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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Auntieteabag on Monday 24 July 17 23:03 BST (UK)
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Hello
I have been doing family research for a few years now using Ancestry. However, the price is becoming silly.
I thought I might close my account, but where o where do I store all the births, marriages census forms etc. They all seem to be in JPG form and will take up a great deal of space on the computer (husband not amused). As you can probably tell I am no techie.
All ideas welcome
Thank you
Auntieteabag :(
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I store them on the hard drive. I've got ~6300 files, most of them images, and it doesn't really even make a dent in the drive. But you could get an external hard drive to store them or put them on the CDs
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I've got mine on the hard drive and backed up onto an external hard drive. The most important ones are also on a CD, however as my Macbook doesn't have a CD drive I had to buy and external one so I can view them! What ever you do, I would back them up, just in case.
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I wrote to Ancestry several years ago and asked what would happen to my private tree and photos, records, stories etc. if I died and the sub. was no longer being paid! I hated to think that all the years of work would never be available to any future researchers of my families.
I can't find their reply, but basically they said that my tree would simply revert to being a public tree.
Whether or not that still hold I don't know.
There's another company, (I think it might be Tribal Pages, but again, the grey matter is absent) who will record your complete tree including records, photos etc on a CD, if you have a tree on their site, which I think might also be free - (not the CD free but the tree storage is) .
Big brain fade today sorry! ;D ;D
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As an ex technician, and a belt and braces person, I do as above, but also print out the census forms, BDM registers, paper cuttings and photos. I store these in archival clear pockets, which have the added benefit of having ALL the information about each person in the one place.
The reason I do this, is that as an ex technician, I do NOT trust any digital device to work as I want it too, having seen the problems caused when a digital device stops working for reasons unknown.
AC
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Chesters,
The problem with print outs is the price of the ink, which is a rip off no-matter which printer you are using.
Scotlands People is a site I have already spent mountains of money on hundreds of images, so to also have printouts of every single cert would be far too much expense. However, I know that Scotlands People store everything I have bought from them, which I can look it up for free anyway. And I also have the certs on the timeline of the persons concerned. Like yourself, I have the certificates (some of the most important ones)in clear pockets.
I use separate, large art pads to store my mother & father's ancestry, going back hundreds of years. To gain space, I use the old system of placing a tiny number next to the name of any person whose expanded lineage has had to be continued to a different page. Neatness is the keyword. If it isn't done neatly, it won't work, because it won't look good.
I find that visitors are much more at ease looking at these art pads than being taken to my computer, with me standing behind them like a back seat driver giving them instructions how to find things.
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As an ex technician, and a belt and braces person, I do as above, but also print out the census forms, BDM registers, paper cuttings and photos. I store these in archival clear pockets, which have the added benefit of having ALL the information about each person in the one place.
Using acid free paper and archival quality ink I assume. Don't want those paper copies fading away :)
Simon
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When storing thousands of media files on the PC, one of the most important things is organisation and indexing. It can take a lot of time searching through 5,000 files to find the one you want. You need a file naming system that you stick to, and an organised directory tree with folders and sub-folders, etc.
If you use a good family tree program on the computer it might take care of some of that for you, as I believe Ancestry does.
Mike.
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I endorse the idea of having hard copies.
You may store on a CD, but then when CD's become obsolete, you cant access it! I remember storing stuff on a floppy disc ...........
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I use USB memory sticks. I have a few so my records are well backed up. One on my key ring. One in a cupboard. One small narrow one in each of my four lever arch files so although one file is about one grandparent's ancestry, the stick has all the other parts of the family and all those images that I never bothered to print because of lack of space. I tried using DVD discs but after using them for a while they started malfunctioning.
Blue
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If you use a good family tree program on the computer it might take care of some of that for you, as I believe Ancestry does.
Mike.
Ancestry stores nothing for you. Once your subscription lapses, you may still see the tree you have lovingly constructed with their tools, but you will have no access to any images that have been attached (unless they are pictures that you have uploaded yourself and are on your computer).
Download every image you want to your own computer at the time you attach it to your online tree. Then archive them.
Simon
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If storage space is a problem, perhaps on an ageing computer, remember it is the information that is most important. A transcript of a census is a tiny text file compared to a scanned image file. For example one of mine (actually a will in this case) picked at random is over 1MB as a scan but 32KB as a transcript. I like to keep the digital images for reference but I also transcribe them myself as many of the online transcripts are wrong or incomplete.
Simon, I really meant to say Ancestry takes care of the indexing/searching for you while you are a subscriber but if you download everything you're on your own.
I agree that printed copy is probably the most reliable and permanent form of storage but nothing is completely safe. The best way is multiple copies on different types of media stored in different locations. If you suffered a serious fire or flood and all your backup copies and printouts were in the house you would lose everything, although that might be the least of your problems at the time :'(
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Locksmith,
I am 74 and I had intended leaving my relatives my User name and Password so that they could look in on it if they ever wanted information. The plain fact is that if they want to see the tree as I would like them to see it, they will have to pay a subscription first.
This is why, as I mentioned previously, I began storing everything in files, and using large art pads for all the info that I thought would bring the tree to life for them.
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Simon, I really meant to say Ancestry takes care of the indexing/searching for you while you are a subscriber but if you download everything you're on your own.
Ah right, that makes sense.
