Re: Organisation
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In reply to:
Organisation
2/16/02
Dear Daniela,
Your problem is very common; so common that there is a second program, "Clooz", which helps people file their documents. It is expensive - US$40 or so. You probably do not need it. If you are interested, however, their site is:
http://www.clooz.com/http://www.clooz.com/
I do not use "Clooz". I don't know how well it works. I just thought I'd mention it so that you would know you were not alone.
The best filing system is consistent and lets you find what you need quickly. What works for you may not work well for someone else. I use a surname or a place name to start with. If the document has a date, I use that as well. Articles from newspapers about births, deaths and marriages are examples. If the document is about one person, I use the first name. If it is general, I use "General". So, I might have four file folders for my PACK family:
PACK, 1950-Apr-13
PACK, 1886-Mar-01
PACK, John
PACK, General
Many PACKs came from the state of West Virginia, but so did many of my other lines. If I had pages copied from a book of West Virginia History, they would be filed under "West Virginia".
Family Tree Maker lets you cite your documents as sources. Click on "Help" and "Sources" if you haven't done so already. There are two parts to a source; the description and the citations. You might have one large document, for instance, and cite it many times for many individuals. Every time you enter a fact from one of your documents, you should cite the document as a source. In the description of the document, along with the name, title, author and so forth, you should have "Filed under ..." and the title of the file. That way you can always find it. The program I use has a second part to the source description, "Repository", which lets you specify exactly where the document is.
Finally, there may be a Genealogical society in your town. They would be delighted to have a new member, and to offer you advice.