Hi Margaret I for one really appreciate your submission. I am not exactly new at this game, I have been working for abour 25 years now on my families off and on. I am just now coming to the place where my families are really getting out of hand. I have about 10 families that need seperating now. What I would really like to know and since you have such a nice style of writing, how to seperate them in the computer files? My main program has been FTM but I am going to switch it tp FO after messing with it all day yesterday and never getting it where I wanted them to be. There was always something missing or misplaced or something, I have been making gedcoms of FTM and transferring it into the FO program. This works some but not to split families. The FTM list suggested I get another Zip program and seperate the files that way. I already have a zip program but it doesn't like the gedcom files or it doesn't like the way I am doing it or somehting. Does Family origins have a way you could do that. I noticed it has something where you can pick just the ones you want. I guess I am just going to have to play around with it and see if I can do it without loosing a bunch of things. Thank you ever so much for the email on orginization. Judy MScheffler wrote: > Organization tends to be quite individual. What works well for > one may not work well for all. Don't feel that you have to do it > one particular way. Just find a way that works for you and try to > be consistent. > > Many of us started out with series of loose leaf notebooks only > to find the notebooks soon became too big and too numerous and we > began to "graduate" from them to a file cabinet and perhaps even to > more than one file cabinet before too long. > > If you decide on the file cabinet (s), get the sturdy deep ones, > not those light weight $25 ones you can find everywhere. The small > ones do not have much usable space and soon you will be heading off > to the store for bigger ones. In the office discount stores, you > can get a pretty good 4 drawer one for about $100. I like the file > cabinet approach because when going on a trip I can simply select > the folders I want, put them in one of those small plastic crates > and place the plastic crate on the seat of the car. > > I have devised my own system for filing, similar to some others > that others have described. When I am just beginning work on a > family, I label a file folder with the surnames of husband and wife > and put everything related to those two families in that folder. > It is then easy for me to quickly pick up that family folder and > take to the library. As I learn more about the families. I > gradually split up the families into more folders and generally keep > them in alphabetical order by surname. You might want to have one > drawer for one branch of the family and another drawer for families > related to anther branch. One can make pedigree charts from their > genealogy program of various sections of their families and put > them in the front of related folders. Someone else suggested doing > the same with family groups sheets. Such summary material helps if > you forget names of the lines to several related families. > > There are some materials that I keep separate from the family > folders themselves. > I tend to keep my vital records and other original source materials > together in one or two file folders in a separate place from my > family folders. If I want a copy of a vital record in a > particular family file, I just make a photocopy and put the copy > in the family file. I find that if I have the originals filed all > over the place, I can never remember which family I put them with. > One may think they have a good memory, but the more information one > accumulates, the more disorganized one tends to become and the more > difficult it is to find something when you want to look at it again > or share it with someone else. > > Locality and census materials can be kept separate also, > particularly if they pertain to many families. There again you can > photocopy individual pages that you want duplicated in your family > files. > > There are some commercial systems that have been listed in the > past. Dollarhide is one, but I have not used it. If someone wants a > copy of an article describing the system, let me know about the > first of August and I will locate it and send it. Do not ask me > now, as I am on vacation and do not have the file on my notebook > computer. I believe there is a computer program by the name of > Clooze or something similar that some people use in organizing their > genealogy papers. > > I also collect old family photos. I copy these with a 35 mm > camera. I then try to keep copies in albums with a code number on > the back relating to the negatives files so I can get duplicates > made for people who would like them. In some cases it is easier to > scan and send photos via email, but the quality is not as good and > the paper and dyes we now have available, will not last as long as > the old black and white photos of the past. Computer media may not > last as long as the old photos either. It is wise to devise more > than one method of saving our precious photographs. > > Whatever system one devises, try to keep the papers picked up > and filed. Those piles of papers tend to quickly get out of > control. Do not rely only on your computer organization because hard > drives, floppy drives and even cdrom media do fail. I back up my > genealogy database to a floppy or zip drive daily and periodically > send copies of my research and vital records to family members > that are interested in my family research. That way should > something happen to me, someone else can preserve my work. > > For most people making use of a computer genealogy program is > an important asset, although we all know in the past people did not > have that luxury. I prefer Family Origins which has a variety of > powerful features, yet is easy for the beginning researcher to use. > Do remember when you add any "facts" to your database to note the > source for EACH fact. Inevitably one soon finds conflicting > information and it is easier to resolve it, if you can determine > where you found it. Where there are conflicts, it is always good to > discuss your conflicts and conclusions in your notes because months > and perhaps 100s of names later you may not remember how you arrived > at your rationale for choosing one date or place over another. > > Hope this is helpful to someone. > > Margaret Scheffler > > ==== GenTips Mailing List ==== > If you need to unsubscribe to GenTips email the command: > unsubscribe > To: > [email protected] > DON'T send it to GenTips-L that won't work!