Accurate Filing Systems Are Essential To Your Genealogical Success

Genealogists and detectives have a lot in common.

Both know how to dig for information that may be lost, misfiled or hidden. Thinking of yourself as a detective – or sleuth – helps with the mindset it takes to expand your genealogical search. Where in Europe was Great-Great Grandmother O’Brien born? Just because her name sounds Irish doesn’t necessarily mean she was born in Ireland. Maybe her name was Feinstein or Bjorn before she married Buster O’Brien. And maybe "Buster" was really just a nickname. Do you know for sure, or is it just a family story?

Learning how and where to look for information is only the beginning. Knowing all the ways a piece of information can be used is another step but keeping all your information filed so you (or someone else) can actually use the data is where a lot of researchers drop the ball.

"You get all these pieces of paper strung out everywhere – property deeds, taxes, land rights, marriage and divorce records. We know we’re all born and we all die, but in between, we create lots of documents," explains professional researcher Damon Hostetler, who bases his work in Clearwater, Florida. "As genealogists, we can start at the front, or at the back of someone’s life and carry it either direction, depending on what information we have to begin."

The important thing is to create a file for each person, no matter how few things we know about that person, he said. "That way, if we’re concentrating on one ancestor, and we run into several documents about others (ancestors) we can file them immediately and go on with the one we’re working on without being distracted. It’s always better to work on one at a time. And when we file correctly, the other documents will be there whenever we want them."

Other professional researchers agree.

Lynn Kessel White of Sarasota says it is imperative to record all the information you can about the source of the information with the document. "Too many documents and too few records of sources can lead to utter confusion." She said.

When Hostetler gives presentations on record-keeping to groups, he usually brings many kinds of filing systems. From cardboard expansion files to pop-up plastic boxes, Hostetler usually carries ten or fifteen examples of things that can be purchased cheaply at a discount or business supply store, and then added to, as the necessity arises.

"Some researchers start by buying one plastic drawer at a time," he said in a recent speech near Tampa, Florida. "Others rely on manila folders. But if you do that, be sure and staple the sides so documents don’t fall out when you pick them up. There’s nothing worse than having a bunch of unlabeled documents spilled on the floor."

Filing systems expand with the search, so no matter how you start yours, it’s sure to look different in a year or two. Just be sure to keep each family separate; and once several family members begin to take shape, put them each in separate files as well.