Information filing/storage/cataloging

[Mggirl]

Hello everyone

Hoping someone can help me reclaim the floor space of my spare room 

I'm looking for hints/tips on storage the masses of information gathered while hunting for my long lost families.

As well as a home PC with FTM in use, I have the usual suspects of BM&D certs, Census printouts, correspondence from naval museums etc.
My problem is my lack of an organised filing system.  I am on a tight budget but really need to take hold of my personal tree mountain.

Does it make sense to group things under Surname or is it easier to find information if it's filed under record type, e.g all 1881 census followed by 1891 ?

Do you group information by County first ?

If you scan your paper images (non original documents I'm thinking of ) do you keep them on your PC or have seperate storage media and then shred the paper ?

Any pointers or ideas of what others are doing would be gratefully received.
TIA
Denise

[Cathymjp]

I too have a mountain of paperwork which I am sorting into order.  I decided that I would file my information under surnames.  Within the surname the most recent ancestors would be at the beginning and all birth/marriage/death certificates would be filed together under their individual  names.  Census reports and any other pieces of paper are filed behind them.   It seems to work for me, but would be interested to see how others file their info as they might have a much better way of doing it.

Cathy 

[aghadowey]

Denise- I have bookcases for files and filing cabinets for documents.
I have 'my families' divided into 4 groups. On bookshelves I have 4 orange binders, one for each of my grandparents families. In the binder I have (current) printout of family tree in clear file pockets in a section then misc. records for family (maps, gravestone inscriptions, photos, census records, etc.) for each family. In a filing cabinet I have correspondence, larger maps, etc. filed under surname. Sometimes the documents will overlap and cover more than one family.  
My husband's anccestors are in purple binders with a slightly different arrangement. In one binder there are his ancestors (our surname) but as great-granddparents had same surname their relatives are in this file, along with other families in area with same surname (some related), each divided by tabs with townland name.
Then, I have a series of 6 silver binders labelled A-C, D-G, etc. with family trees divided by surname of families, mostly in our area, that I have gathered information on.
One problem I had was piles of misc. obituaries I've clipped from local papers that don't really have a place in  my files (and they get lost in filing cabinet. I got an alphabetised book and now use a glue stick to paste them under correct letter. Because the glue stick isn't too permanent I can remove them if I later find another place to file them.
Don't know how much space you have but some sort of bookshelves are a big help in getting things tidied up. My three big bookcases were actually old pine wardrobes with doors off and shelves fitted but my cousin uses a wardrobe wwith the doors on and shelves inside to hide her files in guest room.

[kerryb]

I am in the midst of sorting out all my paperwork and I agree with aghadowey.  I have taken my four grandparents as the starting point for my filing and have just set up four files for all my BMD certificates.  I then separated them out into the surnames and have each with a divider with birth certificates in date order first, then marriage, date order again and then deaths.

That is as far as I have got.  Amazing considering I have worked in admin for 20 odd years that I am so disorganised at home!!!

Kerry

[DotBrennan]

Hi Denise

I work along similar lines to Cathy in that I have a ringbinder for each surname, but
I have the oldest dates on top (ever the optimist in that I will be adding more people), & they are colour coded so that:
paternal male side have orange folders,
paternal female side have green folders
Maternal male side have mauve folders
maternal female side have red folders.

Which definitely helps as I have Graham's on both sides which starts to get a bit confusing after a while.

Lots of shelves and being able to have everything to hand is a great help.

Bren

[Berlin-Bob]

Amazing considering I have worked in admin for 20 odd years that I am so disorganised at home!!!

Not amazing at all, but fairly normal for home/work situations 

Lots more topics on this theme here:
Topic: RootsChat Topics: Organising and Presenting your Family History
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,158638.0.html

Bob

[yn9man]

Without a trusty computer I too have mountains of files, forms, documents, photographs and the like. Currently I have the two file system "f" for floor and "o" for other. Doesn't help though .... Seriously ....

After much thought I found it best (for me that is) to file my documents by surname. Each of my surnames has a different color of file folder. The file folders are kept in a file cabinets. (found at yard sales and used furniture stores).   

I keep original documents (marriage, birth and death certs, newspaper obits and articles) in what I call my evacuation box .... i.e. in case of emergency I can leave my house with this information. 

Photographs are stored in albums, separated by surname.  They are stored on a book shelf that my grandmother used for her cookbooks.   

I have three ring binders for census information, separated by tabs by country and then by surname. I do have / make copies of census information so I have a separate census for each family member (similar to aghadowey) 

I keep my family tree charts in another three ring binder which I carry with me when I research.

All the information is kept in what I call my spare bedroom / office / or workshop. 

Good luck. Try out various filing systems and then see what works best for you.

yn9man

[KathMc]

I love seeing how everyone files. I always learn so much. Right now I have everything in files in a file cabinet, by surname. I am going to switch to ring binders though, as the files can get so disorganized, especially the larger ones. Right now, if I try to find a cert or particular census record in the larger file, I have a hard time. I also have census records on siblings and their families, and it all gets a jumble. The plan will be to give surnames a binder and then dividers for siblings, especially my large Murphy family, who is getting out of hand. 

Kath

[julianb]

I'm organised on grandparent lines - different ring binders for each, latest generation at the top, and a divider between each generation.  All documents filed in plastic wallets with filing holes down the side (I think their technical name is "multi-punched pockets"!).

For some families, there are sub-folders (not enough room in one binder).  This is certainly the case for my Essex Middleditch's (4 x Great Grandfather) who stretch out over two of their own binders!

I have separate binders for correspondence, research in progress, and other non-specific info for each grandparent's family, plus supplementary general correspondence and resources binders.

Electronic images and other data are filed on the pc in folders by family name. 

Thankfully I have plenty of bookshelf space (which also accommodates FH mags, various books on family places etc).  Trouble is some of the binders are so heavy that I need to make sure they are on reasonably accessible shelves!

JULIAN