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Question:It didn't take me very long to collect a lot of names and dates of my ancestors and I haven't worked on my genealogy in quite some time.
Now that I am ready to get back into it, I don't know where to begin in organizing my info. I want to do this on paper, but I would also be willing to do it on the computer/online as well.
How do you organize all of your info? Do you create a page for each person with all the info you have on them?
Have you found a certain sheet/form that helps you?
Any ideas/links you can share would be so helpful, thanks!


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It didn't take me very long to collect a lot of names and dates of my ancestors and I haven't worked on my genealogy in quite some time.
Now that I am ready to get back into it, I don't know where to begin in organizing my info. I want to do this on paper, but I would also be willing to do it on the computer/online as well.
How do you organize all of your info? Do you create a page for each person with all the info you have on them?
Have you found a certain sheet/form that helps you?
Any ideas/links you can share would be so helpful, thanks!

Here is my answer to this same question last week:

<<<How should I write down all the info I find?
I have a notebook but I need a way to make it organized. What would be the best way? Should I start in the back so as I track my ancstry farth back the oldest will be first in the notebook? Should I make a seperate pages for everybody's wives and children?>>>

I would use the first few pages to draw a family tree, starting with yourself on the left side of the pages, and branching out to parents, grandparents, etc. As you confirm people, you can fill their names in on the main chart, used for quick reference.

I would organize using family group sheets. Each of these contains:
Husband: Born, Married, Died, Father, Mother
Wife: Born, Died, Father, Mother
Children: Name, Born, Died, Married, Spouse
Assign a number to each family group sheet, so you can make easy references to other sheets (ie. everyone will appear on at least 2 family group sheets).

Use tabs to divide the notebook into 5 sections: Main family tree, you, your parents & your grandparents family group sheets at the front, then a section for each of your grandparents lineage.

Also, here are some links to blank forms you can print out and use for doing your research:
http://www.cs.williams.edu/~bailey/genea...
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/...
http://www.free-genealogy-forms.com/cont...
http://www.ancestry.com/charts/ancchart....

***I would strongly suggest just taking notes (I use some of the forms above, and just keep them in the order I'm working on them, in folders, labelled by family surname) and then entering the data into family tree software on your computer on a regular basis. MyHeritage has free software that is really good, and can also help search the web. You're going to end up with A LOT of information. As an example, my husband's maternal grandmother's lineage is 90 pages, printed off the computer (and that's just the basics, their is much more information on the computer!). His paternal grandfather's is about the same. So, you have four grandparents lines to do x 90 pages...that's 360 pages! If you're married and do both yours and your spouses', that's 720 pages! Just a basic idea of the amount of info you're going to have to keep organized.***

Ultimately, you'll need to find what works best for you, but hopefully I have provided some useful tools & tips to get you started.

Good luck in your research, however you choose to organize yourself!

I use a program (FTM-16), and lots of computer folders with gigs of scanned images and histories, and I use a hanging file-folder box. And a pile of books and papers on my desk. All this leaves me often lost and confused.

I am a neophyte at this, one-year into it, with only about 900 people who I can point to and say "there's the primary source!" And about 4,000 left to verify myself from primary records. Yuck.

But, from lots of time wasted, I have learned to write down the source FIRST. Doesn't matter if it's on paper. Or on a database (PAF is free from www.familysearch.org ---very handy, these computers.)

Everybody develops their own system. Just always include the source or you'll find yourself tripping over your own shoestrings.

Happy Hunting!

I just wanted to applaud your work and ask you to teach your children about the importance of it. The worst thing would be for you to go to all that research and then have it lost or tossed without a care, when you get older.

I have not personally had the wherewithall to do such research for myself. Fortunately, there are family members who are a resource for this whose work I have found quite interesting. So, if your children don't value it after all your work, find another young relative who will promise to be an offsite share partner and preserve it for the future.

Use a genealogy software program. I find Legacy the best and it is free for the standard edition.The Latter Day Saints also have a program available on their site. Both of these programs are down loadable. You can then print off reports if you want paper copies