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Organization for Genealogists

Reduce your genealogy clutter. Learn how to get those mounds of papers, books and scraps organized and keep them that way with these organization systems and tips for using files, folders, binders and your computer to keep your family tree organized.
NGSQ Numbering System
Developed by the National Genealogical Society, this genealogical numbering system assigns numbers to all children in each family, whether or not they have documented descendants. The NGSQ number system is sometimes, incorrectly, referred to as the Modified Register System.
Organizing Digital Genealogy Files - Organization Tips for Photos & Documents on the Computer
Learn how to organize your digital genealogy files - downloaded records and images, digital photos, emails and scanned documents - with this step by step guide to computer organization for genealogists.
Binders, Notebooks, or Folders? - Organizing Your Genealogy
Take charge of your genealogy clutter with one of these easy-to-maintain filing systems. Includes how-to steps for binders and folders, as well as options for organizing by surname, family, or event.
Top 5 Books on Organizing Your Family History
Tackle those piles and boxes filled with genealogy files, notes, and papers with these helpful books geared toward disorganized genealogists. Learn how to create a flexible genealogy filing system, how to store photos, CD-ROMs, and correspondence, how to set up an efficient work space, and more.
A Guide to Organizing Paper Genealogy Files
Wayne Hinton, author of the 32 page booklet A Guide to Organizing Paper Genealogy Files © 1997,  has now put the full text on the Internet.
Bookmark Organization
Organizing your bookmarks is crucial when you use the Internet for genealogy research.  This article explains how to keep them organized.  Or you can just use my organized Genealogy Resource Library as the bookmarks to find the information you need!
Cleaning Off Your Desktop
Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS, addresses one of the biggest challenges in organizing your genealogy research - keeping the work space on your desktop clear of clutter.
Clooz
A software database for systematically organizing and storing all of the clues to your ancestry that you have been collecting over the years.
Discrepancy Charts - Organizing the Inconclusive
Michael John Neill explains how to use discrepancy charts to summarize the conflicts between different record sources and to indicate the source for each conflicting piece of data.
First Aid for Your Filing System
The first in a wonderful series of "Get it Together" articles written by the "queen" of genealogy organization, Elizabeth Kelley Kirstens.
How Do I Keep All of This Stuff Straight?
Some wonderful suggestions for organizing your genealogy information by George G. Morgan in "Along Those Lines..."
Internet Genealogy Lesson 14: Organization is the Key!
If you are among the majority of genealogists who feel their information is in disarray, this free tutorial from Genealogy.com will guide you through the first steps to getting your research organized.
Keeping Track of Cousins
A filing system for cousins from Christine Sievers of Suite 101.
Organizing Data
Twelve suggestions for organizing your genealogy data including correspondence, research activity logs and numbering systems from Ancestry.com.
Organizing That Genealogy Clutter
From Shaking Your Family Tree by Myra Vanderpool Gormley.
Organizing Your Family Records
Chapter 3 of Beginner's Guide to Family History Research by Desmond Walls Allen and Carolyn Earle Billingsley.
Organizing Your Genealogy Using Computers
FamilySearch.org presents a number of ways in which computer programs can help you organize your genealogical records on your home computer.
Organizing Your Notes
Take a pair of scissors to that pile of genealogy notes and get them organized with Christine Sievers of Suite 101.
Organizing Your Paper Files Using Binders (Notebooks)
Steps for using 3-ring binders (notebooks) to organize family history materials, from FamilySearch.org.
Organizing Your Paper Files Using File Folders
Steps for setting up a genealogy filing system using file folders from FamilySearch.org.
Organizing Your Research
A "four-pronged" approach to organizing your genealogy records, by Diana Smith.
Tackle Your Genealogical Documents
Tips for organizing your stacks of genealogical documents from Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS.
The Deadly Ps: Procrastination and Perfectionism
Does this describe you? Then don't miss these tips from Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS.
The To-Do List
Ten ways to create a "healthy" to-do list from Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens.
Your Genealogy Work Area
George G. Morgan of "Along Those Lines.." considers several possible ways to organize your genealogy work space so that you can work more effectively.
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