Genealogy Chat

Can anyone share the clearest, and most practical way that they file and store all the information that is collected in the process of researching the family tree. I know that this might sound thick but where do I start.

It's a question really of how long is a piece of string? How far do you want to take it? You need something that can be easily rearranged and you need a system which suits you for cross referencing. The big problem is every time someone gets married they bring in another surname to the family. How you handle this is the key. You could keep families in alphabetical order, or time order keeping the generations in the same time line or focus on one surname only. My first job was in a library so I can't cope if things are not in alphabetical order, but I do keep all members of one family name together. You need an easy method for marking the name changes from father to married daughter so that you can quickly put your fingers on the right persons record. Whatever you do, ALWAYS file your papers back away again or you will always have problems finding things.

Scan everything and play around with the scanned copies on your PC.
Bung the paper copies in a drawer, under your socks and hankies.

I have found that a little box of those card files is a good place to start. I used to have bits and pieces filling boxes and ring binders (still do) but since I started the card file it is the first place to look back for things!

Mike

I used to post on here often when I first started out. People gave me lots of wonderful suggestions and made it all sound so easy - but I failed miserably! In the beginning, the card index was fantastic as a hard-copy "quick reference", but I soon grew out of it. I never succeeded with ring binders, but bought a small filing cabinet, with a "tab" for each surname. I can't say it's well-organised, but at least each family is together.

Eventually I graduated to using the computer - a decent family tree program does away with the need for all those sheets of individuals, you just pull them up on screen. Copies of census records are filed on my hard-drive, and I've scanned in all my certificates so I don't have to keep getting them out.

It might all sound very organised now - but I've still got several piles of miscellaneous papers as well!

Good luck with whatever suits you.

LAINIE - join the club!

Dear Sarah

Hello

Oh yes, the paperwork!

I have one lever arch file for the census from 1841 onwards.

Another one for individual names and their families filed in date order.

Then a general file about local history, abbreviations, contacts, etc.

All of us have problems with the paper stuff at one time or another.

Its what works best for you.

Take care
Best wishes
x

I've just started; with a file for each grandparent.
At the moment i'm filing ancestors that I have discounted and info about 'my friends' that may be useful as well as all the censuses that I need to refer back to.
Most of these notes give me ideas for where to go next and my latest story that needs checking or thinking about.
But its still a mess!

Thank you so much to everyone who has answered my query. I now feel that perhaps I am not alone with this problem. Also, congratulate myself on some of the things people have suggested I have already done.

Once again, thank you to all who have taken the trouble to send me their ideas.

I will try to post on my trials and errors.

Take care all
Sarah

Failing all else suggested,do as most do and sling them in a bag and forget about it lol

I love getting certs and adding all the info but find it tedious to file stuff away. Get a bigger cupboard

Hi, I forgot to mention until I read the other people's replies that I also rely on computer filing a lot. If you have a word processing program or desk top publishing on your computer it is one of the best ways to organise yourself. All you need is a separate folder for each surname and under that you can give each person an individual file. I record everywhere I look for anyone and all people I contact with the results. Sounds a bit anal but it saves a hell of a lot of time and duplication when you can't remember if you checked this or that place or person. I can create standard requests I can just copy and paste if there are a lot of Hot Matches for instance. Saves so much time and effort. You really don't have to print everything out, get it all down onto a couple of memory sticks and use them alternately to back up regularly. Irene

I save everything on computer. Save all images of census records and BMD pages. I save census transcriptions by selecting print form the browser and selecting a PDF printer (I use PrimoPDF for this) to capture the output as a PDF file - this is also very useful for other web pages that may not be there in the future (including forum posts).

One thing often missed is saving emails that you have received containing useful information.

And remember to type up those oral interviews with your relatives.

All BMD certificates and wills I obtain I scan into the computer as the first thing I do with them. Again, will transcriptions I have made, I type up and save. I even have a autobiographical book that my g.g.uncle wrote that I have scanned and transcribed...

The hard bit is then organising all the thousands of files you end up with :-)

For a census I store them using the head of the household's name, unless they are not relevant as the person you are interested in is a visitor or lodger/boarder, in which case I use their name.
E.g.. "Surname, Forename(s) {Snr/Jnr/I/II/III etc}, 1901 Census.jpg"

Same for BMD records although I try to get the full transcription into the filename for those as the old hand-written ones can be a pain to read.

E.g. "Surname, Forename(s), Year Month Birth, District Vol Page.jpg"
"Surname, Forename(s), Year Month Death, Age 99, District Vol Page.jpg"
"Surname, Forename(s), Year Month Marriage, Spouse-Surname, District Vol Page.jpg"

Where month is the Quarter end - Note that Mar, Jun, Aug, Dec as the quarter ends is not chronologically sortable as text so use 03, 06, 09, 12 with a hyphen if you like. Then all the files for a person appear in order - well, nearly.

To make this lot fully searchable (using Google Desktop Search or Windows Desktop Search for instance) you can edit the image meta-data and store the transcriptions in the image file using a tool such as iTag.

And don't forget to back it up :-)

Cheers,
Mark.

Oh golly gosh.......I feel soooooo inadequate now!!! *In a drawer under the socks*.........by my standards that's the same as filing neatly!! LOL.

I started off quite well with 4 files, into which I was going to put everything relating to each of the 4 familes.....and I did for a while. Then every new bit of paper (certs, censuses etc) kind of got thrown on top of the stack of files which now stands at 10 inches high. Yeah, I know, small compared to some, but I have only been doing this for 5 years, give me time! LOL

It's a right b*mmer when someone contacts me wanting info, especially a copy of a cert, because I then have to wade through so many papers to find things LOL. I keep promising myself that *one day I will get organised* but do you know what.......I don't think it's ever going to happen LOL.

No Hope Mary ;-))

Buy one of those concertina cardboard A-Z filing thingies. Most stationers sell them at a couple of pounds.

Hurl paperwork in by surname ... this means:

1. You will only have a small heap to wade through when looking for a specific piece of paper.

2. When you have the family file open in front of you it's easy to check in the relevant pocket of the concertina-thingy if there is anything that needs filing.

Easy-peasy!

Jill

Mrs Grumpy.

That sounds like a good idea and easy for us lazy folk

I too am semi disorganised.
All my certs are scanned onto computer - each in folder of surname. The
census records I have are mostly just a screen print of the transcribed info. and I have 4 ring binders with family info relating to each surname. two for dads side and two for mums side.
Recently I have spent time writing up a word doc with info I have on each family, including census and BMD info. I have found this works well but very time consuming. I have finished my Mums and it makes good reading. Hubby and son are impressed anyway!
I then have a further 2 folders - one for each side of family with loads of random info. abd they are growing fast.....this is where I need to sort things. I also need to sort favourites on the computer as I have loads of random sites saved and some I don't know why!
My biggest downfall is recording just where I found all my information. Oops!
I have trees both on here and ancestry and tend to work between the two. It works for me anyway.