If you, like me, have too many things on the go and your electronic Genealogy files keep being dumped in a General area(s) rather than in their own specific area then feel for me.

Time to get Electronically Organized!

I have been getting organized for my Genealogy for (how many years have I been “doing” Genealogy?)…

I have these electronic holders of my Genealogy Research:
Phone
Camera
NetBook
Laptop
Computer at my home office
Computer at my spouses desk (hadn’t even thought about looking through that til now)
Main Computer at the Office
A back-up at the Office
A travel back-up
And the Business Server

What?! A girl can’t have more than one technology tool in her life (besides the spousal unit and the business partner)?

I am often caught “out” when I stumble into something or someone shows me something they would like to have researched. I was recently in my hometown of Greenville, SC. During my long weekend, my best friend from childhood lost her mother. I spent the afternoon with my faux siblings. Inevitably the talk turned to our business’. They all knew what I was up to because all but one follow me on FB. When it came my turn to talk about what I do for a living, I talked and answered questions.

What?! It was a family gathering and where else do you talk about Genealogy of any kind other that a family gathering!

My childhood friends husband says, “I have some questions about my family, could you take a look at it?” and of course I reply “Yes.” He goes into the house and comes back with charts that he has been working on for years to identify his family. I whip out my phone and “digitize” his charts on the spot. Now I have the chart on my phone, very portable.

If I interview someone for research, I try to record the interview – again, with my phone, but I also take pictures of them and what ever else they might be willing to share with me on my Camera.

I have research on my phone from fours years ago (yes I have had my phone for that long, you haven’t?). I usually work slowly to get the information off and add to my Genealogy > Clients computer directory on one of my devices.

Then I make back-ups every month or so of everything.

But…

Over the last weekend and into today, Thursday, in betwixt and between keeping up with client requests, the excitement of new DNA results, research and general business (busyness) things I have carved out time every day to move things around, organize them, carefully delete duplicates from ALL of the devices in the list above to create ONE good drive.  They are all good drives but too fragmented and it’s been driving me crazy!

I am still not done. It’s like trying to catch up filing work in a cobweb. So many threads of this and that everywhere. I do I have my hard copies filled neatly away in binders, by Surnames, cross-referenced and indexed for easy access. I am so old school about keeping my papers in order, but the electronics? They have a handle on me, I don’t have a handle on them. At least that’s the way I feel.

THIS TYRANNY MUST END!

By the end of the weekend all my devices will have a complete copy of my back-up Documents Section. All of my research and information will be in order just like they were papers in a binder. An every month a new copy (with all the updates and additions from the month previous) will be created. I PROMISE or I will need to take a vacation of the…mind.