Families we have worked with
Accounts from the families themselves.
— ✦ —The most honest description of our work comes from the people who have engaged us. Below are accounts shared with permission, written in their own words.
Back to Homepage14+
Years of practice
180+
Families assisted
4.8
Average rating from clients
96%
Would refer us to others
Client accounts
What families have written
— ✦ —Wong Li-Fen
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur
"When my father passed, we found shelves and shelves of books in his study — many of them quite old. My siblings and I had no idea what to do with them or how to even describe them to each other. Rafikah came three times over two weeks. She was calm, thorough, and explained everything she was doing. The catalogue she produced is something I return to regularly. It feels like a proper record of who he was."
May 2025 — Bookshelf Archive Programme
Zainudin Amin
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
"I attended the Inventory Workshop after my mother moved into a care facility and left me with a house full of papers I did not know how to organise. The workbook was practical — perhaps more practical than I expected from a half-day session. I left with everything in order and a folder I could actually use. My only note is that the session could perhaps run a little longer. I had more documents than anticipated."
April 2025 — Inventory Workshop
Priya Nambiar
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
"I bought the Heritage Reading Card when I was not yet ready to engage anyone professionally. It helped me understand what I was looking at before I spoke to anyone. By the time I called Heritageford, I could describe the collection clearly and ask sensible questions. That preparation made the whole conversation more useful."
April 2025 — Heritage Reading Card
Tan Ruey-Lin
Ampang, Selangor
"My grandmother collected books in English, Chinese, and Malay across sixty years. I was concerned that a cataloguer would not be equipped for the variety of the collection. Heritageford handled it with complete ease. Each volume is described accurately in the catalogue, and the condition notes are precise without being alarmist. The printed catalogue itself is beautifully produced."
May 2025 — Bookshelf Archive Programme
Suriani Bte Hassan
Setapak, Kuala Lumpur
"What I appreciated most was that they were honest about what they do and do not do. There were questions I had about certain documents that they could not answer — and they said so clearly, and suggested I speak to an appropriate professional. That kind of clarity is rare and genuinely useful."
March 2025 — Inventory Workshop
Krishnamoorthy Hegde
Subang Jaya, Selangor
"My late uncle had several hundred volumes, some of them quite fragile. The team handled every book carefully and described the condition honestly without making the situation feel worse than it was. We now have a catalogue that the whole family can refer to. It helped us have conversations about the collection that we had been putting off for two years."
May 2025 — Bookshelf Archive Programme
In depth
Three families, three situations
— ✦ —Case study — May 2025
A collection divided between four siblings in three cities
The situation
Four adult children had inherited a large collection of books and papers from their mother in Kuala Lumpur. They lived in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Singapore and could not agree on how to divide or describe the collection without first knowing what it contained.
What we did
We carried out the Bookshelf Archive Programme across four visits, producing a typed catalogue of 340 volumes. The digital archive was shared with all four siblings simultaneously, giving each of them the same information at the same time.
The result
The family used the catalogue to discuss and agree on the distribution of the collection by email, without requiring any of them to travel. The printed catalogue was presented to the eldest sibling as a record of their mother's reading life. The process took three weeks from enquiry to delivery.
"Having the catalogue gave us a shared language. Before that, every conversation about my mother's books ended in confusion because nobody knew what the others were referring to."
— One of the four siblings
Case study — April 2025
An adult son preparing to sort his father's papers
The situation
A man in his early fifties had recently been made responsible for managing his elderly father's household. He found boxes of papers going back thirty years and did not know where to begin. He had not yet looked at most of them.
What we did
He attended the Inventory Workshop and brought a selection of the papers with him. Over the half-day session, he sorted them into the folder provided, labelled each category, and completed the inventory template. He left with a clear structure for the remaining boxes.
The result
He completed the remaining sorting himself over two weekends using the same folder structure. He later contacted us to say that having the workshop first had made the rest of the work manageable. He did not engage us for further services, which was the right outcome for his situation.
Case study — March 2025
A family who wanted to understand before committing
The situation
A woman in her forties had an older relative with a significant collection of printed materials but was not sure whether engaging a cataloguing service was appropriate or necessary. She wanted to understand the process before making any decision.
What we did
She purchased the Heritage Reading Card and read it over several days. She then wrote to us with specific questions. We answered them and described what the Bookshelf Archive Programme would involve for a collection of that type and size.
The result
She decided to proceed with the full programme. She told us afterward that the Reading Card had made the difference — she would not have felt comfortable engaging anyone without understanding what she was agreeing to. The catalogue was completed in February 2025.
Reach us
Contact details
— ✦ —Saturday: 9.00 am – 1.00 pm
Professional recognition
Malaysian Institute of Records Management
Affiliate member since 2017
Registered Adult Education Provider
Ministry of Education, 2021
Best Practice Commendation
Archival Standards Advisory Committee, April 2025
Add your family's account
We work with one family at a time.
— ✦ —Write to us or telephone to begin a conversation about what your family holds and how we might help bring it into order.
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