How to sort out my absolute mess of a family history folder?

[Gartag]

Thank you Colin,

Excellent ideas, I must admit  had started a database to do a similar thing as your spreadsheet without the glamour of the links. May have to revamp lol.

However, once again, these electronic (computerised) systems are excellent but do not help me compose all my bulky documents (hardcopy) into and organised, easy to lay hands on system.  But I am beginning to see how one could emulate the electronic system. If I can create a reference system for each paper document I can then have a cross reference index in each binder.  Shamefacedly, I used to work in the M.O.D and HMIT as a youth and was excellent in filing but that was following an established system lol.

Thanks again
Garth

[Mart 'n' Al]

Gartag, although I don't use MyHeritage Family Tree Builder as my main database, I have imported my GEDCOM so that I can produce the Book Report (at the top of the Reports menu) from it.  It is very impressive. 

Another thing you could do is to import all your image files (such as census forms, maps, certificates, military records) into slideshow software, display them for longer than you would for holiday photos, add some music, and make films.  You could even narrate over the top. 

Martin

[Gartag]

Ahh Colin,
Now that will be fun to do....  later lol.

Thanks

[Josephine]

Gartag & snuttall,

For me, I'd say the first thing to do is to think about what makes sense to you. When you think about your family files, how do you group people and/or events? If you wanted to access the paper files that you have, what would be most important to you and in what order would you like to see them?

There are a lot of different ways to organize your genealogy-related paperwork but, ultimately, it has to make sense to you so that, when you want to file something away, or retrieve something, you won't have to do any mental gymnastics to remember how your filing system is set up.

Sometimes you have to try it one way, only to learn that you don't like it that way, so then you try it another way, but you're fine-tuning it all along, and eventually you get to a system that works for you.

The more families you are tracing, and the more branches of any families you are tracing, the more files you will have and the more complicated it might get.

I'll tell you how I organize my files, in case it might be useful to you or anyone else.

I have a Mac and I use Reunion to keep track of individuals, family groupings, relationships, etc., for my and my husband's ancestors and as many of their descendants as I can track. In the Misc. Notes section, I record the names of digital files such as their baptism, birth, marriage, death, etc., records. I don't embed links to any digital files because, if I reorganize my digital files (which I sometimes do), the link will be broken and it will be a pain in the butt to redo it. By recording the name of the file, and understanding how I set up the folders on my computer, it will be easy to find it without a link.

While I understand the appeal and utility of setting up a spreadsheet system for all of my genealogy data, it's not the right way for me to go. The Reunion interface works better with the way my brain works: it shows me a couple, their children, and both sets of the couple's parents. It starts with me and my husband and goes backwards in time. I can click on the tabs to follow the lines back in time or I can use the index; I can also use the search function. These all work well for the way I think.

I've organized genealogy-related digital files on my computer first by major family grouping and then by type. Each type is broken down by smaller family groupings, as follows:

   - Barnett [main folder]
      - Barnett Births & Baptisms [sub-folder]
         - Barnett Birth Records [sub-sub-folder]
            - Births - Barnett [you get the idea]
            - Births - Samuel
            - Births - Masters
         - Barnett Baptisms [sub-sub-folder]
            - etc.
     - Barnett Deaths & Burials [sub-folder]
        - Barnett Burials [sub-sub-folder]
           - Burials - Barnett
           - Burials - Samuel, and so on
        - Barnett Death Records [sub-sub-folder]
           - broken down by families
        - Barnett Cemetery Records [sub-sub-folder]
           - broken down by families
        - Barnett Tombstone Photos [sub-sub-folder]
           - broken down by families

However, my paper files are not set up this way, because they would just be piles of birth records, death records, census records, etc., without any narrative or cohesion (for the way my brain works).

To be continued below...

[Josephine]

Continued...

I keep my paper files in binders. Lots and lots of binders. I keep the binders on bookcases. I used to keep books on my bookcases, but not so much anymore.

The binders are grouped by family, starting with the earliest ancestors I have been able to find for a particular family.

