Re: [PAF] Need Help with Sources.

[Richard L Halliday <rlhgen@juno.com>]

Thomas;
This document has become much larger than I originally expected it to be.
I have therefore attached it as Filing System.rtf using the Rich Text
Format file format. Any word processor should be able to read it.
You are perceptive. I have used several filing system variations. The one
I am currently using has evolved over fifty years of research. It is
derived from what I learned while at B.Y.U.
I have been doing family history work since I was in high school in the
late 1940s. In 1952 I transferred to BYU. The university did not offer
any genealogical classes then. The Campus Branch did have an active
Genealogical Committee. One of the members of that committee was a very
knowledgeable researcher. In the absence of any genealogical research
manual, he wrote one, about a chapter a week. We used those chapters for
our lessons. Originally I followed his recommendations about a research
log and used a loose-leaf binder. I am still following the essence of his
recommendations.
I use a hierarchal filing system. I have several drawers in a filing
cabinet devoted to my genealogical material. There are four major
sections: Correspondence, Documentation, Historical, and Research
Notebooks. Those four sections have essentially the same divisions. I
divide my research by "lines" and geography. The divisions generally
start with my great grandparents, all of which joined The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints in Great Britain in the 1850s and emigrated
to Utah. Some of the divisions are: Phillips (Wales), Jardine (Scotland),
Halliday (England), Vest (County Durham, England), and Morley
(Nottinghamshire, England). As those sections grow too large they get
divided. For example the Jardine line divides into Scott, White, and
Jardine.
Historical. This section is where I store the collected stories about my
pioneer ancestors. Some of it came from interviews with Grandmother Vest
(and others), some from biographies sent to me, and some from research. I
almost never include biographical information in the Notes of PAF. I have
found that people prefer a book which contains the stories about people
and that most of them are not interested in the names, dates, places, and
relationships in my genealogical database except as it refers to the
stories. I have donated two of these collections to the Family History
Library. They can be found by doing a surname search on Halliday.
Correspondence. The folders carry the same headings as described above
such as Vest, Phillips, Morley, Simpson, and Jardine. They letters are
filed chronologically. I find that when I need information from old
correspondence I almost always know what "line" is involved and have a
general idea when it was written. For a while I tried to keep a
correspondence log on my computer using my word processor. Now I keep it
on paper and paper copies of the correspondence. The computer is too
inconvenient to use for this purpose AND I often am unable to remember
how I have the item filed. IT IS ALSO TOO EASY TO ACCIDENTALLY ERASE
COMPUTER FILES. I have also lost correspondence when I was upgrading my
computer. Other times I have erased files which I subsequently found that
I needed. Furthermore, the person to whom you pass on these data when you
are old will find it easier to find things in a file drawer than a
computer.
Research Notebooks. Because of the way that I organize the research
notebooks, I have been able to find things in them decades after the
research has been done. I am also able to resume work on a line with very
little effort. I use spiral bound notebooks rather than loose leaf
binders. There are three major reasons. They can be opened and folded
back so that they lay flat. This is very useful at a microfilm reader or
computer. When they are dropped, the pages do not fall out as they can
with loose leaf binders. An additional advantage is that they fit easily
in the hanging folders in my filing cabinet or my brief case.
The key to the Research Notebooks is a simple, but powerful indexing
system. Each notebook has two sections; a table of contents & summary and
the notes (which can include printed or photocopied pages).
The contents starts from the front. At the top right corner of each page
is my name (not initials), the place where the research was done, and the
date. At the top center of each page is a page number, and the complete
source citation (name of the document, film number, file number, etc.).
At the top left of every page is what I am looking for together with the
names of the associated individuals and minimum identification (e.g.,
birth date & place or marriage date & place).
As I encounter items of interest, I record the page or item number, if
there is one, in the left margin at the start of the transcript. This is
all entered in blue or black ink (if the facility allows the use of ink)
until I encounter an item for one of my people. "Finds" are recorded in
red. I have found a pen with three colors of ink (black, blue, and red)
and pencil. The red ink makes items much easier to relocate.
The Table of Contents starts on the last page and works forward. This
allows me to use every page in the notebook. The T of C is ruled into
four columns. From left to right they are: Search For, Source, Date/Page,
and Results. The Search For column is 1.5 in. wide. The Source column is
4.0 in. wide. The Date/Page column is 0.5 in wide. The Results column is
2.0 in. wide. Horizontal lines are drawn every third line. This allows
ten or eleven entries on each page.
The Search For column contains the names and identification of the
individuals I hope to find information about. The Source column contains
the title of the document together with the document identification. One
example from County Durham is "Parish Register Transcripts, Sunderland,
Holy Trinity, Burials 1753-1770, M42/203". It is here that I enter the
date of the order when I order a microfilm.
The Date/Page column contains the date that the research was done. After
the date I make a horizontal line. Below this line I enter the pages
where I have recorded the information. The Results column contains a very
brief summary of what, if anything, I have found. Finds are recorded in
red ink. Typical entries are "Ann Potter, bap" and "Thos Potter & Mary
Watson 4 Mar 1794" (in red ink). Negative entries are important. They
keep you from repeating research. An example is "No new Wardell children"
(in black or blue ink)
The Table of Contents (Example: 9 pp for 115 pp of notes) allows me to
very quickly scan the contents of a research notebook. The full source
citation at the top of each page of notes together with the page or item
number at the beginning of each entry allows me to enter the complete
source citation in the computer at the same time as I enter the data. It
is VERY important to do both of these things at the same time. Almost no
one has the discipline to enter the information at one time and to return
to his work later and record the source citation. Entering date is fun;
source citations are drudgery.
Documentation. The Documentation section of my files is divided into
hanging folders by surname and region as described above. Initially, I
file all of the items (photocopies, transcripts, certified copies, ect.)
together. When I have a stack about 1/4 in. thick I divide them using
ordinary file folders. I usually use the headings: Census, Births or
Baptisms, Marriage or Banns, Death or Burial, and Miscellaneous.
Originally, I began to file the documents for all of my lines together by
type (i.e., Birth, Christening, Marriage, Death, Burial, Census, etc.).
Soon I found that I could not find the item I wanted because there were
too many similar items for some times and places.
When I want to find a document about an individual, couple or family, I
know the individuals name, the location, and the date. Since my files are
divided hierarchially into those same categories, it makes finding items
easy.
Research Trips. This filing system makes gathering material for research
trips easy. I can quickly find the material associated with the line of
interest and transfer them into my brief case (the old top loading
leather style with three compartments). That briefcase also has room for
pencil, pen, telescoping pointer, lunch, extension cord, etc.)

Richard L. Halliday

                    rlhgen@juno.com

p.s.  I just now looked at another message.  I think that I answered the
wrong question for you.  If this is so, please rephrase the question and
send me a message.

p.p.s.  It was not wasted effort as I teach a class in organizing your
files and this material will be incorporated after modification.

Memory is less a record of things as they were than as we would have
liked them to have been.  Genealogists Beware!

Filing System.rtf