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  1. #1
    MaryFrances
    Guest

    Default Help Needed With Organizing Information.

    I have been researching my family history on and off for several years and have much information, some on a family tree online(which can be printed off) and lots of stuff just on bits and pieces of paper. I need to get it all together somehow, in a simple form. Our four children each want a copy of the history, including photos., certificates, records of burial, newspaper articles, etc. Please can someone tell me how to organize all of this?

  2. #2
    Super Moderator - Completely bonkers and will never change.
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    England
    Posts
    9,616

    Default

    There is no one right answer. What I suggest will have at least six people shaking their head and saying 'no, that's not the way'. Equally I may disagree with other people's suggestions.

    One very well-respected former BG member relied on just a card index system. Though I think that was started almost before computers were invented.

    What we would all probably agree on is the need to get rid of the bits and pieces of paper first.
    It doesn't matter if you transfer the information to another sheet of paper or to a page on the computer but one name, one page.
    I would head it up with the BMD plus any baptism and burial details you have. Might even add census refs, age at cenus, where living, etc. Add in wife, kids. If you're writing in an exercise book/similar you can cross reference these by saying 'see page x'. (Useful if you have a common surname or lots of people with the same first names - I have three Thomas Williams who are known as TW1793, TW1875, and TW1900. )

    If your photos are in an album with transparent pockets consider putting them in some sort of time order, then either stick a number on each pocket for cross reference, or just on the page, and you can say 'page 10 top right'.
    Then make a list of all the photos and who's who in which ones.

    Same sort of thing with newspaper articles - are they in one folder on your computer? How are they named? All in the same way?
    Find a system, and then label everything the same way. I changed my system several times, but I concentrated on one family, then when I found something wasn't working it was relatively easy to re-work the unsuccessful parts, and I had a template for the other families.

    I admit that I've probably gone way OTT but I have a massive spreadsheet. Page one is everyone, with birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial dates as known, plus 'tick' boxes for the census entries. (I now need to add in a column for the 1939 Register. ) Subsequent pages are for births, baptisms, marriage, etc, then the censuses. The BMD plus baptism and burial records are all colour-coded as well depending on where the information was obtained from. Anyone else would think it's a nightmare but it suits me.

    Once you've got all the bits 'sorted' then you can work on your presentation. For which you'lll probably get ideas as you're compiling.

    Pam
    Vulcan XH558 - “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

  3. #3
    MaryFrances
    Guest

    Default

    Thank you for your reply and advice, Pam. I seem to have so much stuff, in no order whatsoever, so I will have to take a deep breath and just go for it. It will probably evolve along the way, but you have given me the idea of where and how to start. Thanks again.
    Regards, Marjorie.

  4. #4
    DorothySandra
    Guest

    Default

    I'm sure everyone has a different system, but when I started collecting data, I had a concertina file with a slot for every letter, and a lever arch file with an index. Every bit of paper (a certificate or a note or a photo) that applied to one person went into a pocket in the concertina file, and every list went into the arch file under the family name that applied. Simple but effective.

    Gradually, the concertina file turned into two, with all the pockets labelled with a family name, (some families have more pockets than others) and they've got quite bulky, and I know I ought to be planning something more sophisticated.

    I haven't added much in the last few years, as I'm now down to brickwalls, and doing a lot more looking than finding.

  5. #5
    MaryFrances
    Guest

    Default

    Thank you, DorothySandra. I like the idea of the concertina file, which will enable me to get each person's bits and pieces together and then take it from there.
    Regards,
    Marjorie.
    Good luck with your brick walls.

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