<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:x = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel" xmlns:p = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint" xmlns:a = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:access" xmlns:dt = "uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:s = "uuid:BDC6E3F0-6DA3-11d1-A2A3-00AA00C14882" xmlns:rs = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:rowset" xmlns:z = "#RowsetSchema" xmlns:b = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:publisher" xmlns:ss = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet" xmlns:c = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:component:spreadsheet" xmlns:odc = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:odc" xmlns:oa = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation" xmlns:html = "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:q = "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/" xmlns:rtc = "http://microsoft.com/officenet/conferencing" XMLNS:D = "DAV:" XMLNS:Repl = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/repl/" xmlns:mt = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/meetings/" xmlns:x2 = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/excel/2003/xml" xmlns:ppda = "http://www.passport.com/NameSpace.xsd" xmlns:ois = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/ois/" xmlns:dir = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/directory/" xmlns:ds = "http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#" xmlns:dsp = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/dsp" xmlns:udc = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc" xmlns:xsd = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:sub = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/2002/1/alerts/" xmlns:ec = "http://www.w3.org/2001/04/xmlenc#" xmlns:sp = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/" xmlns:sps = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:udcs = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/soap" xmlns:udcxf = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/xmlfile" xmlns:udcp2p = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/data/udc/parttopart" xmlns:wf = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/workflow/" xmlns:dsss = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig-setup" xmlns:dssi = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2006/digsig" xmlns:mdssi = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/digital-signature" xmlns:mver = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006" xmlns:m = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns:mrels = "http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/package/2006/relationships" xmlns:spwp = "http://microsoft.com/sharepoint/webpartpages" xmlns:ex12t = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/types" xmlns:ex12m = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/exchange/services/2006/messages" xmlns:pptsl = "http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/SlideLibrary/" xmlns:spsl = "http://microsoft.com/webservices/SharePointPortalServer/PublishedLinksService" XMLNS:Z = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:" xmlns:st = ""><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18813"> <STYLE>@font-face { font-family: Cambria Math; } @font-face { font-family: Calibri; } @page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; } P.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt } LI.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt } DIV.MsoNormal { MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; FONT-SIZE: 11pt } A:link { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlink { COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } A:visited { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed { COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; mso-style-priority: 99 } SPAN.EmailStyle17 { FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri","sans-serif"; COLOR: windowtext; mso-style-type: personal-compose } .MsoChpDefault { mso-style-type: export-only } DIV.Section1 { page: Section1 } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US link=blue bgColor=#ffffff vLink=purple> <DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New">Wow. Sounds like you're going to be rolling up your sleeves!  I think this is a bit different than the archiving projects talked about before (in some ways).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New">I'd create a complete inventory of everything first, before I'd take any other steps. Lists of what's there and where.  Just enough description to make it easier to identify and locate the item again. Maybe using a spreadsheet so you can later move items and create categories.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New">As you go about listing the inventory, you'll also be getting a fuller understanding of how to proceed further based on what's there.  My suggestion would be to not try to enter anything into Legacy as you go. I'd say that will just slow the process down.  And save on a lot of errors too!  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New">Once you know what's there, you can then work from the inventory list to quickly create a filing system by using categories or some other format.  There are probably as many filing preferences as there are family historians but there are also some standardized approaches that are time-tested.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New"></FONT><FONT size=2 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New">Larry</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=2 face="Courier New"></FONT> </DIV></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=denise@macrep.com href="mailto:denise@macrep.com">Denise Mc Enerney</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">apgpubliclist@apgen.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 21, 2009 1:30 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [APG Public List] Advice on organization</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal>Hello All,<o:p></o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal>This is my first time posting to this list, so please bear with me.  I recently agreed to help a woman organize her collection of family memorabilia.  It turns out that she has about 5 banker boxes of mostly letters between many family members; interspersed with written works, certificates (mostly from educational institutions I believe),  diaries, etc.  Many family members have been involved in important organizations and events.  She didn’t even show me the room with the photos yet!  She has 4 4-drawer file cabinets that she is hoping to have everything organized in.  She does have a fairly outdated but working PC, with dial-up internet connection, and I believe I have talked her into downloading the free version of Legacy so that we can start inputting information in as we go along,  She has also done quite a bit of research over the years, but doesn’t have it organized.  Being in the process of starting a genealogy business offering this type of service, I feel this is a perfect worse-case scenario, and am hoping to gain some good experience in what kind of collections like these are out there.  Does anyone have any advice?  I’m thinking that the letters should be tackled first, and have them , perhaps, in chronological order?  Or should the be organized by family member?   I think the majority of the letters are between her parents.  This woman is in her mid 80’s by the way, and she comes from a family of “keepers” as she calls it.<o:p></o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal>Thanks in advance for any input on my adventure!<o:p></o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P> <P class=MsoNormal>Denise<o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <P> <HR> <P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>APG Public Mailing List<BR>http://apgen.org/publications/publiclist/<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>