Family History Month - DOCUMENT

During Family History Month I will post my daily prompts with a Motivation Monday link to remind everyone that we have a month of Family History prompts to celebrate - go back and read the first 3 or jump right in with the 4th prompt!)

~Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter D ~

Genealogy is the sum of many parts.  One of those parts is the various documents we find during our searches and how we document our searches.  Today give some thought to your documents.  Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are my documents organized (do I have a system)?
• Are my documents easy to work with (does my system work for me)?
• Have I incorporated my documents into my genealogy software program or paper based system?
• Am I able to quickly and efficiently add newly acquired documents into my system?
• Are my documents safely stored and backed up in case of disaster?
• Have I made arrangements for the preservation of my genealogy documents and work product?
• Have I published my genealogy and corresponding documents as a means of preserving my family history?

If you need some inspiration regarding document organization (both hard drive and paper files), check out these podcasts and blogs:

• Family History:  Genealogy Made Easy Podcast
• Episode 32 Genealogical Hard Drive Organization
• Episode 33 Hard Drive Organization Part 2
• Elyse's Genealogy Blog (check out her free genealogy forms page as well as posts)

If you need some inspiration regarding preserving your genealogy, check out this podcast and article:

• Genealogy Gems
• Episode 95 - Paper Preservation
• Preserving Photos, Documents & Heirlooms

If you need some inspiration regarding publishing your genealogy, check out this blog:

• A Genealogy Blog Primer

Remember that your genealogy is a work in progress ~ if an organization system is too convoluted it probably won't work for you in the long run.  If you wait until your genealogy is perfect or "done" you will never publish and you will lose the opportunity to connect with others who may be working on the same families! Take a look at suggestions that are out there for organizing, preserving and publishing your work and take it a step at a time.  Do you have any tips for what works for you or podcasts or blogs that have helped you ~ please share.

(photo by digital artist Salvatore Vuono and made available by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)