RT1210—File Organization for Effective Genealogy

File Organization for Effective Genealogy Data Management
©2014 by Gale L. French
french.rootstech15@gmail.com
This presentation shows best practice tools for managing your
genealogy records on a PC or Mac. Learn how to collect, create,
store, organize and protect your records (document, photo, digital &
word processing) in a natural and intuitive format using Genealogical
numbering as a base and backup your data using disks, DVD and the
Cloud.
I.
Creation / Collection
a. Digital Files
 Copyright – fair use
b. Scanning
1) Types
 Bitonal (B&W), Greyscale, Color
2) Compression
3) Suggested scan parameters for document types
 Lossy/Lossless
 RLE – Run Length Encoding
 JPEG / TIFF
c. File Naming Conventions


III.
Windows special characters # @ $ ! & ( ) [ ] - _ , .
photo_ 19x0-Census_ FGS_ 4-gen-Pedigree_ TX-DeathCert_ CA-Birth Index_ Tombstone_
Organization
a. Why Organize?
b. What to Organize?
a. Records & documents
b. Photos
c. Charts (FGS, 4-Gen pedigrees & maps)
d. Notes
e. Word Processing files (and backups!)
File Organization for Effective Genealogy Data Management
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©2014 Gale L. French
c. File Systems
 My Documents

My Pictures
d. File Properties
 Title

Subject

Tags – Categories
(e.g., surname: )


Comments
Author
e. Genealogy Numbering
 Anatafel
 Register
 Henry
 d'Aboville
f. Organizing File Structure
 d'Aboville numbering system
 Folders/Files in the structure of “trees”
 Store all information for that person in their folder
 Expand/Collapse folders
IV.
Search
a.
Files
 File name

Properties & Tags
b. Photos
 File name
 Software (Picasa)
IV.
Backup
a. Backup vs. Copies
b. Client machine backup
1.
Regular Backup S/W
2.
Burn to Disks
 CD - 700 MB


DVD - 4.7GB (dual-layer 8.5GB)
Blue-Ray – 25 GB
File Organization for Effective Genealogy Data Management
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©2014 Gale L. French
c. Cloud Backup
 Dropbox
 Google Drive
 iCloud
 Mozy/Carbonite
d. Backup Configuration
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©2014 Gale L. French
References
I.
Creation / Collection
1. CutePDF Writer - http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/Writer.asp
2. Adobe Acrobat - http://success.adobe.com/en/na/sem/products/acrobat/acrobat.html
3. Copyright - http://www.copyright.gov/
4. Fair Use – http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
II.
Organization
1. Numbering - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_numbering_systems
2. Picasa - http://picasa.google.com/
III. Search
1. Windows Search - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/
2. Advance Search - http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/advanced-tips-for-search
3. Mac Spotlight Basics - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2531
4. Boolean - http://mactoids.com/boolean-filters-in-leopard-spotlight/
IV. Backup
1. Online Backup review : http://www.thetop10bestonlinebackup.com/online-storage
2. Mozy - https://mozy.com
3. Carbonite - http://www.carbonite.com
4. DropBox - https://www.dropbox.com/
5. Google Drive - https://www.google.com/work/apps/business/products/drive/
5. iCloud - https://www.icloud.com/
6. PathScanner - http://www.parhelia-tools.com/products/pathscanner/PathScanner.aspx
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©2014 Gale L. French