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Organizing and Preserving Your Documents A misplaced document can drive you crazy, so it’s worth getting organized from the start. Make electronic back-ups of your work, and consider using “cloud” storage on a remote server. Remember, too, that the best way to back up your data is to give copies of your best photographs and documents to your family members in other households. Preserving fragile original documents: If you are handling important paper documents, such as old newspaper clippings, you should make copies and place the originals in clear, archival quality plastic sleeves. Archival supplies are available from scrapbook supply stores, and at websites including ArchivalMethods.com and PrintFile.com . For original documents and photos, you might consider fireproof storage: heavy, fireproof boxes for home storage are available at office supply stores. Restoring family photographs: Even badly damaged photos can be restored to pristine condition. Try a browser search on “photo restoration.” If you have a photo with only mild damage, you can probably do the work yourself. Get a home scanner and put the photo into .jpg format. Then you can lighten or darken the image, improve the contrast. For advanced editing, the best photo editor is Adobe Photoshop, but this program is expensive. A good alternative is GIMP (General Image Manipulation Program), free at Gimp.org . If you have old home movies or videos, you might consider a service such as iMemories.com or VideoConversionExperts.com to transfer these to digital format. Organizing paper files: Start with a single file folder containing all your family history data. When it starts to take you more than a few seconds to find what you are looking for, divide this into two files: one for your mother’s side of the family, and one for your father’s side. When these files start to get full, divide them into one file for each person or family group that you have information about. Eventually, you’ll also have files for general background and special topics. This will save you time in the long run. Creating ancestor data sheets: It’s useful to create, for each ancestor, a one-page document listing the milestones of this person’s life, plus your source for each piece of information (birth certificate, interviews, census records, and so on). A good variation on this practice is to create a single data sheet not for each person but for each married couple, particularly for couples who were married a long time and whose lives overlapped – this will keep you from repeating information unnecessarily. Family tree charts and scrapbooks: There are lots of sources for downloading free family tree charts. If you want to purchase a nicer wall chart for display, you can see a list of vendors at Cyndislist.com/supplies.htm - Vendors . Most wall charts are either ascending (listing all the ancestors of a single, current individual – sometimes described as a “fan chart”) or descending (listing all the descendants of a prominent ancestor). Both can make nice displays. Scrapbooking can let you create a more personal and visually interesting record of your family history. There are bricks-and-mortar scrapbook supply stores in many communities, or you can look at web stores such as Scrapbook.com and Creativememories.com . FamilySearch Center at the John Parker Library c. hanlin 010.11

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Page 1: Organizing and Preserving Your Documentsfreedomcenter.org/_media/pdf/genealogy/18. Organizing...Organizing and Preserving Your Documents A misplaced document can drive you crazy, so

Organizing and Preserving Your DocumentsA misplaced document can drive you crazy, so it’s worth getting organized from the start. Make electronic back-ups of your work, and consider using “cloud” storage on a remote server. Remember, too, that the best way to back up your data is to give copies of your best photographs and documents to your family members in other households.

Preserving fragile original documents:If you are handling important paper documents, such as old newspaper clippings, you should make copies and place the originals in clear, archival quality plastic sleeves. Archival supplies are available from scrapbook supply stores, and at websites including ArchivalMethods.com and PrintFile.com. For original documents and photos, you might consider fireproof storage: heavy, fireproof boxes for home storage are available at office supply stores.

Restoring family photographs:Even badly damaged photos can be restored to pristine condition. Try a browser search on “photo restoration.” If you have a photo with only mild damage, you can probably do the work yourself. Get a home scanner and put the photo into .jpg format. Then you can lighten or darken the image, improve the contrast. For advanced editing, the best photo editor is Adobe Photoshop, but this program is expensive. A good alternative is GIMP (General Image Manipulation Program), free at Gimp.org. If you have old home movies or videos, you might consider a service such as iMemories.com or VideoConversionExperts.com to transfer these to digital format.

Organizing paper files:Start with a single file folder containing all your family history data. When it starts to take you more than a few seconds to find what you are looking for, divide this into two files: one for your mother’s side of the family, and one for your father’s side. When these files start to get full, divide them into one file for each person or family group that you have information about. Eventually, you’ll also have files for general background and special topics. This will save you time in the long run.

Creating ancestor data sheets:It’s useful to create, for each ancestor, a one-page document listing the milestones of this person’s life, plus your source for each piece of information (birth certificate, interviews, census records, and so on). A good variation on this practice is to create a single data sheet not for each person but for each married couple, particularly for couples who were married a long time and whose lives overlapped – this will keep you from repeating information unnecessarily.

Family tree charts and scrapbooks:There are lots of sources for downloading free family tree charts. If you want to purchase a nicer wall chart for display, you can see a list of vendors at Cyndislist.com/supplies.htm - Vendors. Most wall charts are either ascending (listing all the ancestors of a single, current individual – sometimes described as a “fan chart”) or descending (listing all the descendants of a prominent ancestor). Both can make nice displays. Scrapbooking can let you create a more personal and visually interesting record of your family history. There are bricks-and-mortar scrapbook supply stores in many communities, or you can look at web stores such as Scrapbook.com and Creativememories.com.

FamilySearch Center at the John Parker Library c. hanlin 010.11