Keeping Your Records

Keeping Your Records
By Shirley D. Webb

A spiral notebook to carry with you as you check libraries, court houses and cemeteries is simple and easy. You can jot down notes on what you found and assemble those notes later when you get home.

Eventually you will need file folders, file boxes or cabinets and a system for finding certain data as you accumulate more family information.

Genealogy Forms

Most genealogy libraries will have some standard printed genealogy forms for use in documenting your data. Family Group Records, Pedigree Charts, Descendant Charts and Research Logs are some of the forms available. You should have several copies of each to help catalog your data.

As your genealogy collection grows, you should have a file folder for each surname and, eventually, a folder for each family. Your main purpose for these folders is to make them EASY TO FIND. Talk to any genealogist and they will tell you that “confusion” is one of the hazards of genealogy research. Where did I put those notes on Uncle Ned? Where is the file for Grandpa Murphy? The more surnames you accumulate, the more “confused” things can become. Don’t worry about it….it is part of the fun of genealogy!!

Computer Programs for Genealogy

There is no doubt that using a genealogy program for your computer will simplify your data storage and record keeping. If learning the computer is too difficult for you then, by all means, stay with the “hard copy” method of file folders and sheets of paper. There is nothing wrong with that.

Several companies have prepared genealogy programs to be used in your computer. They are for sale at varying degrees of expense. While Family TreeMaker is the most widely used program, it is not necessarily the least expensive or even the best. The Personal Ancestral File program by the Mormon Church's genealogy service, is inexpensive and available for purchase on their website http://www.familysearch.org. Several other programs are used by genealogists with great success.

The genealogy section of your local public library will often have information about the different genealogy programs for computers. Genealogists can give the best clues as to what programs work best and how to use them. Many libraries have volunteers who donate their time to help family history researchers. They should be able to answer the questions you have about what computer programs work best.

Once you choose this genealogy program, you will have the job of data entry. Everything you have accumulated must be typed into the program. However, when this chore is accomplished, you need only add to it as you get more data. You also become more familiar with the program as you use it – and soon you are a genealogist AND a computer expert.

Documenting Your Sources

At first you might forget to write down where you saw that great copy of Grandfather Johnson’s Will. Or perhaps you forgot to jot down the book where a whole section of your family tree was listed. Try to avoid these pitfalls.

Keeping track of your sources is essential to good genealogy research. When you copy the page from that great book, make a copy of the frontispiece or the title page, too. When you spot something on the census of 1860, write down the page, the year and the county as well as the census information you saw. You may think you will remember where you saw it but, chances are you will be like all of the rest of us - - you will wonder where you saw that wonderful tidbit of information and you will be kicking yourself because you didn’t make a note about it.

Take the time to write down your sources on the data pages, too. When you prepare a Family Group Record, write the sources at the bottom of the page. And, when you enter the data into your computer’s genealogy program, take a few extra minutes to record the sources, too. You will never be sorry you did. And, even if the source is “Aunt Mary Smith told me this”, you should write it down. Information from living family members is an important part of your research.

Good sources of genealogy data are required in order to join patriotic organizations such as Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, Confederate Sons or Daughters and Descendants of the Mayflower Families. Only certain records are acceptable when applying for membership in these organizations. But, even though you may not have the sources for that type of membership, you will be proud of the many interesting things you discover about your family tree.

Enjoy your genealogy work, keep your records, file your data or enter it into your computer and join the rest of us genealogists in the intriguing search for our ancestors.

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