The Spiraling Chains: Kowalski - Bellan Family Trees
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Tuesday's Tip: Binder Organization

1/13/2014

46 Comments

 
A little while back, a friend of mine asked me HOW I organize all of my genealogy-related findings.  I thought about it and realized that this might make a good blog post, especially for those new to family history research, or for those whose current system of organization is just not working for his/her research style.

If you ARE new to genealogy, it is important to realize that there is no right or wrong way in order to organize your digital and paper genealogy files.  Everyone does so a little (or a lot) differently and it really comes down to a matter of preferences, as long as your style is functional to you.

Between my and my husband's families, I have around 20 different binders in which I store paper copies of most of the documents I find.  They are organized by surname; some of my binders contain information only on one surname, others contain more than one surname.  I label all of the binders on the front with a simple cover page.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
At the beginning of each binder, I try to include a basic family tree for quick reference.  For binders with more than one surname, I use plastic dividers with tabs, so I can easily find the family I am looking for. 
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
My binders are organized in chronological order, with the oldest records at the front and the newest at the back.  Each document gets one clear plastic binder sheet - a photocopy of the document itself goes on one side and any source information goes on the other side.  Using the clear plastic holders for every document does obviously add to the cost of my organization system, BUT it makes searching through the binders SO much faster, and I dare say it has eliminated many paper cuts I would have otherwise suffered from.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Side 1: Copy of original document
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Side 2: Source information
At the bottom of every copy of every original document, I write by hand the date and person of interest in the document.  This simple step helps me immensely when I am paging through the binder looking for one specific document.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
I label every 'original' document by hand for quick reference.
For documents that may consist of more than one or two sheets of paper (immigrant ship lists, wills), I use these handy plastic binder pockets.  It would be fine if I simply put all the pages within a plain clear plastic binder sheet, but these pockets make it so much easier to take the sheets in and out.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Immigrant Ship List in Plastic Binder Pocket.
So, what types of documents do I keep in my binders?  ANYTHING related to my or my husband direct ancestors AND their siblings, sometimes referred to as collateral ancestors.  I have done a little research on, say, nieces and nephews of direct ancestors, but, for now, most of those files I only keep digitally on my computer hard drive and cloud drive.  I have a system of separating direct ancestor documents from sibling documents in my binders: 
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Separating Siblings from Direct Ancestors
I use big (sometimes really BIG) binder clips to "section-off" the documents/sources related to siblings of direct ancestors.  I stick a Post-It note on the front of each section that states HOW these people are related to the direct ancestors.  I always, always, always write a woman's maiden name on all documents/sources pertaining to female ancestors.  Also, on each document/source, I write, by hand, how this person is related to the direct ancestor:
Picture
I write the relationship between sibling and direct ancestor on bottom of each document/source page.
Other resources that I have been gradually adding to my binders are reference map printouts. Several of my husband's ancestral families stayed in the same counties for many generations, but maybe moved to a different township here and there.  So, I've printed out simple county maps with the townships delineated and put them in my binders, so that I don't have to keep Googling the maps on the computer.
Picture
Mercer County, Ohio Townships and Main Towns.
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
46 Comments
Shawn Larimore
1/14/2014 01:09:06 pm

Great information. I have been working on my family history too and have notebooks filled with information I have written down, But I love this idea of a binder notebook I need to organize me family like this.. Where did you get the first page you have with the family tree tabs?
Thanks

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Magda link
2/11/2014 09:46:40 pm

After so many years of files ("where did I put that?") and paperless ("computer crashed again" ), I am seriously considering this binder approach . Your blog is great, Emily .I don't blog much but enjoy coming across blogs like yours.

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Emily
2/13/2014 12:51:40 pm

Thanks for reading my blog, Magda! I think my style of research really forced me to do the binder thing, so I am able to find things relatively quickly. I only get to work on my 'research' in 1-2 hour spurts, when my kids are napping or after they go to bed. I'm definitely NOT this organized in other aspects of my life though! Haha!

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Mike Newbry
4/7/2017 01:33:57 am

Emily - I also have a notebook system.....thank you very much for your ideas. I've put them into use and my "end" product is much nicer than earlier ones.

