It's a concern that lingers in the mind of just about every digital photographer: "How do I preserve my digital images and make them accessible while doing so?"

If you've had those thoughts, then help is available now. My latest LinkedIn Learning/lynda.com title, Organizing and Archiving Digital Photos is a complete course that shows you a variety of options and techniques to take control of protecting your image collection.

Here's an introduction to the course that will give you a feel for its approach.

As your photo library grows, it becomes more important to back up your work. In this course, I teach the concepts and techniques behind efficient photo management for the long haul. First, I compare a few selected photo storage philosophies and techniques. I then show you how to create an ultralight backup system for travel, also back up photos stored on a laptop (or desktop), and finally, review archiving strategies for storing photos for decades.

Here are just a few of the talking points that I cover in the training.

• Creating an ultralight backup system for travel.
• Sending images from cameras to mobile devices.
• Internal vs. external hard drives (both have their roles).
• Organizing photos in managed vs. referenced catalogs vs. Finder-based.
• Re-archiving images from older hard drives (do this before they fail!).
• Integrating cloud services into your overall strategy.
• Including a few tips you might not have considered, such as making archival prints of your best images.

You can start fine-tuning your workflow today by watching Organizing and Archiving Digital Photos on LinkedIn Learning and on lynda.com. It's a great way to begin the process of protecting your digital media for years to come.

You can share your thoughts at the TDS Facebook page, where I'll post this story for discussion.