A light bulb moment!

I've decided on my next big task of orginization/spring cleaning.

I had been wondering how I could get the tons of records I have found on ancestry, onto my Rootsmagic family tree.  I didn't think it was possible.  My plan was to eventually print everything off.  But that would have been a LOT of ink, and paper!

Well with one simple question by me on Twitter...
Question? when U find records on Ancestry, do U print them all off? The background is always black so uses up lots of ink..any alternatives?

And the one simple answer from ACoffin...
@FunFamHistory Save Ancestry records as images.


I was like duh!  I didn't realize that I could do that.  I thought my only option was save on ancestry or print.  But with one quick look, I realized there was a button to click, and I can save it too my computer!

So now, I will need to do this methodically or I will get very overwhelmed.  I have a lot of records, some are for multiple people.  I will need to give this some thought before jumping in.  But knowing me, I'll end up jumping in with both feet!

Spring cleaning - Organization continues!

I wrote earlier about feeling motivated to do some genealogy spring cleaning. Well I am still feeling that way with this dreary weather. Mind you, I can only do a little at a time since I do have my 9 month old daughter to take care of, but I feel like I am actually getting somewhere now with some organization.

Up until now I have had papers everywhere. I have finally followed my own advice and did a colour coded file system. It is making things so much easier!

Now I am going through what I put in those files and working on scanning what I need into my computer. I do just a few pictures a day so that it is not so overwhelming.

The next step is organizing my computer files. So I can find everything more easily. This is how I decided to organize my computer files.

• Have one file called Genealogy - placed on desktop for easy access.
• Have the 4 surnames listed in here, just like in my file cabinet. I will put other file folders with names in that line as needed.
• Within those folder I will label the pictures documents like this:

SURNAME_Firstname_name of document_Date if available
This should make things more consistent, and easier to find.

• I will also have files labeled like I will in the paper format such as, maps, history, forms etc.

After this is done, my next step will be organizing my bookmarks on my web browser. This will be a big job!


If anyone has any ideas for what they do as they search the web I would love to hear it. I tend to bookmark everything I find genealogy related, but it then becomes impossible to find what I really need.

It would be great to have one user friendly, master list, organized by category of genealogy websites that users could submit and maybe rate don't you think? Maybe one already exists? If it does please pass along the link.

Have a great day!

Spring Cleaning - Scanning Sunday!

The Family Curator posted a blog about Spring cleaning today, and that got me motivated.
So I went through some bins of old pictures, and was suprised by what I had that I had forgotten about. I have a LOT to get organized, but I started scanning some pictures today. Maybe I'll start my own "Scanning Sunday" so I can gradually work away at it.

Here are a couple of what I have found today.

This first one is my grandmother - Jane Cahill - taken at Holyrood Palace, Endinburgh Scotland.




This one is Bill Shanks, Nov 23, 1959. It is a professional photo (Thos Calder, 38 Munches st. Dumfries, Scotland) I believe it is for a hotel he managed. I have a picture of that hotel, but haven't scanned it in yet.
I used google maps to look at the street view of that photography place in Scotland....I find it so interesting to get a glimpse into an area that my relatives might have visited.