Microfiling & the Genealogical Jump Start - Part 2.1

Welcome back to the Genealogical Jump Start series. Last week in part 2, we worked on organizing all of our loose genealogy papers by surname. Sounds tedious, but easy, right? Tedious and time consuming, yes! Easy? Not always.

Take a look at this newspaper clipping and count how many surnames are mentioned. In all four surnames; Gremley, Lamb, Brainard and Bailey are mentioned. Additionally seven towns are mentioned. Where should the clipping be filed? The answer is that copies should be filed in multiple locations for later ease of retrieval and further study:

1. Surname Folder: Bailey
2. Surname Folder: Brainard
3. Surname Folder: Gremley
4. Surname Folder: Lamb
5. Place Folder: Connecticut, Norwich

These headings represent temporary paper files for genealogy papers I might not be ready to process and also correspond to permanent digital folders in Dropbox on my computer. Eventually there should be a digital copy of this item for each family member mentioned in this article, not just for each surname. Although seven towns are mentioned, I chose to file a copy just in the location where the event occurred. My place name files are used mostly for research about a locality. The original clipping will be preserved and saved with my closest relative in this case, my grandfather. Be sure when filing away both the original and the copies to note of the item's provenance and also for the copies the original item's location.

Now that we've got some filing done, be sure to reward yourself. Have coffee, take a nap or read the description of the Christmas dinner enjoyed by the group. Wonder what the "mystery" dessert was?

Happy Tuesday and Happy Filing!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

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Here are two great blog posts about getting your genealogy stuff organized: 

Progress on the Archival Closet on Sorting Saturday

by Michelle Goodrum

Branching Out Through The Years: Organizing My Genealogy Files

by Hummer