http://pages.prodigy.com/WMercer/index.htm(---Genealogy, our labor of love) http://biz.ipa.net/genrecord/library.htm(--GRS our Library) http://www.ancestry.com/(---Ancestry Home town- it has Social security death index and marriages pre 1800) http://home.earthlink.net/~middleton/topten.html(---lots of great links from here) http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/sites.htm(--Cyndi's list has lots of links too) http://users.aol.com/johnf14246/gen_mail.html(--genealogy resources on the net) http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/roots-l.html(roots-L homepage) http://www.rand.org/personal/Genea/(Rand Genealogy Club) http://www.usgenweb.com/(US GenWeb) http://www.mit.edu:8001/geo( Geographic namesearcher) http://www.lycos.com/( they have a people finder for living persons with the same surname--you can even get thier e-mail address) Part one of getting organized( those not on aol cant get this any other way OK! This is it! Day one in your life as an *organized* person! (No giggling now!) As promised, here is the checklist of things to accomplish this month. By the end of the year, we SHOULD have just about everything of a family history nature organized. The kitchen, laundry and yard work will go to pot, but then, who's perfect? <Grin> WEEK ONE: 1. Clear off the computer desk and make piles for everything: To Be Filed Letters to Write Research to Do Pictures - for now put all the pictures in a box, we'll tackle them later. 2. Check your office supplies, and replace any missing or lost items, so you have all necessary tools. Here are some suggestions: pencils, pens, formatted disks, page protectors, insertable 3 ring binders, oversize divider tabs, toner or printer ribbons, paper for printer, business sized envelopes, 10X14 manila envelopes, disk mailers, postage stamps, etc. 3. Set-up the computer desk the way you really want it! Get that new mouse pad and matching wrist rest, a copy stand that hooks on your monitor, and the special lamp you've always wanted. Fix the chair leg or get a new ergonomically correct desk chair. We want to be as comfortable as possible at the keyboard! 4. Designate a special red clipboard as the WHEN HELP ARRIVES clipboard. Use this to scribble notes when you run into computer problems, so the next time your computer nerd friend stops by, he/she can teach you or fix the problem! - Drop me a line if you really get stuck, if I can't help, I can probably find one of the other hosts who can! WEEK TWO: If you haven't developed a filing system, consider the following: a. Create a SURNAME NOTEBOOK for each major surname. You can combine them now, and divide them out when they grow too big. I prefer notebooks rather than file folders, because the pages won't fall out.) b. Put all direct line family group sheets in chronological order (youngest to oldest) in each notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: DIRECT LINE. c. Put all collateral lines in chronological order in the same notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: COLLATERAL LINES. d. File papers on any suspected, or not-yet known relatives in the same surname notebook, with a divider tab clearly labeled: UNKNOWN RELATIONS. WEEK THREE: 1. Buy tons of TOP-LOADING SHEET PROTECTORS (box of 100, about $8 at SAM's or Office Depot.) 2. Take a deep breath. 3. Actually put all important documents (from your TO BE FILED PILE - week one) in page protectors, and file everything away in the notebooks or folders for each surname. If necessary make photocopies, if they are needed in more than one file. Note: Some people advocate a numbered document system. I prefer to put copies of the wedding certificate right after the family group sheet where the couple are listed as the father and mother in the family. That way each family history notebook makes a GREAT coffee table book. Everything is there, and I don't have to go hopping all over to get every document, picture and diary photocopies on one individual to show my grandson when he visits. Also, a document numbering system is only good to the user of MY personal collection of genealogy. And IF, I am there to explain where everything is kept. Most visitors are NOT genealogists, and have no idea what to look for on a person. If I print a family group sheet with reference to document CENSUS #004, it means nothing to the reader I will send it to. My documents must be right there with the family group sheet, so it is easy to photocopy and forward to a newly found cousin. I merely take the one notebook to the copy store, later, simply replacing it on the shelf. No more picking through the numbered filing system for all documents on an person, and then having to refile all 23 documents in their various places! WEEK FOUR: 1. Learn to use ROOTS-L. Having read the discription of the ROOTS-L e-mail digest, take the plunge and subscribe! Then so a surname query to see if anyone else with your surname belongs to the list. What an easy way to locate a cousin with similar computer/genealogy interests! 2. Write the letters you said you'd write in week one, if you haven't already! 3. Congratulate yourself on all you accomplished this month! NOW, you gain 50 points for each item completed, plus the personal satisfaction of knowing that you're really going to accomplish your goal this year to FINALLY GET ORGANIZED! (At least now, you can see the top of your computer desk!) The organized skills are set up in a yeard time- I will send part 2 next time. C