Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

It’s all about access

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wheelerfilefolderTo me, being organized is about having access to your stuff (and information). Often that means accumulating no more stuff than you can easily store. So I spend a lot of my professional life helping clients declutter before creating organizing systems.

When it comes to organizing your genealogy research the same principle applies. It’s really nice to have a neat workspace. But what’s really meaningful is easy access to your information, both physical and electronic. What does this mean?

  • Having a solid file structure for electronic files
  • Having an excellent file naming strategy for electronic files
  • Using metadata for electronic files
  • Creating a habit of adding  metadata and sticking to your file naming strategy
  • Actually filing paper, rather than putting it in piles
  • Carefully considering file folders versus binders for genealogy papers
  • Getting rid of any unneeded duplicates
  • Thinking about how you will access (not just file) information when you set up your organizing system

As I think about this for my own research, I realize I really need to work on my file naming. I’ve done a good job with my electronic file structure, but my names aren’t standardized (as you can see in the photo with this post). By either improving file names or adding metadata (or both) I could more easily use the search function on my MacBook.

For me, having all my research data available on my MacBook is an important goal. I’m still in the process of marrying my electronic and paper files and know when I finish this process, my research will be completely accessible (and portable). That is what I call organized.

 

5 things I learned at RootsTech

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5 things I learned from RootsTech

Family History Library

I’m still processing all I learned from last week’s RootsTech conference. But several main points are top of mind and I want to share them with you:

It’s all about story. Gathering names, birth dates and death dates is the backbone of genealogical research. But filling in the gaps with stories is what brings the research to life. That might mean interviewing relatives. But it also means searching for documents (like court and probate documents) that can provide valuable information to fill in the blanks.

Genealogists are generous. I heard a talk from Michael Cassara of DigiRoots who not only volunteers with Billion Graves to share information from the headstones of New York City’s Calvary Cemetery, he also buys old, identified photos from flea markets and tries to get them to the descendants of those pictured. How great is that? So inspirational. That kind of generosity inspired me to sign up as an obituaries indexer at FamilySearch.org.

It really is a small world. I met up with one of this blog’s readers (shout out to Lori Krause!), with whom I enjoyed sitting at the keynotes and having lunch daily. We’re both researching ancestors in tiny Vernon County, Missouri. (The population of the entire county is only twice the number of attendees at RootsTech.) I serendipitously sat next to a gentleman who had lived for 15 years in sparsely populated Franklin County, Washington, where my grandparents lived and where my grandfather published the newspaper. So it’s very likely he met my grandfather. It’s amazing to me that in a conference of 10,000 people, I met someone who had met my grandfather in the middle of nowhere. (Oh, and the above-mentioned Michael Cassara knows my husband’s first cousin, Joan Marcus. They both work in the Broadway theater world.)

A conference of 10,000 people doesn’t have to be overwhelming. RootsTech was so well organized that except when the keynote session ended the first day and I was in a crush of people, I never felt overwhelmed. There were no long lines. Registration was lightning fast. It was truly professional conference and I’d go back in a heartbeat.

I want to go back to the Family History Library. One evening, conference attendees were invited to the famed LDS Family History Library for research and pizza. Though the library staff were swamped, I was lucky enough to confer with professional genealogist Lyn Rasmusen who helped me confirm that my records on my great great grandfather, George Washington Adams, were correct. (I had stated worrying that I had him in the wrong regiment in the Civil War.) Just that little taste of the expertise and resources available at the library has me itching to go back!

Incidentally, the video archive of RootsTech 2014 talks is now available. There are 14 classes and 3 keynotes available for you to watch from the comfort of your home, free of charge. I’ll be watching the classes, since I didn’t see any of them live. The keynotes were all great. I encourage you to take advantage of this great resource!

 

Enjoy RootsTech from home

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rootstechlogoI’m in Salt Lake City at RootsTech 2014, a fantastic conference. My brain practically hurts from all the learning. And being around thousands of fellow genealogy enthusiasts is really energizing.

At the opening keynote, this lovely video debuted. I’ve enjoyed watching it since, and think you might like it too.

If you weren’t able to come, you can still benefit from some of the learning opportunities. Some of the sessions will be live streamed. Check out the live streaming schedule and perhaps you’ll be able to schedule some time today and tomorrow to watch live. You can read session descriptions first, so that you can see whether the streamed sessions will be of interest to you. To watch live, just go to the RootsTech homepage. Streaming videos are right there.

Some of the presentations will be archived. You’ll be able to find them here. Over at the RootsTech YouTube channel, you can watch interviews with various luminaries in the world of genealogy.

This year’s conference is large, but extremely well organized so it’s not overwhelming. Next year’s will be super-sized, since it’s being held Federation of Genealogical Societies conference. Mark your calendars for February 12 to 14, 2015.

The Research Tracker in Springpad

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researchtrackersampleOne of the features of the Family History Organizer custom notebook I created for Springpad is the Research Tracker tab. Since I started getting serious about family history research about 18  months ago, I knew I needed to do a better job of keeping a research log. I tried a spreadsheet, but failed to keep up with it. I think the problem was that I had so many columns to fill out, it felt overwhelming.

So when Springpad asked me to create this notebook, I requested a place to easily record research sessions. It includes headers that can be copied and pasted into a fresh note for each research session. (I made up the headers that make sense to me, but you can easily edit them so that you’re copying and pasting headers that work better for you.)

I’ve been using the Research Tracker for a couple of weeks and have found that it’s really helpful. I start creating a new note at the beginning of each session, which helps me identify the information I’m looking for in the session. I like that when I finish filling it out at the end of the session, I identify next steps in the research.

I think what I like most about it is that it’s simple and non-intimidating. It may not be as thorough as a formal research log, but it’s way better than what I was recording before (which was nothing). Since I’m trying to do research five days a week (or at least work on organizing my research), I have plenty to enter and am feeling optimistic that this will keep me on track.

If you’re interested in trying it out, simply download the Family History Organizer notebook into your free Springpad account. (Or learn more about the notebook before downloading.)