ORGANIZE!

A man in South Carolina wrote with a plea of help a few months ago stating he was totally overwhelmed at the landslide of information he was getting and it was all in a pile. All the families were mixed up and he couldn't remember who went with who! That is a sinking feeling!

Let's talk about this. Let's talk about coming up with some sort of a system to keep folks in groups so we have an opportunity to visualize who they are! Most of us don't have a four by six foot dry erase boards to make family trees!

It doesn't matter if you choose a piece of paper with the family name written across it, a file folder, or an elaborate notebook. They important thing to realize is this information is going to continue to grow.

For Old Trunks, zippered notebooks with sheet protectors work best for the long haul. Each family name has a notebook, which includes pictures, census, certificates, newspaper articles, and memorabilia. This is the final destination for all information for that surname.

Where does one store questions and rough research ideas? Steno books are excellent. Old Trunks writes everything in it. EVERYTHING, even when just trying to figure something out. An example of this is plots in cemeteries as seen above. Yes, it is okay if you put your sticky notes in there. Yes, it is okay if it isn't written in handwriting class penmanship. And for heaven sake, don't forget the highlighters!

Tab the pages. Keep a running list of what you have found. Invest in a genealogy program to help you store the information you find. Remember a beefy flash drive can move from computer to computer.

DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE?

Remember something about an ancestor

Put a name on a folder

File something

Enter a name on the computer

Write a quick memory or send it to someone

Share your ideas

Label a photo

Mentally thank an ancestor

DO YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES?

Journal

Enter a small family on the computer

Write a note to an aged person

Read a story

Share

Look up a person on the Internet

Write to someone who may be a connection

DO YOU HAVE THIRTY MINUTES?

Print and send an article to someone

Write a letter asking for information

Compose a memory

Make your own stationary with header

Make business cards

Write your name on everything

Organize

Install that genealogy program Old Trunks is talking about

DO YOU HAVE A HALF A DAY?

Library

Family history center

Blog

Organize

DO YOU HAVE ALL DAY?

Go on location with two cameras.

Interview

Organize

OLD TRUNKS WANTS YOU TO THINK ABOUT:

What you are doing

That communication can be slow and frustrating, try to keep up.

Putting memories into words may be hard in the beginning, just write.

Chasing ancestors is time consuming. Try breaking the tasks down.

And most importantly, enjoy the challenge.

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