Genealogy Chat

Hi Wellybobs

What is ironing?

Serious question - do you all really print out census records? They take up an enormous amount of ink and we are all mindful today of our carbon footprint. I started off printing them, but now just save them on my computer.

Margaret

Hi Madmeg,
Ironing is what happens when there are no more clean pressed clothes to wear, not so bad now that family are grown up!!!

I hear what you say about printing, and I suppose that as I get more used to using the computer then I will have a go at that but in the meantime then its the old paper trail. M.

Well I finally decided to get it sorted. I have methodically scanned everything and I do mean everything. It has taken me over a month but it is now all on an external hard drive. All under various headings, BMD's, Census, LDS, Army etc. So all I have to do is plug it in and scroll away. Now then , where did I store that Hard Drive????

Having read through this thread, it's interesting to learn how others store hard copies of their family history. I too have much stored on family history software but also have hard copies of everything. All my hard copies have a unique reference number. This way there is no problem about which file to put a marriage certificate in. I have an index card for everyone in my tree. On that card I write the reference number for each event. I also include the reference numbers on my computerised tree. It's not as difficult as it sounds. When you buy an English or Irish certificate it comes with a unique number. For Scottish Staturory records, they also have unique entry numbers (they don't have page numbers but individual entry numbers). For non statutory records it doesn't matter what reference you choose as long as it is unique. It is helpful if you use a combination of letters and numbers as this can give you an idea of what the record refers to. For census, for example I would start the ref with something like Cen1881 -Glw-Smith JasJnr. This would tell me that it is the 1881 census in Glasgow for James Smith Junior. That same reference would be entered on the relevant index card for each person in the household. This means that if there are 10 people in the household you only need one hard copy and there's no problem about which folder you file it in.

Remember if disc stored CDs go brittle over time, life is abt 10 years so make a re-copy every 5/6 years is a good idea.

I am very old fashioned about all this, and tho I do have my tree on here ( and other places ) I also have all the various pieces of my tree written down - on paper and in pencil, along with all my other notes. My reasoning is that this will always endure - I still have perfectly legible letters written by my grandparents well over 100 years ago in pencil.

Technology changes so quickly that some things can so easily become unavailable ( such as good old videos ) that I just think we have to be very careful about relying totally on always being able to access all our precious records in the future held 'somewhere'.

Sue

Cant believe there was an 8 year gap in replies Sep 2009-Oct 2017!!!