Monday, April 30, 2012

Monday This n That

Organizing the Search

I have two hobbies (sewing and geneaology) that share the same room/office.  Most of you know that it is not the most organized room but I'm working on it.  This is also where my desk is for bill paying and the like and most everything is all mixed together.  Most of the time I know where things are at so if you ask me for something I usually know which pile to go to.  I ALWAYS have a desire to be organized so I started searching the web for ideas on the best way to organize my genealogy so that I could work on it effectivly.  Recently I found that I had paid for a few birth and death certificates that I already had so something HAS to be done.

As  you progress in your family history research you'll find that you have numerous paper documents to file for the individucals that you are researching.  These documents will include; birth records, census records, newspaper articles, wills, correspondence.  You'll find that you need some type of filing system that will keep these documents accessable.

Commonly used genealogical filing systems include:
  • Surname - All papers for an individual surname are filed together
  • By Couple or Family - All papers related to a husband and wife or family unit are filed together.
  • By Family Line - All papers related to a specific family ine are filed together.
  • By Event - All papers related to a specific event type are filed together.
After breaking the system down as above you can then further organize your papers into categories:
  • By Location - Break it down by country, state, county or town.
  • By Record Type - Birt Records, Census Records, wills, etc
Filing Systems

Once you get started organizing your genealogical clutter, you'll probably find that a combinatio of storage methods work best for you.  I find the binder methods works when I am working on a current family or line.  This keeps my research easily accessible and portable.  I also use a combination of compter and paper files. 
  • Filing Cabinet & Folders - This is probably the most popular organizational tool.  They are inexpensive, somewhat portable and easily hold papers of different shapes and sizes.
  • Binders - Binders are portable and don't require a filing cabinet.  If you don't wish to punch holes i your documents you can put them in polypropelene sleeves. 
  • Computer Disks, CD's and DVD's - This method can save a lot of time and space.  It greatly speeds up sorting and cross-referencig. Keep the future generations in mind. As fast as technology is changing in 50 years will your descendents be able to access the files on your disc or will yor technology be so outdated that it will be unusable.  If you use this methos consider making and preservig copies or printouts of important documents.
Next Monday we'll discuss how to set up a filing system.



Laura Prescott
Saturday, May 5 through Sunday, May 6

Nebraska State Genealogical Society
Annual Meeting and Conference 

Have you registered yet?





The 2012 NESGS Annual Membership Meeting and Conference will be held in Grand Island, Nebraska on May 5th and 6th at the Midtown Holiday Inn. The featured speaker is Laura Prescott, professional researcher,writer and speaker. Additional sessions wil be presented by Gary Zaborketsky, Kim Verrell, Cateherine Renschler, and others.
This is the 35th anniversary of NSGS. Cost for the conference is $85.00 for both days and includes lunch and the syllabus. A one day conference registraion is $50.00.
LLCGS will have a table at the conference.
For more info visit http://NESGS.org

One of Nebraska's Finest



New Nebraska State Trooper Christopher Slocum, his wife Kandi, and children Danny and Jenny
They will be moving to Chris' new post in Fillmore County, Nebraska in the next couple of weeks. Please pray for them!!

1 comment:

  1. Prayers ascending for Christopher and his loved ones. Congradulations to all!

    ReplyDelete