(+) The Organized Genealogist

It is a new year so let's start off with a new series of articles. Starting today, I am creating a new series of articles entitled, The Organized Genealogist. I expect to publish one article most every week in the Plus Edition newsletter to describe methods of organizing your genealogy research efforts, improving the efficiency of your use of computers, and perhaps helping you organize your life.

In some cases, becoming organized might involve using a computer or a scanner or some other high-tech device. In other cases, being organized might require a pad of paper or perhaps a three-ring binder. I expect to offer hints on how you can improve your own efficiency and reduce wasted time and effort.

To be sure, this will not be a lecture on how to keep your desk and your filing cabinet neat and tidy. I know that my own desk is anything but tidy! In fact, I tend to distrust people whose desks and even their homes always look like pictures in a fancy magazine. I wonder if they ever accomplish anything. Instead, I will focus on how to accomplish what you need to do with less effort and fewer frustrations. That may or may not lead to increased tidiness.

Some of the suggestions I offer may even contradict some of the other suggestions. I see no problem with this. In fact, even I will not follow every single bit of advice that I offer. What I plan to do is to offer a variety of suggestions, some overlapping others. I will suggest that you should pick and choose the ones that work for you and ignore the ones that don't fit your "style." I don't expect anyone to follow every suggestion.

Here are the titles of some of the articles I expect to write in coming weeks:

1. Create a Planned Action List BEFORE Entering a Courthouse or Library
2. The One-Minute Rule for Email Messages
3. The Beauty of Canned Responses
4. Folders For Everything (in Email Messages)
5. Email Filters Are Your (Best) Friends
6. The Easy Way to Control Spam
7. How to Easily Publicize Your Society's Publications
8. Cataloging Your Personal Library
9. How to Find Someone Who Has the Book You Need to Look At
10. Digitize Everything!
11. How to Find Anything on Your Hard Drive Within Seconds
12. How to Find (Almost) Anything Online Easily (This may be a series of articles.)
13. How to Instantly Recall Any Number of Passwords
14. Genealogical Numbering Systems
15. Organize and Label Your Collected Information
16. Labeling Digital Photographs
17. The Dangers of Labeling Digital Photographs
18. Keep Your Data Safe from Prying Eyes
19. Why You Might Want to Create Your Own Private Wiki
20. Obtain Genealogy Books Without Leaving Home
21. Send Reminders to Yourself
22. Use Multiple Desktops in Windows or Macintosh to Increase Your Efficiency
23. Use Multiple Monitors in Windows or Macintosh to Increase Your Efficiency
24. Use Multiple Computers to Increase Your Efficiency - But Use Only One Monitor, One Keyboard, and One Mouse
25. Have Your Mac and Windows, Too
26. Keyboard Shortcuts for Speed and Ease
27. Text Expanders
28. How to Automatically Back Up Your Files
29. Everybody Needs a Junk Drawer (or Folder)
30. Carry Your Data With You in a Secure Manner
31. Check the Web for New Information Every Day in 60 Seconds or Less

I would also love to hear your suggestions for future Organized Genealogist articles!

Again, all these articles will be published in the Plus Edition of this newsletter. If there is enough interest, I might envision collecting these into a book a year or two from now, but that is a decision to be made later, not now.

I hope you enjoy reading about The Organized Genealogist.