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ORGANIZING GENEALOGICAL DOCUMENTATION
ELECTRONICALLY
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AGGREGATING AND RENAMING FILES

Once you capture your references in digital format no matter whether you downloaded, used a digital camera or scanned the material, you need to "label" and "file" them just as you would in a paper based sustem. Labeling and Filing are all standard Windows based functions and are included here in case some are in need of a refresher.

  • First close or minimize all the programs you have running.

  • Next open Windows Explorer (Windows Explorer is used to read your hard drive while Internet Explorer read the Internet) and open your "Flash Drive" or wherever your new documentation files are located.

  • Next open Windows Explored (yes, again) and locate your Documentation Folder.

  • Next Tile your Desktop. You should now have both copies of Windows Explorer running - one with your source material and one with your Documentation Folder. Your desktop should look something like this:

  • Determine the next reference number and rename the reference in the window on the left side of the screen using that number. If the item does not have a descriptive file name it should be added at the same time. If it does then the reference number should just be added as a prefix to the description. See the above illustration for examples.

  • References with multiple sheets (files) need to be aggregated by creating a new folder within the Documentation Folder. Then move the individual sheets (files) into this new folder,

  • The result should look something like this. Note that the individual sheet files have the same "E" number as the folder with the actual page number appended.

    "-00" has been used to represent the title page.

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    Rev 6/27/2007