ORGANIZING the Paper Mountain part 3

And now , drum roll Please....................

Elyse did a 3 part series on Organizing your genealogy papers on her Genealogy Blog and I have been doing my own little commentary for each. Now the papers in question, aren't few; nowhere close. We are talking about piles and piles of endless piles of paper scattered all over. No real place to go , just setting there , on the table, nightstand, even on the floor...to be walked on, having a little on run across, scattering everything every which way. I am sure you get the picture.

I have to say, Randy Sever's photo of his "cave" isn't all that bad! There is lots, and lots of stuff, papers, books, but it all seem to be ...well, just an organized mess! (and Randy I say that in a nice way.)

*The first post involves your mental attitude to deal with your admission of having the problem in the first place, and no this isn't one of the 12 step programs...only 7 steps!

*Also with the actual planning out of this project. Setting a goal, following trough and achieving it!

*Then getting down and doing the physical work, separating, categorizing , making piles , etc.

With the 2nd post; you start getting your mindset to how you look at your ancestors, sub-divide, and access what you have and how you are going to use it. You also make a list of what you have on hand as far as supplies go, and what you want to go out and shop for. Nothing expensive, you'd be surprised what a regular cardboard box can do for your filing system!

Now with this post , there is the general questions, tips and a bit of advice here and there..just listen and learn~ And don't forget the ink and paper for your printer!

To HAVE a whole room JUST 4 GENEALOGY!!!!!! That would be ssooooo Lovvvv errrr lyyy! Lovely thought, but then you make your own space where ever you may be! The smaller , the tighter, the less of a pile to organize. That is~if you aren't like me , PACK RAT, saves Everything and anything. This includes Books, Magazines, Newsletters (which are printed out , to file at a later date.) and that is just the genealogy stuff!

We will conquer and overcome. What was it Elyse called it , The MONSTER!
We will tame the Beast.

Now , the documents. You know the ones you paid and mailed off for. Copies of SS applications, Birth Certificates, Marriage applications/ licences, Draft cards , military records and so on. These documents are the foundation of your many hours of research. I have these in a page protector for safe keeping. I do plan to get them scanned sooner or later (another catch up issue of mine.)

You may not have or get the original document, but the copy is just as precious as the heirloom would be. So take care of it, preserve it for those who come after you, like the grand kids!
Elyse mentioned Denise over at Family Curator who has a post about this very subject. Just remember, do what works for you ! You're the one doing the work, so don't overdo with the details, set up a system that is yours alone. The later generation will, yes they will, appreciate all the work you did for them!

The BACK UP thing, well this is new to me! Don't have much as for genealogy software on my computer. My main data base, with photos and documents, along with stories and comments are on the Ancestry dot com site. I also have the tree on TRIBAL PAGES. Both are free , to a point, then the money spent, can/can't be of use to you . The tribal pages is where I can get
one report which you still can't get on ancestry. Ahnentafel report. It prints out to be a real
nice and neat , by generations, with facts and date showing the relationship to the #1 person
you have on the tree...usually you. There is also a tool for showing the relationship between
two people on your list. Once you have the generations and names , this can be quite a fun tool to tinker with. See just how every one is related to each other Check the one on my site using my dad JAMES SARGENT and then anyone else on the second drop down . My privacy for the living is not shown. Do let me know what you think.

Organizing on the computer itself, well most of the data is on a website. As for the photos, that is where I need to go in and move them around into a better filing system. Been putting most of the genealogy photos on my Face Book page in its own album.

Well there you have it , am sorry to have rattled on, how this and the other two post with this series has been of help to you. Thank Elyse for the original one two and three