APG-L Archives

Archiver > APG > 2003-12 > 1070471406


From: "Elissa Scalise Powell, CGRS" <>
Subject: RE: [APG] HEEELP!! - Organizational hints
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2003 12:10:06 -0500
In-Reply-To: <152.27abbaf4.2cff5b1b@aol.com>


Cindy,
I think by our nature genealogists are keepers of "stuff." When asked which
of my two children is more likely to carry on my work, I say it is the one
with messy room who hasn't cleaned out his baby items and not the one who
has purged her room repeatedly in the past year.

So what do we do with our collection? I have been trying to learn about this
and have latched onto the show "Clean Sweep" (The Learning Channel TLC at 6
p.m. every weekday and 10 p.m. Saturday) which gives not only ideas on how
to organize various types of collections but how to handle the psychology of
parting with Stuff. If you collect genealogy, then perhaps you have other
collections which also need to be pruned, organized or otherwise coordinated
which will make room for more genealogy stuff. I have learned something from
each show.

I am planning to empty my office (horrors!) and only put back in an
organized manner only what needs to be there. Some things can go to the
basement in storage. Some can be given away. The task is daunting which is
why I am brainwashing myself with the TV show as their rooms are messier
than mine, and are doable. Of course the crew is larger too!

As for your specific questions: a few thoughts came to mind. If you have
magazine from any society that has ever put them on CD, then perhaps it is
time to give up the volumes covered on the CD. If I want to mark a specific
article I take a post-it with gummy side down and have the paper stick out
the top marked with what it is. And then it gets to sit on the shelf with
its brethren. You could take this one step further and create a database
with the article title, author, subject, journal name, volume, and page. You
can then sort the database next time you want all info that you have read on
the XX subject. This database works if the articles are on CD too, or you
can query the CD directly.

My husband Reed uses a scanner to tame the paper jungle. He scans everything
(bills, the kids' school records, etc.) and burns CD's which are much easier
to store. This may be something you would want to consider for those pieces
of paper you *think* you need to keep. A facsimile of the paper might be
better for your purposes than a transcription. Or transcribe the material to
a computer file where you can find it easily. (That Search feature in
Windows Explorer comes in real handy sometimes when all you can remember is
a phrase from a file.)

I don't know if you have others in your household that contribute to the
"mess" but one thing I learned in living with others is that things don't
stay where you put them. They migrate on their own and end up in a place you
did not expect. So this is a training exercise for the whole family.
Everyone must put away what they get out right after they are finished with
it. However the definition of "finished" varies, and since genealogies are
never "finished" they tend to stay out. You are probably like me, a visual
learner: Out of sight, out of mind. But I am learning that if I file it away
in a certain place I can get it much quicker than digging down through the
piling system and being distracted by everything on top.

A tip I did pick up on one of those shows was to have each member of the
family have a storage place *in the same room* that they use the things.
Things have a better chance of getting back to their places if they don't
need to be carried elsewhere.

So how to conquer the clutter? I am still looking for the answers. Actually
for myself, I have the answers as they are in all those books and shows. It
is the gumption within myself that I must find (and a bit of time to disrupt
my whole office routine and set up the organization).

-- Elissa

CGRS and Certified Genealogical Records Specialist are Service Marks of the
Board for Certification of Genealogists used under license after periodic
evaluations by the Board. http://www.BCGcertification.org/


> -----Original Message-----
> From: [mailto:]
> Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 10:28 AM
> To:
> Subject: [APG] HEEELP!!
>
> Hello list,
>
> I'm sitting here in my office and embarrassed to admit this to my fellow
> genealogist. But I'm in a huge mess. I feel like the little cartoon Mary
> Hill uses
> in her "Organizing Your Family History" lecture. The one where the
> genealogist is hidden by the stack of papers<G>. For those who have been
> to this class
> you know what I'm talking about.
>
> Anyway, here is my dilemma. I have tons of stuff, not just limited to my
> office.<G>
> I have it in my kitchen, bedroom, office, bathroom, etc. Things that
> pertain
> to genealogy. Whether it be the latest magazines, my own family history, a
> project I'm working on for a society or a client or even an up coming
> lecture.
> It is all a MESS!!
>
> Every month I organize the whole darn thing and make an oath to myself I
> will
> keep it organized. Then something happens like I need an article here or a
> book there or just to plainly work on family information, etc. I bring the
> items
> out and never seem to be able to put the book, magazine or file back. It
> then
> becomes a pile. And then I need it again I search and search. thus causing
> the huge mess all over again.
>
> Now, I have taken Mary Hill's presentation. I have obtained books on
> organizing, read articles, etc. and I always start a new oath to be
> organized but
> never following through. grrrr
>
> Are there any ideas from the members of how they have conquered this
> problem?
>
> I swear I want to go on one of those shows like DIY so they could help me
> with my dilemma. But honestly I think to myself "I would hate for another
> genealogist to see my place in such a mess" and conclude I should be
> better. I say
> just organize it Cindy and make sure you file it back. But I have tried
> this for
> years.
> To make my problem worse, I think I must keep everything, even the
> littlest
> scrap of paper with genealogical information. <G> I tell myself that if I
> get
> rid of it I will be looking for it again someday. And sure enough I do.
>
> I have years and years of genealogical magazines, Journals, quarterlies,
> etc.
> Enough to fill a whole book case. Which takes up a whole closet by it's
> self.
> If you were me would you give them to the locale genealogical society? How
> do
> I know which articles to keep? Most I have learned so much from, and go
> back
> to them often because I have found them to be valuable. But this causes
> another problem. I have to tear the shelf's apart in order to know which
> publication
> the article is in going most of the time one by one.
>
> If anyone has some ideas, I would be truly grateful.
>
> Thanks for hearing me out <G>
>
> Cindy Hofmeister
>
>
>
> ==== APG Mailing List ====
> The Association of Professional Genealogists
> http://www.apgen.org/publications/apg-l/index.html




This thread: