Sunday, May 5, 2013

Leason 6: Organization is Key!

Organization is key!

Being organized is one of the best ways to save hours of time trying to research your family history. Though you may have a computer you will still want to invest in a binder with dividers so you can keep your original records in. I like using clear sleeves so that I can put my information in the pocket as opposed to using a paper punch on an original document.

Any good researcher will want copies of the original documents. You may actually have a copy of the originals from your family members already. You can, purchase some records from the state for a fee. You also can get some items from the library and genealogy sites, that other people have collected.

There are birth certificates, death certificates, military records, church records, newspaper clippings, and so on. These are all great resources and great documentation for your research as well. Just remember, document, document, document.

Good documentation can help you in the long run. When I was in nursing school they had a scholarship for the Daughters of the Revolution. Had I been able to prove that my fore father, Christian Arney, was a revolutionary war solider I might have been able to  qualify for that scholarship. I didn't have the documentation at the time. So you see, the documentation can help in more ways than one.

Remember, being organized saves hours of work that you end up back tracking on, causing a waste of time. So get organized, I mean crazy organized! Take care! Until next time.

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