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3/9/2000
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.
File Cabinets or Book Shelves? File
Folders or Ring Binders?
When you’re setting up a genealogical filing system,
it’s important to determine where you are going to store
your documents. If you already have book shelves and
filing cabinets, then you need to decide which you’re
going to use, and how you’ll use them.
For years I’ve used my book shelves to house most of
my document collection. I have purchased a number of
3-ring binders and lots of top-loading archival sheet
protectors and had the documents stored by document type
within the binders. When I started out, I had multiple
document types in one binder, i.e. birth, marriage, and
death records separated by tabs indicating the event. As
my collection grew, many document types received their own
binders, especially states where I had accumulated a lot
of census records. I attached binder labels to the outside
indicating the contents, such as "Michigan
Censuses" or "Deaths."
Another approach to storing your documents would be to
put them in hanging file folders in a file cabinet. If you’re
going to follow this method, I recommend that you visit
your local office supply store to investigate the various
types of Pendaflex® folders that may fit your needs. A
few weeks back I explained why Pendaflex folders are my
choice for filing (see
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/columns/togetherarchive/02-03-00.htm).
Here are a few options that might help with larger files:
- box-bottom files that come in bottom widths of 1-4
inches (these have a cardboard insert that is placed
in the bottom to make it stay open at the designated
width)
- expansion hanging file pockets, which expand as you
need them to and are very versatile
- hanging expandable file with nine sections
containing labels from A-Z (you could put your own
labels on these tabs to help separate your documents)
- hanging binder folder, a combination of a 3-hole
punched capability (that won’t hold many pages) and
a 2 inch box-bottom (these are great for projects!)
Keep in mind that you probably don’t want to buy all
box-bottom folders because once you put the cardboard in
the folder, the folder always maintains that width. You
might only be able to fit 10-12 box-bottom folders in a
typical file cabinet drawer so these are only suggested
for files that become large. A better choice is the
expansion files because of their flexibility. Many of the
Pendaflex hanging files also come with the "Infopocket®,"
which is a sleeve within the folder that allows you to
store small items that are usually lost in a folder.
A third option for filing documents is to use hanging
ring binders, preferably in a fire-proof file cabinet. So
far the only hanging ring binders I’ve found are made by
Avery Dennison Corporation. The covers are flexible
plastic, the ring size is only 1 inch, and the capacity is
about 175 sheets, or about 150 documents back-to-back
inside of top-loading sheet protectors. You can see the
binders at
avery.com.
I order them in quantity from Reliable Office Supply at
www.reliable.com
because they’re hard to find in stores. Reliable’s
stock number is 110KM62000 and the binders come in black,
royal blue, or red. I have converted all of my documents
to this system because my documents are now protected
within a fire-proof file cabinet, but are still easily
accessible by pulling out the specific binder I need.
Next week I’ll discuss the ins and outs of choosing a
file cabinet.
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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