Monday, April 15, 2013

Motivation Monday: What Do I Do With All This Stuff!?! Part #1



Oh my goodness!!  I have gotten to the point that I must organize my genealogical finds!!  Sometimes I just feel too overwhelmed!!  I really should have organized these items from the very beginning, but I did not.

I have hundreds and hundreds of death certificates, birth certificates, diaries, news articles, photos, grave burial records, headstones, military draft & registration records, last testaments & wills, including all the correspondence and other genealogical finds over the last ten years of research.  

Now how do you get motivated to organize?  I love finding items and blogging about them, however, it is very difficult to do so when you can't find the necessary documents or items that you want to share with those that might be interested.

I don't have a system, and I don't really know anyone else's system, so I figure the first thing I will do on my journey is to organize all the scans and documents, pictures, etc. that I have saved on my computer and my external hard drive.  Making folders for each type of document and within each folder place the item in a separate folder by its surname.

If any of my fellow genealogists & family historians have a system...Please Please, let me know what your system is!!!

I will be back next week to let you know how my organizing is going!!!

8 comments:

  1. I totally can relate to you here. It is so much more fun searching and blogging rather than organizing. I have things set up in binders by surname. Also I have a couple of folders worth of stuff that needs to be filed. I have to make a commitment to get through this stuff.

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    1. Andrea,

      I like the surname Binder idea. May be very helpful.

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  2. I get behind, mostly I stick in the binder by surname. I have four major binders I work with and one for a Slaveowner. I started with my oldest Slave for each family and worked myself down in the binder. Of course I have one for DNA, DAR, and one for all the notes and stuff I have to come back to to follow up. I just have that system. Not a organization. IF you ask me I can tell you where it's at, give me a few minutes!

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    1. Sounds like an easy system. Like to hear more about it.

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  3. I have a digital file and a hard copy file. I scan everything, download videos, and audio conversations that I have because I can find it easily on the computer when I need it. I have a program called Memory Manager from Creative Memories, it is very easy to use and it has face recognition for photos. I placed all pictures and scans in folders and it is a breeze to search different ways ~ by name or year. I also use The Master Genealogist for recording the family trees and information. The hard copy files I have one for each person and then separate them into families and file them accordingly. Sometimes I can't get my notes transcribed right away so, I have a pending folder for all new information that I find. Hope this helps.

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    1. Hi Sarah,

      I just looked up The Master Genealogist. Looks like a promising program. Thank you for the other programs suggested. I will look more into detail. It sure will feel good when I get it together. Thank you!!

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  4. I would suggest storing your digital files by surname. I have a folder for each of my main lines and folders collateral lines are saved in the appropriate "main" folder. I also use binders for my paper documents, storing things in plastic sleeves and using dividers for each sub-surname (I use the same naming convention/process for both paper and digital files). Large items that don't fit in the binders are kept in an archival box. I'm interested to see what method works best for you...the hardest part for me is sticking to it!!!

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    1. Thank you for the advise Heather. I thought I would get to figuring out what method to use, but still looking at options. I will let you all know soon.

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