> I started out creating family subdirectories, and storing the > different kinds of files in their own subdirectories. ie. Barlet/ > census data; Barlet/documents; etc. > > I use Family Tree maker to collect my genealogical information and > have no problem in getting from an person's death to the > documentation supporting the data for the death. > > However in going the other way, everything is dependent on me > remembering that file XYZ contains information on GreatX fathers > draft records. > > How do others working in genealogy organize all of this supporting > documentation? > > Keith nuttle <keith_nuttle@sbcglobal.net> Keith, I organize my electronic sources similar to what you describe, but instead of a master directory for the surname that drills down to /documents, /census, etc. I organize the folders within each surname directory by person so that within the main BARLET folder I might have "BARLET, John" and "BARLET, Michael" as subdirectories and keep all of the records relevant to each in their respective folders. Wives I keep in their maiden surname directory and for common given names within the same directory I append the year of birth: "BARLET, John 1845" vs "BARLET, John 1890" This does mean that there is some duplication of record files since each person in a family group might have a copy of the same census record, etc, but the storage space implications have been fairly negligible and the intuitiveness of the filing system (for me anyway!) outweighs any extra disk space that is needed. You could always go with some kind of asset management software solution that has the advantage of being able to add keywords and browse visually, but, then that is another bunch of $$ to deal with! Hope this helps, Joe -- Joseph W. Mann Jr. joe@mannfamily.cc The Origins Genealogy Project at www.originsgenealogy.org Member, The Hudson County Genealogical Society at www.HudsonCountyNJGenealogy.org