* How do you organise your Paper Records?

[David_Lewis]

When I first started accumulating certificates and Census records for our family Ancestors it became failrly obvious that I was going to need some sort of system for filing it all. I quickly cottoned on to the idea of using Ahnentafel numbers and bought a binder and a set of dividers numbered 1-31, Our childrens certificates are filed under 1 My records under 2, my wifes under 3 , etc etc. it means that if i want a paper copy of something related to a direct ancestor I can find it very easily.

Thats worked pretty well but Im now "branching out" and collecting paper records for aunts /uncles and their families as well as Great aunts/uncles and I was wondering how others filed those sorts of records.

I did think about using a numbering system based on "a cross between Ahnentafel and d'abbovile (sp) numbers for example My Eldest Brothers records would be filled under 4.1 ( My father is ahnentafel number 4 and my brother is his eldest child. His children then would be 4.1.1, 4.1.2 etc, My sister would be 4.2, and I would be 4.3
Similarly my Dad'd sister would be filed under 8.1

It looks as though it woulkd work but there must be better solutions How do others do it?

[davidm_uk]

My paper filing is a bit of a mess at the moment and I've got a "tuit" on my notice board to do something about this.

One approach I've considered, but only works if I have FH open at the time that I decide I want to find or file a bit of paper, is to just file things by the FH Individual Record ID. OK, there will be lots of spaces, but so what, and I could have some index dividers at 100, 200, 300 etc.

Then of course, what do I do with papers that cover more than one individual, or even more than one family! Since all of my paper records have scanned images on the PC which are linked to a source record, an alternative might be to index the paper copies using the Source Record ID, there aren't so many of these, and it's maybe a bit more logical.

Maybe that's the reason that I've never got a "round tuit"

I'll be interested to see what others think.

[tatewise]

Essentially I file alphabetically by Primary SURNAME, Forenames so the records are in the same order as the FH Individual Records Window default order.

However, I do keep my own ancestor records separate from my wife's ancestor records.
This avoids interspersing my ancestor SURNAMES with her ancestor SURNAMES.
I use a few Family Tree Diagrams with minimum details as Index pages to help remember relationships.

One major exception is Census Records which I file by Census Year in Reference Id order.
This is because so many people/generations are mentioned on some Census Records that they don't belong to any one Individual.
Any other miscellaneous documents that don't belong to any one Individual are similarly filed.

BTW: The above system is closely aligned to the way I name Source and Multimedia records, where most records are named SURNAME, Forenames Year-Mmm-Day/Quarter Event etc, but Census records use Year Ref-Id SURNAME, Forename of head/key person.

[ColeValleyGirl]

I don't link paper files to individuals at all -- I file them under document type e.g. Civil Registration Certificate or will, and then with an ascending number in the order I obtained them. I scan all of them and link the image to the source, so I rarely (if ever) need to refer to the paper copy. In case I ever do need to refer to the original, I track the link between paper and electronic copy in GenQuiry. (I could also do this in a note in the Source record in FH).

(If I ever need to find my own birth certificate for non-genealogical purposes, I know it's Certificate/1 !)

I don't keep paper copies of anything except where the document first came into my hands as paper, and I'm considering revising even that policy. If I hold the original/unique copy of a document, I'll retain it in physical form. Otherwise, perhaps not...

[ireneblackburn]

A few years ago Jane recommended this link:

http://barrysblog.mygenshare.com/news/l ... olor_codes

It works for me

[rodit]

I use the Circled 5 System also, using hanging folders for each family name with each generation in an individual manila folder within the hanging folder.

[jeemo]

As any record is a source, I file everything in folders in source numeric order (100 sources to a folder). Thus for any source, I can just take its number and refer to the appropriate record in the file. I name each source by its type; thus Certificate - Birth : Individual's Name; Certificate - Death : Individual's Name; Researcher : Name; Will - Individual's Name; etc. About once a month I produce a modified List Source Report. With this I can easily find any record without having the computer turned on.