March 12 is Genealogy Day
Part One--Organizing Your Research

There has been a growing interest in researching ancestors to discover who we are and where we come from. Perhaps we are hoping for a link to someone famous, or a member of royalty. Perhaps we want to know our family health history. Or maybe you are adopted and want to research your biological family.

Whatever the reason, the internet provides a wonderful opportunity for performing this research. Years ago, any requests for birth certificates, death certificates or marriage records had to be done in writing. You also had to be very specific with your request, providing more than just a surname and approximate date.
 
Online databases make today's searches quick and easy. Sometimes with as little information as a surname and state, you can find a list of possible family members. Of course, the more common the name, the more results you'll have to weed through. If you are searching for "John Smith" who was born in Chicago sometime in the early 1900s, your results will be much lengthier than if you were searching the surname "Pulaski."
 
With this wealth of information also comes a wealth of papers. Once you find census records or a birth certificate online, you'll want to print it. Depending on the size of your family, you can end up with hundreds of pieces of paper. You will need to keep them organized in order to be able to reference them again. There is no one "right" way to organize your papers. It all depends on what you are comfortable with. Below are some suggestions for storing all your documenation.
 
Organizing Your Research

By Surname--Create a file for every surname that appears in your family tree.

By Couple or Family--Group papers together by family unit.  Every mother/father/offspring will have their own folder. If the offspring have families of their own, a new folder is created.

By Family Line--Group members by following a family line.  This may be a grandparent, or whatever level you decide. 

By Event--This method groups like documents together.  All birth records, death records, marriage certificates, wills, etc., would have their own folder. 

Once your papers are sorted into these large categories, you can further sort them into more detailed categories.
 
By Location--For each surname, further divide into city or state, or country of residence. 

By Record Type--Separate all birth certificates, for example, or military records.

By Individual--Perhaps you began with surname.  You can then create another interior file for each person with that surname.