Our world is becoming increasingly filled with digital files. Documents, photos, videos, receipts, and so on – all digital. For genealogists, it’s even worse. We INTENTIONALLY look for as many documents as we can find about our family members. Our file collections are massive.
Back in the good old days we had vast paper filing systems. Some of us used binders, some file boxes or cabinets, and most of us used both. Even diligent genealogists who have collections of paper files struggle to convert all of those files to digital formats. It all takes time. And time is precious.
Amy Johnson Crow recently published a post that includes an interview with Drew Smith. They tackle the very important topic of organizing digital files. The interview is a brief 7:43, but worth your time.
As I watched, I felt pretty good about my own system for naming files. It is right inline with the things Drew talked about. So I thought I would share my simple digital file naming system. It looks a little something like this:
SURNAME, Forename Middle-name, YEAR Event Name
Pretty straightforward. And so far, no two filenames have been identical in my digital files. Let’s look at three examples.
This is a Scottish death record. There are three entries on the page. The entry for my family member is the first entry on line 16 for Agnes Montgomery. Agnes’ maiden name is Smellie, I always use the maiden surname, so my file name looks like this:
SMELLIE, Agnes, 1909 Death Record
This marriage record is for Muriel Grace Hyde and Walter E Groome. Muriel is my blood relative so she takes the first place in my file name. I only capitalize the surname of the person who is a blood relative. So my filename looks like this:
HYDE, Muriel Grace and Walter E Groome, 1924 Marriage Certificate
Every now and again I am related to both parties in a marriage like in this example:
This record is in French and split over two pages. On the first page, the marriage entry begins on the bottom right and continues onto the next page. Joseph Proulx is my 1st cousin 3 times removed and his wife Anne Marie Demers is my 2nd cousin 3 times removed and my 1st cousin 3 times removed. I am related to both Anne Marie’s mother and father. {And if you are wondering, Joseph and Anne Marie are second cousins to each other.} Because I am related to both Joseph and Anne Marie, my two filenames look like this:
PROULX, Joseph and DEMERS, Anne Marie, 1919 Marriage Record, page 1
PROULX, Joseph and DEMERS, Anne Marie, 1919 Marriage Record, page 2
Using this file naming system works well for me. I can easily find a file I am looking for just by typing in the surname. If it’s a surname that is common to my tree, I type the surname, then a comma, then begin typing the forename until I see the file I need.
I may have a great file naming system that works for me, but organizing those files is another matter. I haven’t had the need for folders so I haven’t created any. They all go into one large “Genealogy Record Images” folder on my computer and external hard drive. My back up is that I upload every file to my private ancestry tree and attach it to the correct individuals. In the description section I add citation details so that I can retrace my steps if I need to. I also upload images to FamilySearch as a secondary back up. Well, I guess it’s more like a fourth back up. 😉
Do you have a file naming system that works for you?
Happy Wednesday, I hope you make a fantastic, genealogy discovery today! Then, give it a great file name that works for you. 😉