Friday, April 23, 2010

Organizing Genealogy in File Cabinet

Currently I have my genealogy files organized in 3 drawers of a file cabinet as such:
drawer 1: Smith files
drawer 2: Brooks/Williams files
drawer 3: Godwin files
Within each drawer the files are organized alphabetically.
My question is this: Should I put all of my files together and organize alphabetically and if I do that, how will I know if a file folder belongs to the Smith, Brooks, or Godwin genealogy group?

2 comments:

  1. Here's how I organize my hard copy files. Very broad, general information goes in each surname file (i.e. MIDKIFF), such as info that relates to record groups in one area (Midkiff birth records in Texas, etc.). Then specific records are kept within each ancestor couple's file (Charles Anderson MIDKIFF, I and wife Emaline Mary WILBOURN's birth, marriage, death and census records, etc.). Documents for their children that are not my husband's ancestor are also kept in the couple file. John Franklin MIDKIFF, their son who is also my husband's ancestor, gets two files...the main one is for him and his second wife who is my husband's great-grandmother; the other one is for documents that pertain just to his first wife and their marriage.

    I also have folders for ancestral locations (Michigan, and Kent County, Michigan)and research topics (military, immigration). Most of my records are digital, though, and I've mentioned how I organize these on my blog (look under the category "Tips").

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  2. Thanks Miriam for the suggestions! I don't think I've tried it that way yet :-)

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