With so much more available today, it's not a question of what do we leave behind for our ancestors to find - but what shouldn't they find?

Do we leave copies of our tax returns? School reports? How about bank statements? Do we really want them to know how much money we did or didn't have - and what we spent that money on? I suppose it depends on who you are and whether or not you won't mind your descendants finding that kind of information.

But it's also important to know what to keep as well as what to censor and what to throw away. And it does come down to such things as:

• Keeping up to date with the filing
• Having strict instructions for your records upon your demise
• Having anyone interested in keeping the family history tradition alive
• Having a will
• Keeping boxes marked and contents listed.

Whether your collection of papers is of significance to more than just the family. Would your collection be better housed where others would see them. Prominant and famous people, writers, actors, musicians, scientists and inventors - anything that has made a difference to other people's lives should be treated differently from those of us "normal" folk. And sometimes we are not the best people to decide.

But one thing I will say - if you don't want to be embarrassed by what you leave behind, make sure you also remember about all those things you've sent on to other people. Letters you have written for example - because once you have given them away, you no longer have any right to their keeping.