Genealogy Chat

I must add to all those who are thinking of starting to sort it all out.....do it! I have taken all these wonderful tips and I go straight to where I need to go now....instead of plodding through huge files.... Thanks to everyone, with their suggestions... Sal x

Everyone is so organised!!!!! I have a filing cabinet (one drawer - hubby puts household bills and other boring stuff in the other one). In the drawer are about 30+ hanging files. Each one is allocated to a surname with a tag on the top edge so you can see the names easily. There is no system to the names allocated. Just if I start to get a lot of paper in one file, I take the file out and go through what's in it.........try to separate into two different surnames (usually possible) and allocate a new hanging file to the separated material. This is much easier than putting stuff in ring binders, because it doesn't matter what size the pieces of paper are and you don't have to go looking for the hole punch, or sweep up after your child has taken the bottom off it ''to see what would happen''!! I have no written trees, summary sheets, or anything like that drawn up for anyone - I used to, but realised I didn't use them for anything!! I also have no reference numbers/letters for anything and absolutely nothing is colour coordinated (except my bra and pants, obviously!), All the data I have is on my 'puter and all documents, newspaper clippings, articles, photos, absolutely EVERYTHING is scanned and attached to the tree on my family history program. I never go into the cabinet, EVER....except to file something away. If I want to see something I just look on the puter file! I have no hard copies of any census data - it's all on the 'puter (703 pages to date!). I have a hanging file of birth certs, another of marriage and another of deaths in alphabetical order. Also a file of wills in alphabetical, but again, I NEVER look at any of this because it's all scanned and attached to the various files on my family history program. Obviously, everything on the puter is backed up in several different ways.......if this was lost it would be a huge job to reconstruct!!!! If a meteorite hits this room and I survive, I will take up knitting....... Merry

Perhaps i need to take note. I started to keep information i had collected, then once i was convinced it was correct and had been added to my tree on my computer............. i put it in the bin. Anything i am not sure of i keep it to go bacl to later. Is it worth keeping all the paper info? Please give me advice as i need to elarn from other as still quite new to this. thanks deb

There are many useful ideas on this thread but whatever method you choose you will probably need to be flexible and be ready to change methods not just once but many times. I have organised mine in the big ring files with colour dividers in the past, but when I then collected so much info that the ring binders broke, spilling their contents continually and became too heavy to lift to higher shelves, I changed to using the smaller files, and as well as division by surnames I also divide the ancestry into their centuries and their various villages. towns and cities, so I have files for Bloggs + Brigstock+ 1700's and Bloggs+Barnwell +1800s and Bloggs + London+1900's etc. Doing it this way has made me concentrate on a particular name, place and era which is working well for me at this present moment. I used to keep the certs separate, but now I like to keep all the certs with the person I have, so Joe Bloggs bap 1798 has his bap cert from parish in his village file with his marriage cert of 1839 and childrens certs with his will and gravestone photo and army history. One child becomes grandfather so another file is then created taking out that person's B Cert. Organising family history gets more intricate the more information you have. There are no easy ways of doing it and you will change direction many many times. Janet

Deb, The only trouble with throwing something away is that if someone else queries how you have a particular fact (or even you yourself wonder, ages after you found the original info!) you may not remember how you found it or worked something out! However, if you record all your source info then it may not matter so much as you would be able to ''re-find'' the source, though it might take longer! Probaby best to keep stuff that's not easy to find again and get rid of stuff that is easy to re-trace. If you have a tree program where you can record notes about things you have discovered that might help too. Merry

hi merry monty. You have made some points there, thank you. I shall bear that in mind. deb

Hi all, but like I said on one thread before, its ok putting certs into acid free files ect but god forbid if there was a fire !! I'm going to but a metal file box from stationary box, to put inside my wooden file cabinet for all my certs;; they have cost quite a bit of money after all;; Babs

That's a good idea!! My metal filing cabinet is fire proof, but I wouldn't like to say how long for?? After all, metal melts!! Does anyone know if the certs are printed on acid free paper?? Merry

Get a scanner. Scan all your docs. Give each a unique ref. start at 0000001 and move up. Save the image as 0000001.gif. Store the images on your hard disk or a rewritable cd with the folders and sub folders looking like your tree. If you look at 3839872.jpg, you can find the paper original easily as it will be between 3839871 and 3839873 Make sure you copy the CD every 5 years or so before it disintegrates

Having learnt the hard way and lost quite a bit of info off my computer - I urge you to make a back up copy of what you have on your computer and a hard paper copy too. I couldn't imagine the heartache of losing everything you've researched and the thought of starting again would be just too much. It was bad enough my losing my genealogy and some other folders of emails but if the hard driver goes on your computer everything is lost.