I'd still download everything though even if you only have an ancestry tree and store it in a logical manner. Everyone has a different view as to what works for them.
Simon
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Thank you all for your replies....phew!!!!
I think I will try a combination of ways, as someone said "belt and braces". Having them backed up in several ways seems to be the solution.
Converting the JPG into word reduces space, I might try that , but it is the organisation after that is going to be fun!
It did of course occur to me that I need not have a copy of all the census forms for each person.......as a whole family is on the same form.
I must get on and do something, as most of the 'stuff' I have is on Ancestry and I know I wouldn't be able to access it if I decide to leave.
Someone mentioned to me that it would revert to a public tree if I did not renew.....can anyone throw any light on this ?
All hints and tips greatly appreciated, so if anyone has anymore....
Auntieteabag
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I keep all my digital media on a USB stick, I have approximately 2000 images for each of my four lines. I keep a main folder for each line which is sub-divided into families. Each family has a folder and a linked word document containing all their information. I use a basic pedigree chart to organise all the folders, each person at the beginning of the pedigree has their own 'roots' folder. I also keep a 'shoebox' which contains working notes and stuff I haven't organised yet The image I've attached shows what it looks like on the computer screen. I have also uploaded the folders to a cloud storage with the intention of allowing access to the folders to interested family members. I have only just begun this so am unsure of it's ease of use. PS the word documents are formatted to allow for printing and binding into a book :)
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Snap Cristeen
Sometimes tho... when trying to copy my folders ... I get stupid comments like ... the name is too long ... so we not going to copy that until you change it (well something like that) So I try and find the folder and never can?? ho hum.
too many sub directories... i think.
Apart from that occasional hiccup
:)
I have mine on hard - soft - in the air - and under the bed...
I have discs, sticks/pens usb thingies... I have actually printed out some wonderful documents.. and then I have Ancestry and Scots People and now Google ... that store things for me :) I have had Dropbox for ages and its OK ish but scary however I like it cos I can share files with daughters and so on.
:)
I think I got it covered.. AS at the moment I have 3 second hand laptops that are bursting with FH just in case one breaks (I buy them re-furbished cos I refuse to use anything other than Win 7 .... ha ha ... I am attempting My brand new fully wonderful marvellous ( Ihateit) Win 10 and tablet. but there you go at my age ... who needs new...
(now I just need me to be re-furbished :) lovely jubly :)
bfn
xin
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My four folders on PC/memory sticks etc are named after the surnames of...
Paternal Grandfather
Paternal Grandmother
Maternal Grandfather
Maternal Grandmother
Inside each folder:-
-Various surname folders for each of the different surnames on that line-
Inside each of these surname folders you might find the following folders:-
1841 Census
1851 Census
1861 Census
1871 Census
1881 Census
1891 Census
1901 Census
1911 Census
1939 Register
Baptisms
Birth Certificates
Birth Indexes
Burials
Crew Lists
Death Certificates
Death Indexes
Directories
Electoral Rolls
Information
Maps
Marriage Indexes
Marriages
Military
Newspapers
Occupation Records
Other (+ surname) [ie sibling lines]
Phone Books
Photos
Probate
Trees
Wrong or Unproven
Blue
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On the old PC, I used the Family Tree Maker and compiled most of my family tree plus printed some hard copies for the Folder. Luckily I did that as I lost my family tree when our old PC hard drive packed up a few years ago. As it was a 1988 model, the files couldn't be saved so the hard drive was scrapped.
I had to start all over again, this time using Ancestry.co.uk plus using Family Search to trace my ancestors. I also have a 2012 BMSGH CD containing records of baptisms, Banns, marriages, burials at St Peter Cradley (formally Cradley Chapel) and Park Lane Presbyterian Chapel from 1785 to 1835/1837, which is now not compatible with my laptop, a MacBook.
As I'm not sure if I can print off using my online Ancestry.co.uk Family Tree, are there any Family Tree Apps I could use and would I be able to transfer them all over to the Family Tree App without losing any of my ancestors? Then the plan is to print them all out and keep in folders.
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My tree is locally on my desktop pc (Win7). I use an old version of FTM, it's capable of having documents attached but I've never done that, just noted the sources. It's not on Ancestry. Basic pedigree trees are on FTDNA and GEDMatch.
Look-up databases and to-do list (ms-works - anyone remember it?) are in their own directory (folder) on my desktop pc - a database for each census, one for baps, one for mars, one for burs, wills, military records etc.
Census images, photos etc are on a removable HDD, kept connected and indexed so I can find things quickly. I use sub-directories and a naming convention I adopted years ago, it works for me.
New downloads are named as appropriate and go initially into the downloads folder
Once a month, religiously, I copy all updated files to cd or dvd then "file" my downloads properly.
Once a year I do a full backup (as in copy - I've never got to grips with proper backup software!) of EVERYTHING to another external HDD
I have physical copies of certs and some CMB pages (from the old days before you could get digital copies)
My to-do list tells me when and where I found each bit of info on it. If I need to double check my notes I can because I've kept all the notes I've made over the years, they are filed according to which record office I made them at.
If the house burned down I'd admittedly lose the lot but as someone has already said that would be the least of my problems. If there was time to grab one small thing it would be the external HDD.
I've considered giving a second backup to a family member for safekeeping but have a nasty suspicion that if I ever needed it, they wouldn't be able to find it. Probably cloud storage is the answer.
Jane :-)