Apologies if this isn't the right sub. Over the last fifteen years, I've been documenting a family's experiences in China (1920s to 1980) as a hobby. I have a growing pile of mostly notebooks with my notes, figures, and drawings, and physical/digital pictures as well as audio files from interviews. Some day I hope to write historical fiction and maybe some magazine type articles based on this research. My problems are that 1) There's too much to keep lugging this stuff around. 2) Finding specific information is terribly time consuming. 3) I'm worried that it could all disappear in a fire. 4) I still have some sentimental attachment to some of the notebooks.

Could someone point me in the right direction for how I can organize, digitize, and store this stuff? A book or method? Do professionals keep original copies/notebooks or is there a time when you don't need them anymore?

Thank you in advance!