Sorting and Organizing Genealogy Research

[@belle1123]

Great video ... you sound like a very patient person. My mother has given me 4 old photo albums filled with clipped obituaries. I think I will be photographing and cropping them all to post on the Ancestry and Find-A-Grave sites. As well she gave me 5 five scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings of stories from the community where she grew up and lived. A wonderful bit of treasure. Thanks for posting.

[@jlf9999]

Thanks for your help. I am getting back into family research and I find myself wandering around the maze of other people who also are overwhelmed so every bit helps organize my thinking.

[@morganmarler3875]

Hearing you describe getting all of that research you inherited felt like listening to myself after getting my genealogy after my grandmother died. 7 medium sized tubs full of binders with all the same information (but with unique hand written notes and research in each one!). My little apartment was full of papers and tubs and binders for weeks while I tried to sort and I spent a lot of tears on the process. Great video!

[@lindamary1407]

Just came across your video, really interesting. Just started in February 2021, after getting dna results. Absolutely fascinating. From only knowing immediate family now about 8 generations on both sides. That's a lot of paperwork! More to discover x

[@jodileek4297]

How do you color code a daughter of one family that has married into another family. What do you keep in her family files and then what do you keep in her married name file.

[@peoriapubliclibrary]

For me, when filing a daughter in a family, it depends if she is a DIRECT LINE ANCESTOR (grandmother, great-grandmother, etc). If she is a direct line ancestor she gets a folder under her maiden name for anything relating to just her (birth/baptismal info, news articles, engagements, schooling, awards). When she marries into another family that I’m researching, anything after her marriage that relates to her AND her husband goes in the husband’s file (marriage, children, divorce, newsworthy details). Her obituary is filed with her solo folder. I will also place a note in her file to check under the husband’s name for more information. If she marries into a family I am not directly researching (so not a direct line relative, but perhaps a sister of a direct relative), then everything about her and her life goes in a folder under her name, including her husband and children.

[@jimgrant1776]

Once a genealogy researcher picks up a piece of paper and scans it into his/her computer, why would he/she ever what to go back and look at that piece of paper again? (Serious question, not sarcasm)

[@peoriapubliclibrary]

Jim-good question! There are two reasons you may want to keep research even if you have digitized it. While going digital may work for some, it doesn’t work for others. Also, just as you can lose papers/research, scanned files can be lost, get corrupted, or get outdated over time. The other reason to keep information is that sometimes you may come across that research days, weeks, or even years later and notice some information you didn’t catch before. Over time, genealogists tend to develop better record keeping and organization skills. Looking back at older files may yield information that was there all along when you see it with “fresh” eyes.

[@jimgrant1776]

@@peoriapubliclibrary Hey, Amber. Thanks for responding. I get your points. I suspect that a large portion of the genealogy researches do it because they love the process. However, each needs to think about what he/she wants to happen to all the genealogical material (whether in paper or electronic form) when he/she dies. There may eventually be descendants down the row (50 or more years from now) who would be interested in seeing the material, but they may be on the other side of the country. This is why I suggest to every genealogical researcher I come across that he/she (scan and) upload all material to one of the big online genealogy databases (like FamilySearch or ancestry). Once that happens, I hypothesize again that there is no point saving the physical material. It can be reviewed anytime the owner wishes.

[@rover790]

@@jimgrant1776 one consideration is that sometimes when we depend solely on the digital storage, systems fail. I had digital copies of certificates and corroborating documents like census etc which I thought were safe. But not so and if it wasn't for my having not destroying my paper copies of the most important documents and photos I would have had to purchase them all again. I have sometimes thought not to save things that can be easily found again in the database I subscribe to, but found them no longer there because of contract changes with the original repository. This meant I had to subscribe to an extra database to get them. The final reason is that when re reading and transcribing documents I had found previously, I have found new evidence on my family not seen or understood the connection the first time.

[@jimgrant1776]

@@rover790Hi, Nan. Thanks for responding. Your first point it that digital copies can become lost or damaged. I acknowledge. However, paper copies can become lost or damaged, too. Your second point is that digital copies, once available, may not not be available in the future. That merely. suggests to me that once a person gets access to a digital copy, he should make a copy for himself. Your 3rd point is that new evidence can be seen or understood by looking at paper copies a second time. I would assert the same is true of digital copies. In short, I conclude that the value of digital copies far outweighs paper copies with little to no disadvantages. - - - When it comes to paper copies, the best policy is "burn" them.

[@jimgrant1776]

Special Case - I can think of a case in which a paper document is better than a digital version. That's when the paper is embossed, with a raised symbol. I experienced a case in which a financial organization wanted an original paper death certificate which was embossed as proof of death. - - - So, if you suspect that an embossed document may be needed at some time in the future, hold on to the paper.

[@patricialivingston1721]

Emphasis is almost always on the males in family trees. Why don’t we chase the ancestors of the brides that married these males? After all, we are equally related to both, mother and father.

[@lindamary1407]

Yes! I follow the wife's family back a couple of generations and they tell an interesting story x

[@magnusE7]

Here in Sweden sorting on last name would be no good, we use Patronymic.