Genealogy Notebooks

Updated July 28, 2007

Even if you primarily use computer programs for you file organization, notebooks are wonderful for working away from the computer (such as when the electricity goes out). When I started out, I didn't have much information to keep track of, so one simple notebook with some dividers worked just fine, but as my collection of information grew, I grew out of that single notebook.

For most organizational systems, each notebook is organized in the following manner:

1. Complete family tree At the front of the notebook, I have one large family tree that shows me how everyone is related to everyone else. If I'm ever confused about where to look for somebody in my notebook, I just refer to the tree.
2. Family group dividers I have one large divider for every family group. The divider is labeled with the name of the husband and wife in the family group.
3. Individual dividers I have a small divider for each individual in the family group. If an individual gets married or has children, the individual's section is placed in a family group with that individual as the husband / father or wife / mother in the family group. Unmarried individuals without children are placed in their parents' family group. I use this method primarily to save room by avoiding excess dividers.

Surname Notebooks Some people like to have one notebook for each surname and make a divider for each individual with that surname. Then they sort those dividers by alphabetical order, placing all the information about a particular person under one divider. This is certainly an effective method and easy to put together. Unfortunately it tends to take up a lot of space (especially when you have only one person with a surname and end up having to make a new binder just for that person), and it causes problems if you tend to have multiple people with the same name. Plus, it's not very useful if you tend to be like me and have a difficult time remembering names.

Branch Notebooks Even though my mind doesn't do well when it comes to memorizing names, it does an excellent job of figuring out relationships, so I organize my notebooks by focusing on relationships. (If you don't remember relationships well, this is not the system for you.) I use one notebook for each major branch of the family tree that I'm researching.

1. My immediately family
   • My family group includes me, my husband, and my children.
   • My siblings family groups.
   • My parents family group.
2. My father's branch
   • My father's siblings' family groups.
   • My father's parents' family group.
   • My paternal grandfather's parents.
   • My paternal grandmother's parents.
   • And so forth.
3. My mother's branch
   • My mother's siblings' family groups.
   • My mother's parents' family group.
   • My maternal grandfather's parents.
   • My maternal grandmother's parents.
   • And so forth.

Notice that in each notebook I start with the youngest generation and move toward the older generation, so my mother's siblings' family groups are placed in front of her parents' family group. This keeps individuals born around the same time together for quick reference when researching census records and similar dated material.

If one of the notebooks gets particularly big (and it will as you move along on your project) I split it up into three notebooks (one for the individual the original notebook was about, one for that individual's father's branch, and one for that individual's mother's branch). Let's say my mother's branch notebook needs to be split because I have so much information about her grandparents. Then I would end up with the following notebooks:

1. My immediate family
2. My father's branch
3. My mother's branch
   • My mother's siblings' family groups.
   • My mother's parents' family group.
4. My maternal grandfather's branch
   • My grandfather's siblings' family groups.
   • My grandfather's parents' family group.
   • My great grandparents' family groups.
   • And so forth.
5. My maternal grandmother's branch
   • My grandmother's siblings' family groups.
   • My grandmother's parents' family group.
   • My great grandparents' family groups.
   • And so forth.

Family Group by RIN If you use a record identification number (RIN) system instead, you can completely ignore relationship sequences and just put you family groups in numerical order. Each individual is assigned an individual number as he/she is entered into the records, and each family group is assigned a marriage number as it is entered into the records (so the only order of the numbers is the order of when the individuals and marriages are entered into the records).

Each notebook would contain numbered dividers in numerical order. Each numbered divider would refer to the marriage number of a family group. So, let's say you are looking at a pedigree chart and happen to want to look up the information for Joe Smith who is married to Jane Doe, and you see on your chart that their marriage number is 21. To look up Joe Smith in your notebook, you would just go to your notebook and look under divider tab 21.

In addition you can have subsections under each family group section ordered by the individuals' relationship and names, individuals' names alphabetically, or by their individual numbers in numerical order.

When a notebook fills up, you just label it something like "Genealogy Records 1 - 30" and make a new notebook starting with number 31. This system is good if you have a lot of records because looking up information is quick and easy as long as you have a reference sheet (so you know what number each marriage and individual has). It's also good if you have a difficult time remembering names and relationships. The only major disadvantage of this system is that you may end up fumbling through several notebooks to look up information for multiple family groups in one branch.

Project Notebook

I also have a notebook that contains information about the overall project. This is where I keep my to-do lists, helpful reminders and tips (usually printed out from websites), a list of every individual in my family tree sorted by last name for quick reference, and other similar items. These are documents don't fit well into any particular branch or are about genealogy in general rather than any particular family member.

Portable Notebook

Finally I have a notebook that I use only for traveling to research sites. This notebook contains copies of printouts, forms, and other documents that I need for my research trip. It's much lighter than carrying around every bit of information I have about every family member, and it isn't a big deal if I lose it because it's just filled with copies of documents I have at home on my computer, in my filing cabinet, and in my other notebooks. (Just pray that if it gets lost at all, that it gets lost before you spend hours at your research facility and not after, so you don't have to go back and do it all over again.)