Janet Thornton
4/1/2014 03:50:49 am

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June
7/2/2014 03:54:43 am

I found this great post on Pinterest!! You've given me a few ideas on how to tweak my binders--thank you! I do prefer putting the source info on the front, so that it's only one sheet--saves on room & organizational costs!

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Emily
7/2/2014 12:28:49 pm

Thanks for stopping by my blog, June! I'm glad some of my ideas may help. ~Emily

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Diana
7/22/2014 09:43:58 am

I'm just starting to organize the paper I've printed/accumulated in my new genealogy search.. I like your hints and will be using them. thanks.

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Dena Burnum
8/23/2014 09:15:01 am

Can you share the first page please? - the family tree? I have been looking for this one and cannot find it. Thank you very much!

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Emily
8/23/2014 10:15:29 am

That family tree pictured is the Brunswick Tree. All the people and branches in that tree can be found at this link: http://schroeder-tumbush.weebly.com/brunswick.html ~Emily

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Louisa Johnstone
9/4/2014 02:55:54 am

I have pretty much the exact same system. I have a bookcase designated to these binders and find it much easier to have the binder by me when working on a specific family. I also write the name on the side of the binder to help me find it faster on the bookcase. Thanks for sharing, a lot of people have laughed at me for keeping paper copies instead of just using the computer alone. One day at our family history center people had major problems with a major website they were using and several of them lost a lot of information. At that point in time they didn't think my paper copies were so silly! Good job and thanks for sharing.

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Emily
9/4/2014 03:26:13 am

Thanks for your comment, Louisa, and thanks for reading. Yes, I could REALLY use to put the names of each binder on the sides, too, because it would help me find them quicker. I am a very "visual" person, so when I'm trying to compare documents or something like that, I love having the paper in front of me. Too hard for me on the computer screen.

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Charles E. Elrod
1/29/2016 06:23:41 pm

Another thing one must, and I can't over emphasize that one should keep an electronic as well as paper copy of research. I made a mistake of over 20 years being lost in a home fire. I didn't have a backup copy stored somewhere safe so I ended up starting over although it is easier the second time. So I keep an archive copy off site.

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Mike Newbry
4/7/2017 01:30:59 am

My family lost everything in the 40s in a fire - baby pictures, past generations etc. I now have paper and digital copies. I decided a few years ago that if one external hard drive with was a good idea, 3 or 5 might even be better. I keep them in different family members' homes and update them every month. Time consuming but worth it.

Tani link
9/4/2014 05:33:49 am

I love this. I already did the different binders for the surname along with the page protectors. I am missing some of your suggestions that will be a big help. Does your Kowalski line go into Wisconsin and Michigan? My husband's great grandmother was a Kowalski. Big brick wall for me.

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Emily
9/4/2014 05:39:52 am

Thanks for stopping by my blog and reading, Tani. Glad to help. As far as I know, my Kowalskis are not anywhere in MI or WI. They are somewhat of a brick wall for me, too. I know who my great-grandparents were but I don't know enough to figure out just where in Poland they were from. People always think with a name like Kowalski it must be so much easier, but they don't realize that it is the equivalent of 'Smith" in Polish!

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Beth
11/7/2014 01:14:46 am

I also use this same system and have many branches from each family and like you have many books. I use different colored paper for each grandparents line. For example blue cover sheet for grandma McPherson and green for grandpa Rolston's line....yellow for grandpa Poe and salmon for grandma Pappas, etc. That way when the line get so long it's hard to remember where they are attached I can pull out all the books with one color knowing I will find the link quicker. I also have had several comments on how organized when working at the Library or with others. Thank you for your blog.

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Emily
11/10/2014 05:51:29 am

Hi Beth! Thank you for reading!

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Alie
12/26/2014 09:05:38 pm

thank you so much for this blog.
It inspired me to start making a photo book, of my aunts and uncles, as my kids do not know them and I have quite a few photo's of them, being the youngest of the youngest, I find it important though not being interested in family history, that they get to know their heritage!
Again thank you so much
Alie from the Netherlands

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JoAnn
11/2/2015 04:01:04 pm

Very nice. The most important item that I didn't see mentioned is indexing your documents. Assign each item with a unique document number and record that number with every piece of information you add to an individual. I have created mine to start with the surname. HU for my HUFFMAN family, HA for my HARRISes, HY for my HARVEYs, for example. I begin with zeros leading, so they sort right in a spreadsheet. HU-0001, HU-0002 etc. I don't worry about a chronological order, because you never know when you will find something newer, or better (primary/secondary). With marriages, you can assign the groom's surname, or the bride's for your indexing code, but use the same document code for both parties and anyone else that was in the ceremony. Perhaps siblings that witnessed, or,if you a wholistic research (as I am) you may have a record of people that attended the wedding. Attach them all to the same document. That way you know where gramma SMITH was on that day and not to be confused with a similar Mildred SMITH that was 214 miles away in a grave.

