Had a good clear out this week!!

[mumjo]

I've been having a clear out too. I started a couple of weeks ago, and have pnly got half way through and guess what....gone off at a tangent and forgotten what i was really doing. 
It's got to be the way to do it, as so many of us are doing that way, right?   
They only problem i have got is i've got some information written but because it was when i first started i haven't put a source down. (Big slap on wrist) and now can't find the details. Grrrrr

[Ruskie]

I am really overdue for a tidy up.

The annoying thing about my notes is that they are on various sizes of paper, in notebooks, on post it notes, on scrap paper, families all mixed up ... I have tried to at least sort them into family groups, but sometimes one side of a piece of paper refers to one family, and the other side refers to a different family which makes filing impossible.

Also, for some reason, I like to keep all my old scribblings. I have transferred most of it onto my family history programme, and some into neatly written books, but I am always scared that I have missed something, so like to keep my originals too - somehow I can understand these better, maybe due to the process involved when I wrote it all down. It's all still a pretty horrible mess though.

I have reached dead ends with most of my lines, but I really think I should revisit, recheck and reorganize the whole lot. I'm sure I can go further with some of them. It's such a daunting task though that I keep putting it off.

I almost need the house to myself for a week so I can concentrate on it without interruption. Sadly I can't see that happening. 

[a chesters]

After much searching and sorting, put brain into gear . All info on one person into 1 (one only) sheet protector. If I have a census record for a family, one copy for father, in his folder, one for mother, etc etc. Thats all well and good, but then the problem was: what info did I have for each person Thinks (sort of) have a sheet in the front with, eg Birth and if certificate in folder, put the date in etc etc

Seems to be working, as the pile of unruly papers has diminished, but pile of folders has increased. More thinking (getting hard), put in alphabetical order in filing cabinet

At least the pile of "who is that" or "what was that all about" is a lot less than before

A Chesters

[3sillydogs]

Same here nk, my hubby still doesn't "get" it, don't think he ever will 

[eadaoin]

I have tried to at least sort them into family groups, but sometimes one side of a piece of paper refers to one family, and the other side refers to a different family which makes filing impossible.

I think your best bet here is to photocopy one side (or better, both sides on separate bits of paper?)

eadaoin

[pinefamily]

Not necessarily cleaning out, but sometimes it is good to sit down and go through your old notes and books etc. A fresh set of eyes often brings new possibilities (it does for me anyway).
I also sometimes stop looking at one branch, and move to another for fresh inspiration. Works a lot of the time.

[sandiep]

Like everyone else I seem to have little piles of paper all over......plus all the ntes on computor

I go through them find all sorts of things I have already got that I have just spent ages searching for!

Then there is the notebooks.......as I research I scribble notes...trouble is sometimes I leave the name out...or it is research I have done for others  spend a while trying to remember who they are!

Still it all passes the time away.....now where did I put that info?

[annieoburns]

I started out with two ring binder files one for each for mother and father's side of family.  There are many plastic sleeves with bits such as certs and photos stored inside.  Even tho I now add new info direct to computerised tree, I still like to have a file to pull out as well.  I need now to split the files and some lines are more interesting so can have a file all to themselves.   Meanwhile I have a huge amount of notebooks/scraps of paper.  There is a large shoe box labelled 'miscellaneous' so small notes go in there.  It might just be some historical item from a tv program.

Some day I will get a nice hardback notebook and transfer the odd bits  that are still of interest.  I suspect many of the scribblings are redundant now or could be easily retrieved with more time and sub to Ancestry.  I wish I had bothered to print off census forms in early days rather than taking notes of same.

[Rena]

Over the years I've accumulated a pile of different sized loose papers on which I'd written notes made during conversations with elderly relatives.  Recently I reorganised my lever arch files and made a determined effort to file the notes appropriately and also to check that each note had been included in my tree.

I wish I'd been more attentive to making sure a pen was handy by the 'phone, because it came as a shock when I discovered that after months of being shuffled about some notes I'd written in pencil weren't legible.