I use binder dividers with tabs to separate the descendants and the generations. The dividers that I use are made so you can see five at a time and each level is a different colour.

I use a Dymo label maker for the tabs, just because my handwriting isn’t nice, but back when I couldn’t afford the label tape, I printed it all out in pencil.

My binders are set up as follows. The number of binders that I use depends on how much paper is generated when I print everything out. It varies by family and also by individual.

Tab #1 (top) (orange):
Label: 1. Barnett BARNETT & Hannah ROBERTS

- I generate a Family Group Sheet in Reunion and print it out. This goes at the top. That way, I can see the information I have on this couple, plus basic information on their children and their children’s spouses. I print the Misc. Notes section as part of the Family Group Sheet, so I can make sure I’ve printed everything that I’ve got on them.
- Next: print-outs of BMD-type records for husband & wife: births, baptisms, marriage, deaths, burials, obits.
- After those, print-outs of census records, then directory pages, etc.

If someone had a busy life, which resulted in lots of paperwork for me to print out and file, I’ll use a separate binder to file print-outs of whatever might be relevant, including background info on occupation, home town, political career, newspaper reports, etc.

Then I move on to the first child of couple #1.

Tab #2 (blue):
Label: 2. Esther BARNETT & Joseph SAMUEL
- Reports & print-outs as above.

Then I move on to the first child of Esther Barnett & Joseph Samuel.

Tab #3 (yellow):
Label: 3. Mark SAMUEL & spouse [3. Mark SAMUEL & spouse (if, like me, you can't read the yellow font)]

(Each child of Esther Barnett and Joseph Samuel will be organized under their own yellow 3rd tab.)

Tab #4 (green):
- Under Mark Samuel & spouse, each of their three children will get their own green level 4 divider, listed with spouses if they got married, etc.

I’ll keep going down in tab levels, until I’ve run out of descendants of Esther Barnett & Joseph Samuel.

Then I go back up to the 2nd generation and start over again with another child of Barnett Barnett & Hannah Roberts.

Tab #2 (blue):
Label: 2. Benjamin BARNETT & Maria RELF

And so on.

To be continued...

[Josephine]

Continued...

When I open my Barnett binders and look at the tabs, I can visually follow the generations down, and I can easily find and track the sub-family groupings.

  1. Barnett Barnett & Hannah Roberts [orange]
       2. Esther Barnett & Joseph Samuel [blue]
            3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]
             3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]
             3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]
       2. Benjamin Barnett & Maria Relf [blue]
             3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]
             3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]
             3. their child & spouse [yellow (yellow)]
                4. their children & spouses [green]

If I get up to generation #6 of a family, I start at the top tab (orange) again but it’s labelled 6. (name).

Depending on the amount of luck I’ve had with research, each sub-family (say, second generation couples & their descendants) might end up with their own binders.

Once I’m done printing out reports and documents, and I know how many binders everything is split into, I’ll create Dymo labels for the outside of the binders (on the spine) to indicate which family groupings are inside. Because I have so many binders, I create labels to show the entire line of descent leading to that particular family grouping inside that particular binder, as follows.

1. Barnett Barnett & Hannah Roberts
    2. Benjamin Barnett & Maria Relf
        3. Benjamin Barnett & Jane Law

Then I use a highlighter marker to highlight the people whose paperwork is filed inside that particular binder.

1. Barnett Barnett & Hannah Roberts
    2. Benjamin Barnett & Maria Relf
      3. Benjamin Barnett & Jane Law

Also on the outside of the binders (on the spine), at the bottom, I’ll create labels that say:
  BARNETT Family
  Binder #1

  BARNETT Family
  Binder #2

And so on. I can see from the label at the bottom of the binder where each one belongs, in order, on my bookcase. And I can see from the label at the top of the binder whose info is inside, so I can pick the right binder off the shelf when I want to refer to something or update something.

This is what works best for me and the way my brain works. This system has evolved over time, so only some of my family groupings are filed in this way. I am currently in the process of updating my Barnett binders for the first time in 11 years. I’ve been doing research over the past 11 years, and filing everything electronically, and recording it all in my Reunion file, but now I need to create new reports, print out all the new stuff, set up new binders, create new binder dividers, print out a gazillion labels, etc.