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Louise Hughes Hall
1/15/2016 01:24:03 am

I am very new to this process and need to know how you printed out your pages of ancestry without cutting off information. Maybe I'm not doing it right? Do you mind sharing info?

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Louise Hughes Hall
1/15/2016 01:25:35 am

The question I asked about printing out ancestry info concerns Family Tree information that will soon be discontinued. Thank you.

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Emily C Schroeder
1/15/2016 11:36:32 am

Hi Louise,
I personally do not use the Family Tree program, so I don't know if I would be much help there. For images like census images, I usually save it first to my computer, and then open it up separately from the web browser and print it from there. As far as the source information that goes along with each image on ancestry, you can copy and paste that into Word and then print directly from Word, which I find easiest.

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Mary in Idaho
1/20/2016 09:18:36 pm

I found this interesting post in Pinterest. However I can't see a way to subscribe to your blog via email. What am I missing? Thanks.

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Emily
1/21/2016 12:05:17 pm

Hi Mary,

Thanks for reading my blog post. Unfortunately, I do not have an email subscription list at this time. ~Emily

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Debbie
2/12/2016 11:39:50 am

I found your information to very interesting. I have all my information on my FTM. I have been thinking that it best to have a hard copy as well as what is on my computer. Thanks for all the information you shared with us.

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Felicia
5/5/2016 07:17:02 pm

How were you able to print out your family tree like that from Ancestry ?

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Ashley DeRigo
7/14/2016 03:31:11 pm

Hi Felicia,

When you are viewing the pedigree of anyone in your family tree on Ancestry, there should be tools on the left side. The last "button" has a picture of a printer on it. Just click on it, and you will have a printer-friendly display of the tree.

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Jill Jollief
7/2/2016 09:08:59 pm

Trying to organize binders like you have. Not real savvy with computers so decided to work on paper sources so I could be making progress. Thanks for your ideas.

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Bev Christian
12/2/2016 04:53:15 am

so important to start off with organisation....I have about 100 folders now... but started with one folder per family.... I usually do oldest to newest as well. I do a cover page for each generation as well.... blue for mine, red for my kids, yellow for my grandkids, Orange for my parents and green for my grandparents.... helps when you have 2 people by same name and with close birth dates... say an aunt and neice ...I lost 18mths of data entry early this year...so was so thankful for my paper trail... I am now backing up every hour automatically and have my tree stored on ancestry as well.
I tart with birth and death certificates, followed by marriage certificates, then photos of people, grave stones etc,,, followed by family groupl... before I lead into the children.... people send me information, death notices, memorials, birth announcement etc... I enter it and then file it behind the appropriate person.... they only get a cover page once I have a bit for them to file behind their name.
I have 10 books alone on my fathers paternal line... I do my ex husbands lines (it is my kids story) and I started on my new partners families this year. His motehr and late wife had done some research but they were just all in a box.... by sorting it all into a folder of each side.. I was able to work out what belonged to each family.. well done on your organisation.

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Karen Ross
12/9/2016 02:40:17 pm

Thanks Emily. This is very helpful. I have been trying to figure out how to organize my papers in a meaningful way, and this is just what I need. I am going to start working on this and hopefully it will help me not be so overwhelmed with all these pieces of paper. My question is do you include any photos in your binders or do you keep them separate?

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Emily
12/9/2016 02:43:16 pm

Hi Karen!

For now, my photos are not in these document binders. On my computer, I do have scans of the photos in each surname's computer folder, but I've not yet incorporated them into these physical binders. Thanks for reading! ~Emily

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Linda Lauterbach
1/31/2017 08:22:58 am

How do you store your original documents?