I started off with just the one file .....now I have one for each family name, i.e. maternal and paternal and their respective parents. Each family name is divided into individuals with photographs, certs etc. and the divider decorated with scrapbooking images depicting their trade, weather they lived in town or country etc. I've also got a lot on disk so info is well covered should I lose any either way. I'm also about to start an index card system hoping that it will be quicker to check on a person rather than drag the whole file off the shelf. Wish I could say I'm organised though......still have drawers full of 'don't knows' and files much the same not to mention the odd scraps of paper surrounding the computer. I keep saying, 'next yeat I will....................'

I feel quite ashamed you organised lot. Mine are in Folders and Boxes and Drawers and Files and Pocket Organisers and Box Files etc etc etc One day I will be as organised as all of you probably better ha ha ha

Sally I use the Lever Arch Files and Family Group Records. I keep my Direct Relatives separate from others. When it comes to Certificates I scan the originals and print a copy out. I keep the original certificate in an Acid Free Envelope in my safe and the copy is kept in a display folder for ease of reference. Joy

I also advocate keeping a back up of your information, just in case the worse happens and your pc expires. Tricia

Some great ideas on here.....now i have sorted the files, I have yet to do the little note books and scan the certs etc....the safe is a good idea and they are really cheap nowadays! My hubby will think that i am losing my mind!!!!!!!!!!! So much easier since i sort it all out... So glad that i wasn't the only one getting bogged under with it all.... Sally (sally in Sydney!)

I don't know who nudged this up. But thanks!! Loads of useful ideas to consider. And very timely - my 'system' was begining to 'crash' - meaning, the pile of stuff on my desk was in danger of toppling over! Time to organise, methinks. Bx

thanks to whoever it was that said about the a-z index card system for people. i have started mine but it is taking sooooooo long as i am checking census as i go and keep finding wifes aND EXTRA KIDS ETC. i'm now on box 3! rest of paperwork is in a4 folders or the paper trays on my desk waiting to be put in folder.

nudging to read later!

What a great thread - and some good ideas - some of which I will pinch if that's OK! I keep mine in ordinary A4 folders. One for mum's side, one for dad's, one for my partners family and one for my son's. In mum;s file there are several card indexes so I have Mocock (her maiden name) then Mocock relatives - all the ones that married into the family one way or another - traps all the siblings etc. Same with White (her mother's maiden name) and White relatives, etc. As the relatives side become full and I gather more info on preceding generations so they get their own index card plus their own relatives slot. Each main name has family printouts from my PAF files and I keep all census info in the notes section on the PAF sheet which is really handy as it carries across the generations - or across to a sibling record sheet. At the front of each folder is a collection of plastic wallets in which I put all my notes - people who may or may not be related - strays, little snippets - that I don't want to file away but can't add - yet. I have one drawer of a filing cabinet - a hanging file for each name in which I put stuff that I do not want cluttering up the A4 files. I also keep photos of churches etc in the main family section - otherwise I have a lever arch file of 'places' which is full of notes, piccies etc. Filed alphabetically so I can find stuff quickly. Then, I have a spreadsheet - each name - columns going across the page with BMD, census dates etc. This is my ticklist - so I know which bits I have not found - it also has 2 columns - one for my PAF file and one for my GR file so that I can check that they are all on both trees. (They're not usually but at least I know!). Nuisance to keep updated but handy when pootling around censuses to have it by me in case I spot something and am not sure if I already have info. Lastly, have my quick reference - a small address book - where I list names - then who they are connected to - so 'Bengough' has 'Haysey' and 'Mocock' next to it. 'Killick' has 'Packham' next to it. Otherwise I come across an obscure reference to someone and cannot remember who it is and even if it's in my family or my partner's family. Little ref book is really handy as a memory jogger and takes up no space at all! Happy filing people!! Jill

I'm feeling v virtuous today because the weather has been so cr*p that I have spent the day filing and have found a couple of useful leads that I had forgotten about, buried in some notes I made in the 1980s! I now have two big lever arch files - one for Dad's side of the family, one for Mum's. All I need now is a box file for thigs like guide books and other stuff you can't punch and then I'll be home and dry. One thing I don't do after I started sharing an office with my husband - I don't write notes on scraps of paper. I have a hardback notebook and everything, however trivial, goes in that. I can take it out with me, there's a hard surface to lean on built in, and I know that I will be able to find that all important note if I go through the book. But everybody's different - in the end it's what works for you. Sheila