Recording Information

I am similarly awful with paper records hence I digitise everything and attach it to the source record that applies to every fact from that source. This then means that the computer file takes care of the organisation of the records and I don't need to.

 

Yes, I don't do paper either, everything is attached to a person.

 

All Family History Software (FHS) allows you to attach images. Alexander and I use Family Tree Maker (FTM) and when you find a census or christening or any sort of record on Ancestry, it will automatically save the image when you create a fact. These images can then be zoomed or printed if required.

Pictures of people or any other records or notes can also be saved.

 

In addition to images from Ancestry I save images of certificates etc I have from other websites eg:Scotland's people or if its info I've obtained from say a book, or paper records I scan it to create an image. Also photos which are typically already digital eg: pics I've taken of gravestones, or I scan it if it's an old photo. This then creates an image to use as the source for the facts I enter.

A lot (most) family history software will allow you to attach sources to the facts you enter. So if you enter a date of birth that is a fact about a person and it's source is the place you got the info from.

By recording the source against a fact I can readily look back at the list of facts I have about a person and be instantly reminded exactly why I recorded that fact as I've noted the source of the fact. This means I can see for example, that I got an approximate date of birth from a census. Or that I estimated it from a death date on a gravestone etc.

By attaching a picture or scan of the source material it means I can look at the facts check the source and view the original image all with a couple of clicks. It takes some discipline but pays massive rewards and is a technique you can adopt at any time.

I certainly didn't start out doing that so most of my sources don't have images but periodically as I revisit entries I'll attach an image I've saved to the source and thus improve my data. So it's easily something that anyone can do to improve their tree.

It's worth it's weight in gold when you find conflicting facts and can with a couple of clicks recheck what the original image said. Often I find I might have originally misread a age or name and find conflicting evidence. In that case being able to recheck without having to rummage through piles of paper which I'd always meant to get round to indexing is a massive timesaver.

So since I adopted the practice I've abandoned any idea of wasting time indexing paper files especially since a computer can manage multiple different indexes for the same paper source simulataneously. It's so much easier therefore to find things and thus get on with actually looking for new info rather than spending the time organising old info.

I'd recommend the practice of adding sources to facts and adding the image to the source to everyone. Even if you start today it will rapidly pay dividends as once entered it's there forever.