You might think, from all of this, that I enjoy filing. Well, you’d be wrong. Filing is drudge work at the best of times, but, for me (as someone who needs to see it all on paper and who also wants to leave a record that others can follow after I'm gone), it’s necessary, and so I force myself to do it (sometimes -- at other times I procrastinate by writing long, detailed responses on Rootschat threads).

I hope this is helpful, even if only as an example of how one person has fine-tuned a personalized filing system over time. Ultimately, it all depends on how your brain works, and what you find, through trial and error, works best for you.

Regards,
Josephine

[Josephine]

P.S. Binders are expensive, so I buy them at charity shops. I use D-ring binders of various sizes.

Also, the way I use the binder dividers means I end up with a lot of extras of certain levels/colours because I use more of the 3rd level than the 2nd and use a lot fewer of the 1st level. I either use the left-overs for filing different types of paperwork in binders (e.g. ones that aren't hierarchical, and can be simply alternated with another level or colour); or I repurpose them for use in paper crafts (e.g. for making junk journals or glue books); or I give them to a charity shop for resale to someone else who might find a use for them, or I toss them in the recycling bin.

Regards,
Josephine

[Josephine]

P.P.S. Re. census records.

I file a paper copy of the census record according to the head of the household as shown in the census record in question.

If I have the 1841 and 1851 census records showing Barnett Barnett with his wife and children, that print-out goes in the section of the binder for Barnett Barnett and his wife.

If I also have separate 1841 and 1851 census records showing their daughter Esther Barnett with husband Joseph Samuel and their children, that print-out goes in their section.

But, let's say that Esther Barnett and her husband Joseph Samuel and their first child were all enumerated at Esther's parents' house in 1851; in that case, I'd put a print-out in her parents' section and I'd also put another print-out in her section, just to make it easier for me, so I don't have to flip between sections or binders when I want to look at that document.

I'll know how to find the census records electronically, because in my Reunion file I'll have made a note of the census records I've found for each individual as well as the name of each image file (e.g. 1841 Census BARNETT.jpg; 1851 Census BARNETT & SAMUEL.jpg). This information will also be printed out in the Family Group Sheet that will go at the top of the couple's or individual's section in the binder.

Of course, the folders are arranged on my computer as follows:
  BARNETT [folder]
    BARNETT - Census [sub-folder]
       BARNETT - 1851 Census [sub-sub-folder]
       BARNETT - 1861 Census [sub-sub-folder]
       BARNETT - 1871 Census [sub-sub-folder]
         (depending on the number of families, there might be sub-sub-sub-folders, with one per surname)

As with any such filing system, I'd say it all depends on personal preference.

Regards,
Josephine

[Gartag]

Josephine oh Josephine 

I have to thank you for two reasons: 1/ For such a detailed and descriptive system and 2/ Finally I'm not alone.

So many people have asked me "why bother filing and cross-referencing paper... just use the software!" and others tell me "it's a waste of time... they're all dead!".  Well I do love using a computer (can't read my own writing after ten minutes) but I also need to have my paper copies, like yourself, I see a special value in them.

Today I tentatively worked out that a ring binder for census, one for certificates, and one for err  'The Story' giving details on each family member with ref to the relevant document.  The reference ID for census would be CN #  the number starting at 030  (1911) and increasing by 10 for each census going back.  That way when you get the family split over different sheets (I have one year where the farther is with his sister in one town, the mother with 3 children with Aunts elsewhere and 2 children with grandparents.) so these could have the same number with b and c suffix.  Starting at 030 so as the new (1921) is released they can be decreased by 5 as in 025 020 etc.

Similar referencing with certificates etc.  However, I really like your system and may develope a crossbreed between them lol.

I still have one question; you say your filing starts with your earliest ancestor and follows down each generation.  So what happens when you find your earliest ancestors parents?  Start again??

Thanks again.

Garth

PS:  It seems you have posted 2 more replies while I was typing this....  I'll post this anyway and respond when I've cought up.