ENTERING YOUR INFORMATION

In order to be efficient, you should try to only handle a piece of information one time. So, let's say you have a copy of your father's birth certificate. 1) The first thing you will do is to scan the document in order to have a digital copy. You will name it according to the EGE number system and put it into the proper directory.

2) Then you will check the information on the document with the information in your genealogy program on your computer. If you have not entered the information into the program, now would be a great time to do that. Or, you can simply check the information that you had previously entered to make sure it is correct. You can cite the birth certificate as a source for the information and even attach* the scanned copy to your file.

3) Finally, you will put the hard copy of the birth certificate in the appropriate place in your album.

You have now successfully filed your piece of information.

NOT MY COPY

If you get documents, photographs, etc. from a relative and you need to return those originals to them, simply scan them in and print them out for your album. Many of my photographs are not originals, but are printed copies.

NOT A DIRECT LINE ANCESTOR

If the piece of information is something that pertains to someone who is not a direct line ancestor (for instance, a photograph of a great-uncle), you will still do steps 1 and 2, but instead of step 3 (since we only have direct line ancestors in our albums), I recommend giving that piece of information to a direct line descendant of that person. That keeps you from storing unnecessary information. You have a digital copy in case you need it for any reason and you will make someone very happy by passing that information along.

BACKUPS

Make sure to back up your digital copies often and keep a CD/DVD in your album. If you use a flash drive or other backup, make sure to note in your album where that backup is stored. I recommend keeping a CD/DVD as well as any other backup. You can't be too careful.

TYPES OF INFORMATION

Audio

These are digital audio files. If you have old cassette recordings of family members, these can be digitized and you should attach* them to the proper people in your genealogy software.

Documents

These are files created in a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word. These are mostly histories, but could be notes taken from any source. Documents should be printed out and put into the proper place in your album. They should also be attached* to the proper person in your genealogy software.

Images

These are scanned photographs and scanned documents (such as birth certificates, etc.). These should be printed out (if you don't own the originals) and put into your album. They should also be attached* to the proper person in your genealogy software.

Video

Video files can be attached* to the proper person in your genealogy software.

Entering Information into PAF

I prefer to have separate files for each of my 4-generations in PAF. I have 17 of them, just like folders. They are all stored in my genealogy/kuykendall folder. I also have one file that I keep ALL of my and my husband's combined genealogy. I named that one (original, I know), ALL. I keep that file in the genealogy/ folder. I named the others using the numbering system and the surnames (see Illustration D HERE for what it looks like in my husband's genealogy folder). You COULD just give them the number, but I like to see the surnames. Like this:

01-KUYKENDALL
16-KUYKENDALL
17-MATTHEWS
18-WILLS
19-LARD
20-BUNGER
21-WILSON
22-TURNER
23-GILLENTINE
24-GRIFFITHS
25-PRICE
26-LAYTON
27-NAYLOR
28-SADLER
29-DAVIES
30-HARDMAN
31-COON

*If you need help attaching files to people in your genealogy software, please see the help documentation in your software. If you are using PAF, you simply double click on the person in your file and then push the multimedia button (see illustration below). In PAF, you can also add a source image by clicking the little "s" next to the event and then adding a new source.


click to enlarge