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INTRODUCTION

When beginning your family history research, it’s easy to think that it will be simple to keep track of what information you have and what you have yet to find. You’ll quickly discover that it’s not so simple. Below are tips for organizing both your genealogical research and your findings.

ORGANIZING YOUR RESEARCH

Spending more time tracing your family history is the ultimate goal. Starting out with research logs and task lists will allow you to do just that.

Research Logs

Research logs are an excellent way to keep track of the research you have already accomplished. Good research logs have a place to record the following information:

  • Date of research (be sure to include all 4 digits of the year)
  • Repository (archive, library, cemetery, or vital record office)
  • Call number (manuscript number, library call number, or microfilm number)
  • Description of source (put your full source citation)
  • Comments or Results (What did you look for? Did you find it? Was the record hard to read?)
  • Miscellaneous fields, such as:
    • Time period
    • Jurisdiction
    • Surnames
    • Condition of source
    • How the source was searched (index or page-by-page)
    • ISBN (for locating a book elsewhere)

Download our research log to start organizing your research.

Task Lists or To-Do Items

Note questions when they arise—you may not remember the question later. Tracking this can be done in a variety of ways:

  • Use to-do items, logs, or task lists found in your genealogy software
  • Use a general word processing, spreadsheet, or database program
  • Keep a small notebook with you to jot down research questions

ORGANIZING YOUR FINDINGS

Your computer is an important organizational tool. Beyond recording and organizing your findings within a genealogical software program (see our software comparison chart), there are many other programs that can assist you.

Organizing (and Preserving) Your Family Stories

Preserve the family stories you find, know, or receive from family members.

  • Word processing program
  • Genealogy software (easier to locate the family story as it is attached to an individual)

Organizing Data as You Go

You may come across someone whose connection to your family is unclear, however, you don’t want to lose the information. There are many programs that can assist with this:

  • Census data
    • Census spreadsheets can be created in any spreadsheet program
    • Clooz (a Windows desktop application that helps organize and analyze data)
  • Cemetery and obituary transcriptions
    • CemEditor (creates a searchable database of cemetery transcriptions)
    • ObitEditor (creates a searchable database of obituaries)
  • City directories, deeds, and more
    • Create your own transcriptions in a word processing program
    • Clooz

Other Valuable Programs

Consider using a Notebook program to track every note, detail, photo, source, or URL:

ORGANIZING YOUR FILES

As you progress with your research you will find that files multiply exponentially. The documents and images you uncover are all part of the process. File them in a way—electronically, physically, or both—in which you can easily find them.

Most filing systems rely on certain principles: arrange the documents in notebooks or file folders; use an index or table of contents; be consistent. Even if you are determined to go a paperless route, there are still some documents, diaries, and photographs you will have in a non-digitized version. Organize these in a manner similar to your electronic files. Regardless of what system you use or where you store your files, remember to be consistent with file names, localities, and arrangement.

Organizing Files

Build a hierarchy of folders. Below is an example that leads to files for Lemuel Patraw (where each level is a sub-folder of the previous one):

  • Johnson Family Tree
    • Patraw Surname
      • Lemuel Patraw

When naming files, especially those of documents, include details on the source. Some examples:

  • File name: 1900 Nati no 122 Nataloni fhl2221027.tif — 1900 birth, record no. 122, surname Nataloni found on FHL microfilm 2221027
  • File name: Lemuel patraw ww1 st paul db4.jpg — World War I Draft card for Lemuel Patraw, who registered with the St. Paul, Minnesota, Draft Board No. 4

Organizing Digital Images

If you are working with a lot of digitized photos, keep a log of where they are stored. Items to keep in your log could include:

  • File name
  • Date of file
  • Description of file (subject of image)
  • Individuals included
  • Location of the original (should you ever need to replace your digital file)

When storing your images, whether taken with a camera, scanned from a microfilm, or saved from an online digitized document, it is always a good idea to store them in multiple locations, including:

Organizing Bookmarks and Email

If it is easier to do an online search for a site you are trying to reach instead of locating it in your list of favorites or bookmarks, then it is definitely time to organize your links.

  • Take advantage of your browser’s “Favorites” or “Bookmarks”
  • Make sure you create general folders such as:
    • Surname
    • Locality
    • History
    • General Genealogy

Use a similar approach for email. “Filters” within your email program direct messages into certain folders. This way you can work just on e-mails dealing with a given family, rather than jumping from one to the next as you open each email in your Inbox.

OTHER RESOURCES

Short overview

When beginning your family history research, it’s important track of what information you have and what you have yet to find. This guide provides tips for organizing both your genealogical research and your findings.

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