dependencies. Record any known export or cancellation information and identify the provider's current instructions for retaining material when an account closes.

• Service name and purpose.
• Associated account and email address.
• Renewal or billing frequency.
• Material that depends on the service.
• Known export or cancellation information.

Use consistent filenames and photograph dates

A photograph collection becomes easier to catalogue when filenames follow a predictable pattern. A useful convention is YYYYMMDD followed by a sequence number and, where helpful, a short description. For example, 19840615_001_FamilyGarden.jpg places a photograph from 15 June 1984 in chronological order. If the exact day is unknown, use the known level of precision in a separate catalogue field rather than inventing a complete date.

Photo metadata explained in simple terms begins with the distinction between a filename and the information embedded in the image. EXIF can contain the camera's capture date and settings, while IPTC and XMP can contain descriptive information. A filename can help sorting, but renaming alone does not repair an incorrect embedded date. Preserve the original file and record the basis for any estimated date. If an image is scanned from a printed photograph, distinguish the scanning date from the date the photograph was originally taken.

• Use year, month and day in that order where known.
• Use sequential numbers to distinguish photographs from the same day.
• Preserve the original filename in the catalogue.
• Record approximate dates as approximate.
• Distinguish capture dates from scanning and file-creation dates.

Choose formats that remain usable

Long-term file formats for photos should be widely supported and suitable for the material being preserved. JPEG is common and broadly readable, making it practical for ordinary photographs. TIFF is often useful for high-quality scans and preservation masters because it can retain substantial image information without the same lossy compression associated with typical JPEG saving. PNG is useful for graphics and certain scanned or screen-derived images, although it is not automatically the best choice for every photograph.

A format decision should account for image quality, metadata, storage space and the software likely to be available later. Avoid repeatedly opening and saving a JPEG when no image edit is required, because each lossy re-encoding can reduce quality. Keep the original file format where possible and create a separate access copy if conversion is needed. Record any conversion in the inventory so that the relationship between original and derivative remains clear.

• JPEG: widely compatible for everyday photographic access.
• TIFF: useful for high-quality preservation scans.
• PNG: useful for graphics and images requiring lossless storage.
• Original camera formats: retain when they contain material that matters to the archive.

A one-page inventory template

The following fields provide a workable starting point. Keep entries short enough to scan quickly. Where information is unknown, write 'unknown' or 'to be located'. A blank field can look like an omission, whereas an explicit note tells the next keeper that the subject has been considered. Include a date on the page and identify who maintains it.

This page is an organising aid, not a legal document. It does not grant access to an account, establish ownership or replace a provider's account procedures. For questions about account authority, inheritance or other formal arrangements, consult the relevant provider or an appropriately qualified professional. To begin, complete one entry for the main computer and one for the primary photograph storage account.

• Record or service: what is it?
• Location: where is it physically or online?
• Device or account: which one holds or controls it?
• Contents: what kind of material is present?
• Access information: where is the authorised information kept?
• Known person: who knows where it is, and when was this entry last confirmed?

Questions readers ask