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Emily
4/30/2017 04:16:38 pm

Hi Linda. Thanks for reading. With the exception of my immediate family's vital records, which I keep in a firebox, I keep most of the original documents pertaining to ancestors in the binders, too. To be honest, I don't have a whole lot of original newspaper clippings or vital records in my collection - most I have ordered through counties and states, or I've obtained digital copies online. One exception would be the original baptismal record of my husband's great-grandfather, which I keep in an archival box to prevent further deterioration. I think if you are a family with a lot of older original vital records, you have to look into coming up with a system in which you can file them away safely in an archival-quality box to protect them. ~Emily

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Erin
4/21/2017 05:11:47 pm

I have been looking for a way to organize my genealogy research. I think my biggest hurtle is trying to figure out how to do each generation. I have everything organized by my great grandparents, but after a while it gets confusing. One big problem I have is I have the same family in three different lines. Would you make copies and out them in EACH LINES folder or would you just make note of "see such and such"??

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Emily
4/30/2017 04:14:55 pm

Hi Erin,

This is a really good question, but not an issued I have personally encountered because we didn't have much intermarrying. I think either of the methods you propose would work fine for your own personal filing system. My concern with not putting a copy in each line's binder would be if the binders were, at any point, split from each other, in which case the notes referring to other binders would be useless.

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Cheryl
4/30/2017 12:30:24 pm

I love your ideas for organizing your documents. I am heading out to get some sheet protectors for my binders. I did notice that you state you keep copies in your binders. I'd like to know how you organize and file original documents (newspaper clippings, birth/death certificates, etc.) Thank you for the helpful hints!

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Emily
4/30/2017 04:12:20 pm

Hi Cheryl. Thanks for reading. With the exception of my immediate family's vital records, which I keep in a firebox, I keep most of the original documents pertaining to ancestors in the binders, too. To be honest, I don't have a whole lot of original newspaper clippings or vital records in my collection - most I have ordered through counties and states, or I've obtained digital copies online. One exception would be the original baptismal record of my husband's great-grandfather, which I keep in an archival box to prevent further deterioration. ~Emily

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Carole Cornell
5/29/2017 05:26:11 pm

This is very helpful. I am working on converting from file folders to binders. You've answered the questions I had. Thank you!

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Misty Brown link
8/24/2017 10:22:30 pm

I happened across your post while browsing through Pinterest, and it caught my attention because I've been working on my family tree and building up a compilation of binders as well. While reading your blog, I also noticed the locations and map. My family is from the same area, and I know I've seen your family surname in my research. My family is the Brown & Kreischer families of the Stark, Mercer & Van Wert counties. Anyhow, I thought that was pretty cool. Great blog too!

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Margaret Mary Menchinella
9/1/2017 03:35:28 pm

Can you tell me what program you used to create your tree. It looks so organized and how many generations does it go back?

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JoAnne Bullis
10/22/2017 03:30:46 pm

I have a lot of binders also. I use Ancestery. In my binders I keep the documents from birth to death (opposite of yours. I cannot decide whether I should scan doc such as birth, death, marriage, obits and such into there trees. Do you? I know it would be another way to have a copy of things. Thank you for sharing.

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Laura Young
10/31/2017 11:53:10 am

Thank you so much for giving me the directions to organize a family tree. I have done both sides of my family, but have not organized them. When I was visiting my daughter last summer, my son-in-law asked if I could do his family. Basically, just his dad's family. His mom's family has some major blocks, so there is not much information available; but I have traced his paternal family back several generations. This information that you gave is a huge help. Again, thank you so much!

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Neta Graham
11/5/2017 01:00:17 pm

I like the organization tip

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Liz Thakkar
11/13/2017 06:52:33 am

Hi
love your binder series of organisation but how do you manage to print your ancestry pedigree chart out to a nice big A4 size? I have tried all ways and it just prints out small on the A4 page.
Ancestry are no help as they just say take it to a printers!!!!!
thanks

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Diane link
3/18/2018 03:03:31 pm

I love the binder system. I can put all my information in there. I have the problem of my family from my grandfather and his brother marrying sisters. I have a reference page in the main binder and the family in a separate binder. After I make sure I have copied and saved my documents, I print off the individual page of the person from Ancestry. I like using their page because it has every piece of information about the person there. I print two copies; one copy goes on the front of the person's documents while the other goes into a separate binder that I can look at quickly and I can take with me to share with other family members.

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    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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