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In this lesson, I take a look at organising the information you find about your family. This could be on a visit to a record office, a graveyard, or in conversation with a relative. If you want to start with what you have at home, check out my post on shoebox genealogy. Whichever method you choose, you’ll need something to help you make sense of all the details you’ve collected and recorded in your notes.
To start with, you should decide if you’re going to store your family tree on paper, in electronic format, or perhaps both.
Paper options
☙ A good hard-backed notebook, with a page for each
individual or family. The kind with built-in alphabetical index tabs is ideal.
☙ A loose-leaf folder or lever arch file for family sheets, which you can organise by surname or family line. This is a really flexible system - polythene pockets can protect your records and keep related documents together.
☙ Index cards, one per person – but beware, this can grow very rapidly and take up quite a bit of space!
☙ Once things really take off, you may want to splash
out and get a filing cabinet. This is a great method for storing
copies of documents as well as your family history notes and charts.
Electronic options
☙ If you’re comfortable using database or spreadsheet programs, you might like to consider adapting an existing package like Access, a cloud-based app such as Google Sheets, or a free office suite of programs.
☙ Install specialised genealogy computer software on your laptop or PC – check out some of the many free packages available to download. Take advantage of free trial versions before deciding on one with the features you want.
☙ Use a genealogy website with online tree hosting facilities – and you don’t need to have a paid subscription with them. In a previous blog post I compare a few of these companies’ free offerings.
carry out a cemetery visit in search
of family gravestones.
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