Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Documentation - making Your family research easier

Posted by FamilyHistoryFour on Wednesday, December 05, 2018 in

It won’t do you any good to research your family history if you can’t remember what you found. Taking notes in genealogy is a must, not only for recording important information but also for transcribing it onto a more permanent record repository, such as genealogy software.
  • Right from the word go, always make notes of what you’re doing, check your sources and write down not just what you found but where you found it, and when. 
  • Record certificate purchases and where they’re stored.
  • Documentation is essential to save time so that you don’t duplicate work you’ve already done but temporarily forgotten! It can happen to anyone! It has been known for members to buy certificates more than once due to forgetfulness!
  • Be organised and document as you go

There are as many ways to organise your notes / files as there are researchers. Each person develops their own system over time. This simple system that can be adapted to a wide variety of situations as your experience grows.

This system is based on creating one file folder for each family you research.

  • One family consists of a father, a mother, and their children.
  • Each ancestor is in two family folders (once as a child, and once as a parent). Log and file sources for events prior to marriage in the father’s folder. Log and file events starting with marriage in the husband’s folder.
  • A folder should contain:
    • Pedigree Chart
    • Family Group record 
    • Research Log 
    • To Do List
    • Photocopies or scanned copies of source documents 
    • Maps of family settlements (optional)

Computers are wonderful to help you organise your information and save lots of time. There are many tools available to help you record your information; Microsoft Word, Excel, OneNote and many others and of course good old pencil and paper or – horrors - using a pen. Whether you use computer based folders, cardboard folders or ringbinder you do need to be organised to keep track of what you have done.

Even if you do keep all your records on the computer you may still want to print out some family group sheets and pedigree charts etc. and keep them in folders. No matter what method you choose try to keep yourself organised and your information readily accessible as your family tree grows.

It’s usually better to choose a combination of computer files, filing cabinet folders and 3-ring binders. But the bottom line is Do What Works for You

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