Software, hand-written or both?

[PeteBrooks]

Hi,

I have a lot of family information (census records, death certificates, BMD entries etc., etc.) which I've been gathering on-and-off for some time.

I can't make up my mind which way to record it! I've been entering the bare facts into a family history software application, but I'm not sure whether this is the best way to actually write a "history"; ie it's good for recording facts and producing charts, but I'm not sure about the anecdotal stuff. Sometimes this is fine as the anecdotal information is minimal, but in the case of my grandfather I have his military service between 1908 and 1925 which I'd like to illustrate with old location photos etc.

I must admit, I'm probably using the software at a fraction of its capability, but wondered how you experts go about recording your findings.

Cheers,

Pete

[jim1]

Well you'll get lots of different answers & I suppose the bottom line is to do what you're most comfortable with.
I have folders for each family & inside folders for BMD, Census for each member & then with a family member that requires additional info I have a separate folder just for that person with all of the info relating to them. It may be military, business ,photos etc.
On the family tree I just put basic additional info for that person which is just a memory jogger.

[Guy Etchells]

Most family history programs have the facility of writing notes for the individuals in a family .
Brothers Keeper the main software I use also has the facility to use an external word processor to write the notes which are the stored in either the text folder or in any other folder of ones choosing.
It also accepts media files which allow videos to be added rather than notes, this is also hand for storing sound recordings of subjects.

Your ancestors military could be illustrated with a short clip of historic video from something like The World at War, or even a section of a film about clipper ships or any other subject as long as there was a notice that the videos were generic rather than your ancestor specific.
I have a few home movies shot in the 1960s which I had digistised which I now store with my family history files.

The limitations of software are almost governed by the limitations of your imagination.
Cheers
Guy

[HeatherLynne]

I've started on trying to get some order in the large amount of information I've amassed over the years. I have my tree (actually various versions of it) in 4 different online places and have found excel a good way of collating the information I have, and highlighting the gaps.

So far I've made timeline sheets for the most interesting folk in my family. They list events like BMDs, baptisms, censuses, newspaper reports, court cases etc etc all sortable by date and showing the address lived in for each event where possible. It's helping to narrow down areas for searching for more information and it's a good place to record things like whether I've searched for other births to the same parents. Might not work for everyone but I love excel 
Heather

[Louisecfox]

Really helpful comments folks as I'm trying to work out how best to organise all my family history info too

[JonnyEd]

I've found his helpful too. Could do with some more tips. Keep them
Coming.

[Guy Etchells]

I think the one thing I have learnt over the short period of time that family history has been a digital possibility is not to think that any one program is going to fulfil all ones needs.

For example as I said in my previous post I use Brothers Keeper (BK) as my main family history program, this holds the data that everything else adds to and modifies to fine tune the output I desire.  Perhaps I should add I have tried most of the family history programs available and BK fits the way I work best.
In order to keep a check on my BK files I run FT Analyzer, this allow me to check obvious things like parents being to old/young at the birth of children, duplicate individuals etc. etc. It also produces a host of different reports and even exports to Excel if ever I require it.
I use an external Word Processor within BK to write longer notes about individuals in my tree even though BK has a very capable text facility.
To manipulate images I use Photoshop to resize, trim expand, add text to etc.
In a similar way I use a word processor to add details and manipulate the basic rich text file (RTF) report that BK generates to make a flowing easily read booklet about my family or part of my family when required.

For the complete (at this moment in time 450 page) book I use a program called The Complete Genealogy Reporter (CGR) to craft an exported gedcom into the said book, but not content with this I uses PDF Suite to manipulate the output of CGR in a similar way as I use Word to manipulate the BK RTF.
I also use a range of other programs such as the calendar Calisto to discover days for dates, regnal years etc.
I have probably missed out a number of other programs I also use occasionally but I am sure you get the idea that no one program allows me to produce the results I want to produce.

Cheers
Guy

[PeteBrooks]

Thanks everyone for some really thought provoking replies! At the moment I'm beginning to organise myself by creating my own research log templates, ancestor timelines etc. templates to bring my rather scatter-shot efforts of the past together!

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there is (and indeed, should be) as much work in the recording and presentation of my research as in the research itself. Bearing that in mind I didn't want to go hareing off in one direction only to have to start again in a few months time.

Your replies have given me lots of ideas, and I feel (a bit) more confident about taking the plunge.

Here goes ....!

Thanks again,

Pete