When I first started researching my family tree, I almost immediately started finding information and documents, etc. But then the problem became, how do I organize all this information?
I'm not an experienced genealogist, or at least I wasn't when I began my research; I do now have several years under my belt. I don't have training or certification. I've never officially been taught the proper way to lay everything out with sources etc. So, I lay my information out in a way that best makes sense to me, and I think it works quite well.
First, I started logging all the information I found in an Excel spreadsheet. Weird, I know. But, it was the only way I felt like I could keep everything I was learning organized. Organization is very important to me. Then, I started saving every piece of information and every document or picture I found that pertained to one of my ancestors. One folder for each main surname of a family with sub-folders with other surnames. I still like this way of organizing, actually. And each file has a very specific name like "James Oscar Norman Mention in Jacksboro Gazette." I don't want to have to open 15 different files before I find the right one.
Eventually, there came a point, though, when I had so much information I felt I had to start logging it all in a family tree website. Those things surely exist for a reason, right? I figured it was the natural step. And I do like it. But, truth be told, while the site keeps everything organized and it's easy enough to navigate, the more people I add, the more it feels like the site the site has control of me instead of the other way around... if that makes sense. There's so much information spread out across so many people, I have to go to each individual person to access a specific bit of information.
Ideally, I would really prefer all my information in one place, but until I figure out how to do that, I think I'm good. How do you organize all the information you collect when researching your family tree? Let me know in the comments.
I'm not an experienced genealogist, or at least I wasn't when I began my research; I do now have several years under my belt. I don't have training or certification. I've never officially been taught the proper way to lay everything out with sources etc. So, I lay my information out in a way that best makes sense to me, and I think it works quite well.
First, I started logging all the information I found in an Excel spreadsheet. Weird, I know. But, it was the only way I felt like I could keep everything I was learning organized. Organization is very important to me. Then, I started saving every piece of information and every document or picture I found that pertained to one of my ancestors. One folder for each main surname of a family with sub-folders with other surnames. I still like this way of organizing, actually. And each file has a very specific name like "James Oscar Norman Mention in Jacksboro Gazette." I don't want to have to open 15 different files before I find the right one.
Eventually, there came a point, though, when I had so much information I felt I had to start logging it all in a family tree website. Those things surely exist for a reason, right? I figured it was the natural step. And I do like it. But, truth be told, while the site keeps everything organized and it's easy enough to navigate, the more people I add, the more it feels like the site the site has control of me instead of the other way around... if that makes sense. There's so much information spread out across so many people, I have to go to each individual person to access a specific bit of information.
Ideally, I would really prefer all my information in one place, but until I figure out how to do that, I think I'm good. How do you organize all the information you collect when researching your family tree? Let me know in the comments.
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