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From the Ancestry Daily News Archive 05/26/2000 - Your Genealogy Work Area

Your Genealogy Work Area

Genealogy can become addictive. Over time, what begins as a mild interest quickly becomes a consuming passion. Your hobby gradually takes up more of your time and more space in your home than perhaps you ever expected. We have a standing joke in our house that we'll soon have to take out a home equity loan to add a “genealogy wing” to accommodate the growing collection of books, CD-ROMs, binders, file cabinets, boxes of photographs, and more.

It takes some thought and planning to gain control of your growing genealogy collection. In "Along Those Lines . . ." this week, let's consider some possible ways to organize your genealogy work area so that you can gain control over the amount of space your physical collection occupies, and so you can work more effectively.

Selecting a Location
You probably started out as I did, with a single file folder or a small binder containing a collection of notes, a pedigree chart, and an interest in pursuing a little family history. Before you knew what happened, the dining room table was littered with books, photocopies, and scraps of paper with an odd assortment of notes. After the family grumbled and groused, your genealogy paraphernalia was transferred to and soon took over the guest room—in file folders, index card files, binders, cardboard and plastic storage boxes, and gradually filling the dresser drawers and closets in the room. Soon there was no question that house guests and relatives could never again come for an overnight stay. Yes, your hobby had taken complete control of you!

Well, it's just not funny anymore. Among this clutter, you're finding it difficult to locate anything, and filing new material is just out of the question. The time has come for you to reassert your control over this madness.

Your first step is to decide on a space (or multiple spaces) in your home to declare as the official genealogy work area. Ideally, you can set aside a dedicated single area for your addiction. If you have an extra bedroom or an extra-large walk-in closet, it might be just the ticket. (Evicting your spouse or children is not an option, but you already suspected that. Right?) If an entire room isn't an option, perhaps a corner of a room such as a bedroom, the den, or the dry basement recreation room will work.

Your work area must have space enough for a desk or a table, bookshelves, and some filing system. It should have a source of electricity, a good source of lighting, and should afford you some privacy and quiet where you can read, study, and concentrate. Are you getting the idea?

Setting Up a Good Working Surface
Your work area needs to have a desk or a sturdy table on which you can spread papers, books, and binders. If you use a computer to maintain a genealogical database and to scour the Internet, a sturdy work surface is an absolute necessity. You will often want to have multiple sources open and available for reference or comparison at the same time as you're writing or working on the computer. An L-shaped or U-shaped "secretarial arm" work surface becomes highly desirable.

You can easily construct a work surface area without a great deal of expense. A desk purchased from a secondhand store can be refinished or painted and becomes an excellent primary work area. Select one with storage drawers for files and/or office supplies. The “L” for your side table can be created in several ways. One choice might be a folding table purchased at any office supply store for a reasonable price. Another option may be to purchase a pair of two-drawer file cabinets to act as end pedestals, and to span them with a piece of better-quality plywood, a long drafting board, or a kitchen countertop remnant—all of which can be purchased from any home improvement store.

Storage and Display Equipment
Next, you must choose storage equipment. Ideally, the storage of your books, papers, photographs, and other materials will be adjacent to your work surface. However, you will work with whatever physical space constraints you have. Your essential storage needs will include the following:

• Bookcase - A sturdy bookcase is essential for storing your genealogical reference books, dictionaries, atlas, and other books. You will also use the bookcase for the upright storage of binders that hold record copies, pedigree charts, family group sheets, and correspondence. CD-ROMs can be stored on the shelves. Secondhand stores are ideal places to find used bookcases.

• Cardboard magazine storage boxes - These inexpensive boxes are great for storing magazines, maps, genealogy journals and newsletters, catalogs, and other loose papers.

• Filing cabinet(s) - You definitely want solid file cabinets with hanging file folders to store records, copies, etc. A pair of two-drawer file cabinets acting as the bases for a work space become an integrated part of your desk.

• Plastic storage boxes - Oversized plastic storage boxes with covers can also be used as file cabinets or as supplemental storage facilities. Select those that have side rails that can be used with hanging file folders. These can be stacked and very easily moved from place to place. If your work area is limited and you must store files in a closet, moving your files from place to place, these are an excellent option. (Label the outside with a description of the contents.)

• Photograph storage boxes - Photographs should be stored in archival-safe containers. Such acid-free containers are available from many sources, including from Light Impressions, in Rochester, NY and on the Web at http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com.
  In addition, your workspace will need a cork bulletin board on which you can post or display a calendar, pedigree charts, and other papers to which you frequently refer. A whiteboard with dry erase markers may also be helpful.

Office Supplies and Equipment
A good light source is essential. Too many people neglect this important tool. Incandescent and fluorescent lamps can be purchased in any price range at lighting and office supply stores, but secondhand stores are an excellent source of inexpensive fixtures.

You will need the standard office supplies, including a stapler, staple remover, pencils and pens, highlighter pens, a pencil cup, a gum eraser, paper clips (vinyl covered, not metal ones, are best from an archival perspective), rubber bands, correction fluid, cellophane tape, a magnifying glass, and a calculator all come to mind. Lined pads, note pads, sticky-note pads, computer paper, stationery, and envelopes are also part of your office supplies.

In/out boxes are great as a temporary landing place for papers, but they can quickly become part of the problem, overflowing with a maelstrom of would-be clues that won’t be rediscovered for weeks, months, or longer. Beware of the “inbox trap.”

Filing supplies are more important than you know. Hanging file folders provide a good structure for your filing system and come in different colors and with plastic tabs to assist with organizing and labeling. (For instance, red folders may designate one surname, purple folders another.) Don't skimp on expense here. There is very little cost difference in hanging file brands, but you will find the Pendaflex brand is the most durable, its glue lasting many times longer than that of its competitors. File folders themselves are important because they can be the archival containers for some of your most important records. Standard manila file folders may or may not be acid-free and archival-safe. If you have questions, ask the manager at the office supply store. More expensive polypropylene or other archival-safe folders are available for your special documents, or you can consider sleeves/sheaths of this material for important documents you store in plain manila file folders.

Sheet protectors are an essential component of your filing system too. Look for and ask for archival-safe sheet protectors, and use these to sleeve documents before you file them in binders.

You may want to consider a labeling machine to create file folder and binder labels. You may find the Brother brand easier and more flexible than a Dymo-brand labeling gun. In any event, a labeler's use isn't limited to your family history work. I don't know how I lived without one for so many years!

You may also want to set up an office supplies storage area. This may be a shelf in a closet, a desk drawer, or a separate plastic storage box under the desk that can act as a footrest.

Your Office, Your Space
Once you have this genealogist's working paradise, do your best to keep it pure. Don't clutter the area with other home office activities if you can help it. The other residents of your house may become jealous and want to use the space too. Most of all, though, use your newfound work area wisely. Make a plan to routinely tidy up and file, and try your best not to spill over to the rest of the house. You and the non-genealogists who share the house or apartment with you will all be happier. Good luck with your new work area!

Happy Hunting!

George

George G. Morgan is a proud member of the Council of Genealogy Columnists.

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