How you organize your data is a personal decision. No two genealogists have exactly the same approach to record keeping. Much will depend on whether you are a pencil and paper person or have adapted to electronic record keeping.
Paper records
The following is an attempt to put together the ideas presented at a recent NGS meeting on the topic of organizing genealogy information using paper records. It was made clear that record keeping today involves the use of computer technology and paper records. What will vary from person-to-person is the extent to which an individual prefers one method over the other.
The Individual - All record keeping will begin with information on an individual. A paper record for an individual will usually contain the following data: full name, date and place of birth (DOB), date and place of death (DOD), parents’ names and their dates/places of birth and death, spouse’s maiden name (if married), marriage date(s) (DOM) and location, childrens’ names and birthdates, places of residence. The following information, if applicable, is also included: Baptism/Confirmation/Bar Mitzvah information, military service date(s) and type, education, height, weight, coloring, immigration records, medical records, employment record, and almost any other interesting information in a notes section. Including information on parents and children will allow the genealogist to place the individual in the proper place in a family tree sequence. In addition, a record of information sources for the individual’s data could/should also be included.
There are numerous sources of individual record sheets available either online or in published workbooks. If none of these feel quite right to you, prepare your own sheets organizing the data however you feel meets your needs. Two of the most common sources for forms are the following. Both of these sources jump right to family record sheets and don’t seem to have a separate form for the individual. Their family record sheets include much of what is listed above but put less emphasis of the individual’s life and views the record as more of a timeline of parentage.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Genealogy_Research_Forms
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Free-Charts-and-Forms
The Family – Similar to the individual record sheet the family sheet focuses on the individuals place in a family. The type of information included will contain more extensive data on children and parents as well as siblings. Including detailed information on siblings (and their spouse’s names) may seem to be getting off track but often you can find helpful information by searching a brother’s or sister’s data. A summary of this information makes up a basic three generation family tree with the individual included in the middle generation.
Overview – Putting the information sheets above together can be done many ways. The most common method that was shared was to organize data sheets by family line. The four lines most often used were paternal and maternal grandparents. Data was filed chronologically but if information was extensive enough to warrant it, it could be broken up by centuries. File folders for each line may soon become file drawers. Color coding of paper may also be helpful.
Bigger Overview – Most helpful in getting a sense of place in the family history is to generate a full family tree. For the sake of space a pedigree tree is often used (no brother/sisters included). A full family tree with all siblings included can quickly become extremely large and hard to use. A pedigree tree is best if a long time span is being studied and a parental tree if breadth of data is being studied over a more limited time span. Forms can be found for both of these purposes.
Physical Storage – What will you do with all the paper that will soon appear? Many people prefer to use notebooks (perhaps color coded) to hold the major four lines. Others prefer file boxes. The boxes can be replaced with larger one when needed. Those who store paper should also acquire acid free plastic sleeves for storing photos, newspaper clippings, etc.
The other question that arises is what to do with the sources of information? How do you handle family bibles, letters, photos, newspaper clippings. The list will go on and on. It is always difficult to decide just how much to keep and what can be eliminated. Thankfully, most of the info can be scanned and saved digitally.
Electronic Records
Most people starting genealogy today begin by using websites that offer to help the individual discover information. Websites such as Family Search of Ancestry seem to promise amazing results. In reality, the quality of the information you may discover requires the same scrutiny as the paper or physical documents of the past. Not all information found is correct. Someone writing an obituary can misremember a date, a newspaper article can suffer from typos or other errors and those taking census information often misspell names and ages. The biggest source of possible mistakes will be people who create the family trees you will find that seem to include your relatives. These are often wrong and should not be trusted.
As you use information that you find and trust you will generate a tree on these websites. The biggest problem is that to see your tree you will need to log on to the appropriate site and if you are no longer a subscriber or don’t have access to your files you can’t see it. Unfortunately, people often don’t know how to save that data without reverting to paper and pencil. Thankfully major websites will help you create a GedCom data file from your tree. That file can be imported into other sites, downloaded and used with software on your computer or simply shared with others. You can only be sure to have your family tree forever if you keep the information personally. There are many programs that you can obtain which will take your GedCom file and create your tree on your computer. These programs will also let you store copies of pictures and documents for each individual.
When you use an online website, the pictures and documents you find are online. If you want to have your own copies you must download and save them. You can either capture pictures of your computer screen to get the info or possibly download the file.
To feel comfortable using technology, you should become familiar with the available programs and/or be trained in how to use them. This is why being a member of an organization such as the Northwoods Genealogical Society is so helpful. Realize it is possible to reduce all those paper files, file cabinets, pictures and old letters to electronic records that won’t fade or decay and best of all they will probably fit on a single DVD disk. Security is having a copy of that disk in a safe deposit box and another copy shared with another family member.