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2/10/2000
Get
It Together
-
by Liz Kelley Kerstens, CGRS
This
columns is posted on the Clooz.com Web site with
permission of
MyFamily.com. The
column was originally posted on the Ancestry.com
Web site.
Reference
Files I'm
assuming you have all of your supplies handy and you're
ready to tackle your paper headache. You don't need to get
too complicated, just pick up the first piece of paper
that needs to be filed and decide how you would categorize
the piece of paper. If it's a receipt that you need to
save for income tax purposes, name the file you create for
this purpose something like "Income Taxes--Current
Year." But, you will label the index tab on the
folder "Reference 001." Put the receipt in the
hanging folder, create your label, and put the folder in
your filing cabinet.
Now let's talk about what you've
just done. With the method of filing that I support, you
label all of your reference files with the word
"Reference" and then a number, starting with a 1
with two leading zeros. In the cross-reference index that
you create, you put the label in one column and the name
in another column. You can create such an index in a
variety of ways. As I've suggested previously, the easiest
way is to use the Taming the Paper Tiger software http://www.thepapertiger.com.
If you're not inclined to purchase the software, you can
use any database, spreadsheet, or word processing program
to create a cross-reference index. Column or field
headings in these programs would be "number" and
"name" and if you wanted to get fancy, you could
add "reference words" to help you search. You
can also do this index manually, it just requires a lot
more work each time you redo it.
So, this boils down to a
five-step process for each new file that needs to be
created. First, identify the subject of the paper needing
to be filed; second, label the hanging file folder with
the number (Reference XXX); third, file the piece of
paper; fourth, put the hanging file folder in its
sequential order in the file cabinet; fifth, enter the
data for that file folder in your indexing program. I'm
certainly not advocating that you put only one piece of
paper in a folder-au contraire! You should make the
subject of the folder specific enough so the folder
doesn't get too large, but not too specific that only one
sheet will ever populate the folder.
So, for instance, if the next
sheet of paper is for insurance, you might want to create
a category for each type of insurance that you carry, so
those folders don't get too massive. I have named mine
"Insurance-Life"; "Insurance-Car";
"Insurance-House"; "Insurance-Health."
If you want to cross-reference these items, you could add
additional headings for "Life Insurance,"
"Car Insurance," "House Insurance,"
and "Health Insurance." Sometimes even these
folders get too large and have to be subdivided. I've
subdivided our "Insurance-Health" folder so we
now have one for my husband and one for me. Just remember,
the more papers that accumulate in a folder, the more time
you'll spend trying to find something in the folder later.
When a folder becomes too thick, thick about subdividing
into smaller categories.
If you already have folders for
some of the items that you are filing, why not grab the
folder and give it a number and name and add it to your
new system? Your files don't need to be in any specific
order by name or category, as long as you have created a
cross-reference index to enable you to retrieve the
information at a later date.
Now-keep filing those papers and
creating new folders as needed. I'll check back with you
next week to see how you're doing.
Elizabeth Kelley
Kerstens, CGRS,
is the managing editor of Genealogical Computing,
editor of the Board for Certification of Genealogists’
newsletter OnBoard, the creator of Clooz—the
electronic filing cabinet for genealogical records, and a
frequent contributor to Ancestry. She can be
reached via e-mail at liz@ancestordetective.com.
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