Family History Help!! :)

[Hellothere123]

Hello,

I have a question for those of you with experience doing your family history.

I had grandparents who left a legacy of family history work behind and I am the new pioneer in my family that has been picking up the pieces. The Spirit of Elijah is contagious and addicting! So my grandparents were not very organized, but did get a HUGE amount of research done, which back in the day meant years and years of faithful research.

So for the last few years I have been working through piles and piles of family group records, books, temple cards etc. and making sure that everything they found lines up with what the church actually has recorded online (FamilyTree and/or familysearch).

So my questions are these:

1. What should I do with these family group record sheets after I am able to put the information onto familytree? Should I throw them out? Or keep them?

2. Is it really guaranteed that the church will always be able to keep track of what work is done in the long run? Or should we be responsible to keep track of our own family members ordinances through organized physical records or computer programs?

3. I am interested to know what system you use to organize all of your paperwork/ research. What do you keep, and what do you toss out? How do you keep organized so that if (heaven forbid) you were to die tomorrow and someone random had to carry on your work, then they would know exactly where to start?

THANKS A TON! This is an amazing work! :)

[Seanette]

I'd personally consider scanning group sheets and such to preserve the info while cutting clutter, but that's me. Definitely keep originals of important documents. Just my opinion.

It's my understanding that the Church has a multiple-backup system, since this work is so vital to salvation for so many. OTOH, I'm one of those people who prefers to keep my own backups as well, just to reassure myself. :)

I still haven't figured out #3.

[Jane_Doe]

Keep them! Yes, paper records need to be digitized, but you should always keep the originals. You're aiming to preserve family history- not throw it way! Also, original paper copies provide invaluable references when (inevitably) there comes a conflict in what you have recorded and what some distant cousin has.

That being said, there's no reason to keep old records just lying around on your desk. For me, I prefer putting them in binders, one binder for each 'branch' of the family tree, 'branch' being defined in some logical way. I personally put all the English ancestors of 'Emma Brown' in one binder, and have another for the ancestors of her husband 'John Jones' from Ireland. Label each binder so someone can figure it out, and then store it in a safe, cool, dry place (like the basement).

I don't know of any 'guarantee' from the church. I'm a computer person, so I keep records online, but paper print outs are always nice backups.

One thing you don't want is to have records of baptisms done for people X, Y, and Z, and not have them entered into the computer system. This was more common with the old temple cards: people would do a baptism, get is stamped, and then take it home and never type it into the computer. Then, another distant cousin comes along and see "oh this work hasn't been done" and reinvents the wheel. The newer temple system are trying to make this no possible (I'm admittedly out of date in that regard).

[applepansy]

Hello,

I have a question for those of you with experience doing your family history.

I had grandparents who left a legacy of family history work behind and I am the new pioneer in my family that has been picking up the pieces. The Spirit of Elijah is contagious and addicting! So my grandparents were not very organized, but did get a HUGE amount of research done, which back in the day meant years and years of faithful research.

So for the last few years I have been working through piles and piles of family group records, books, temple cards etc. and making sure that everything they found lines up with what the church actually has recorded online (FamilyTree and/or familysearch).

So my questions are these:

1. What should I do with these family group record sheets after I am able to put the information onto familytree? Should I throw them out? Or keep them?

2. Is it really guaranteed that the church will always be able to keep track of what work is done in the long run? Or should we be responsible to keep track of our own family members ordinances through organized physical records or computer programs?

3. I am interested to know what system you use to organize all of your paperwork/ research. What do you keep, and what do you toss out? How do you keep organized so that if (heaven forbid) you were to die tomorrow and someone random had to carry on your work, then they would know exactly where to start?

THANKS A TON! This is an amazing work! :)

How wonderful to have the records and research they have done. To me that is as exciting as Christmas morning as a kid. :)

1. I'm a fan of keeping one hard copy, organized as you like. (binders work well). Then scan everything and give it away to other family members for their "binders.") Getting rid of clutter saves the next generation from going through it all again.

2. The new Family Tree is a living program. Meaning everyone is changing the data on a daily, hourly, by-the-minute basis. The recommendation from FamilySearch is that you keep your records and maintain a separate database from FamilyTree using a third party program. The church is going to keep everything in digital format and a lot is also kept in the archives as hard copies. There is a guarantee. But since so many people are working in FamilyTree now its important to keep a record for yourself. If will also help in resolving conflicts with extended family over when great-great-great grandma was born.

3. I am using PAF and will continue until the program is so outdated that it no longer works. (The church is not longer updating the PAF program). I'm experimenting with other programs as our ward's family history consultant. As for hard copies. I'm keeping hard copies of important documents. I'm still trying to figure out how to organize them. I'm leaning towards large ringed binders (one for each grandparents line.

[McLainDow]

Not only is it a good idea but it is suggested that we keep hard copies of records.

[Hellothere123]

Hello!

Thanks for all the responses! It really helped a lot. My issue is that I literally have a pile that is about 4 feet tall of family group records and I am having to organize all of it, and go through every single paper to see if the information is on familytree. My Grandparents really were not organized much with their paperwork. There are duplicate family group records within the stacks of paperwork etc. But maybe this is a waste of my time?

Maybe I should just start with my own system of organizing and organize the piles of family group records by family and go from there? I just feel like I am struggling to make sense of all of it, and doing on paper at a time does not seem like a good use of time. I really like your idea of scanning everything and making it digital. Also it doesnt seem like the church would ever put themselves in a position to lose their info, but that is true that familytree is constantly changing, so it makes sense to keep your own records.

Thanks guys.

[applepansy]

Hello!

Thanks for all the responses! It really helped a lot. My issue is that I literally have a pile that is about 4 feet tall of family group records and I am having to organize all of it, and go through every single paper to see if the information is on familytree. My Grandparents really were not organized much with their paperwork. There are duplicate family group records within the stacks of paperwork etc. But maybe this is a waste of my time?

Maybe I should just start with my own system of organizing and organize the piles of family group records by family and go from there? I just feel like I am struggling to make sense of all of it, and doing on paper at a time does not seem like a good use of time. I really like your idea of scanning everything and making it digital. Also it doesnt seem like the church would ever put themselves in a position to lose their info, but that is true that familytree is constantly changing, so it makes sense to keep your own records.

Thanks guys.

This project is not a waste of time. It will help you remember what you learn about your family as you go through the papers. Some time in the future you might find a time when you're thankful for the knowledge.

Yes, start with your own system and integrate your Grandparents papers into it. That still means you have to go through each one and decide what to do with it. Its a worthwhile project.