Advice on organising family research info.

[Fitty]

Mine is complete mess!   i've got bits of paper....sticky notes...files and folders full of the stuff!   I,m usually pretty organised but i find myself going back over searches time and time again.

I just need a good reliable system of managing all the data i collect...any ideas, anyone?

[RootsChat]

Hello Fitty,

I have been using Roots Magic myself as this gives you the option to post a "to do list" so you can give yourself a list of what you have to do when you get round to it

There is even a free download for you to try it out before buying.

RootsChat

[Fitty]

I use GenoPro for my actual tree but it's really poo for extra info that i,m sure we all collect daily!  You know,  You see a family and think...." i,m sure they could be mine"  so you write it down on a post it...then lose it!  lol

I've tried using Excel but i,m not very good at organising my files.

I just wondered what everone else used?

GenoPro is very good and i love the tree layout.

[Boongie Pam]

I use a large plastic crate!

But starting to get sorted with Legacy.  I've always used Excel to know what source material I have for every individual.

P

[Darcy]

Hi Fitty,

I am useless at keeping computer files - I like to be able to read it all just like a story.

I have everything in plastic sleeves inside folders. The story starts with the 3rd greats and progresses to the present day.  ( just 4 hard-backed folders at present! )

I have included copies of all certificates, census, photos of churches etc.

It  looks good and it works for me!

Notes and things I need to remember are written into excercise books which keeps things neat.

This collection  lives in a plastic box under the computer desk. I may sound organized but I'm not

Cheers
Aaron

[Jane Masri]

I like to SEE everything at a glance, so old-fashioned paper works well for me.  As I appear to have embarked on a One Name Study, I have various, yet unconnected family groups, so they are drawn out on huge sheets of paper as a conventional tree.  Each sheet corresponds with a file number & in that file I have all the loose papers relevant to that family tree.  Other files hold, general information, another for wills, another for my 'don't knows' etc, etc.
This way I can see family relationships at a glance, very useful when answering queries from other researchers.
Like Fitty I also have a large notebook, in which I jot down information, this way odd bits never get lost.
I look forward to the day when all these family groups finally merge and I have one huge family tree and just one file

Jane

[Boongie Pam]

I'm currently thinking of how to organise my paper.  My tree was neat enough to have one file but is growing madly now.  How do you divide your file? 
By surname?
By Brickwall?
By family unit?

Whichever way you do it there is cross referencing problems.

Pam
 

[Jane Masri]

As I'm only researching one name, I sub-divide each file using plastic see-thru folders into smaller family units if need be, each one is clearly labled by something that I can easily identify it by, say the name of a correspondant I'm in touch with on that unit or the earliest couple it relates to, say, 'William & Charlotte' or by parish if that's appropriate.  It's always a personal trigger like word association
I have found that I update & change my methods of storage according to my needs, but it's always a question of easy retreaval!
Strays , unknowns & brickwalls I keep in a file marked as such & periodically I go through it & more often than not I find that person 'fits in' somewhere.

They do say you should have an index card for each person you have on your files, you could use this for cross referencing purposes.  It does seem the most efficient way of doing things, but I've only THOUGHT about it, as the task would be quite daunting in my case.

Jane

[Darcy]

Hi Pam ,

mine is filed by surname and I now keep each generation separate as it got too confusing just letting it flow 

I preface the info on each couple with a page saying -

       Read / White - or whatever  case may be.

It's much less of a muddle now and even my dear old mum can understand it
Cheers
Aaron


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