Help required on organization

Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to best organize my family history? It's a mess and my brain really struggles with the way computers record and present information. I have always worked on a large desk where everything is open before me, but screens are so small (though I have 2 - 4 would be more useful!)

On a related note, how do you best use the software? I transferred my PAF files over to nFS (although it does not seem to have carried over the "source" information (accessed via the little "s" buttons in PAF). I also cannot find any way to print out all the records from nFS (including all information - notes, etc.)

Is it recommended that PAF be used to update records and then change them on nFS? Also, I use GenesReunited. Having to update three different pieces of software is time consuming.

Is there anyway around this? I tired "Get My Ancestors" (as I had updated nFS since uploading the PAF Gedcom file). However, it have me back a file which was not complete! It was about a third the size of the older file! I do not trust it.

Thanks and any advice appreciated.

dubhdara wrote:Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to best organize my family history? It's a mess and my brain really struggles with the way computers record and present information. I have always worked on a large desk where everything is open before me, but screens are so small (though I have 2 - 4 would be more useful!)

On a related note, how do you best use the software? I transferred my PAF files over to nFS (although it does not seem to have carried over the "source" information (accessed via the little "s" buttons in PAF). I also cannot find any way to print out all the records from nFS (including all information - notes, etc.)

Is it recommended that PAF be used to update records and then change them on nFS? Also, I use GenesReunited. Having to update three different pieces of software is time consuming.

Is there anyway around this? I tired "Get My Ancestors" (as I had updated nFS since uploading the PAF Gedcom file). However, it have me back a file which was not complete! It was about a third the size of the older file! I do not trust it.

Thanks and any advice appreciated.

It is best that you do not upload information from PAF to NFS without first doing a search using NFS for your ancestors. Uploading PAF first w/o doing the search will often result in duplicate entries, which is what we're trying to avoid by using NFS. You should always search for your ancestors first.

However, any members of your family pedigree who are still living will have to be added manually as you cannot search for the living in NFS.

In regards to helping you organize your research, this is a question best answered by your local Family History Consultants. You can find a consultant in your ward or at a local family history center.

Since you've already uploaded from PAF the problem now becomes one of doing searches and deleting the entries that YOU submitted or else merging duplicate records. This can be a time-consuming process and again, it's best that you get some guidance from a consultant.

In regards to using the software, the Help Center within NFS is extensive and offers some great tutorials and interactive training guides that should be helpful. I apologize for referring you to a consultant, but the questions you are asking will require some extensive personal assistance.

Thanks for the swift reply. None of my ancestors are on the Church system so it was safe to upload them. Adding them manually was not an option anyway - I would never have had time.

I'm very busy (with important things) and hoped the new nFS would save time but it is such a slow process for me that it is hard not to still see family history as the domain of the retired

I'll keep plodding away

dubhdara wrote:Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to best organize my family history?

There is no simple answer to this and is best handled by working with a local family history consultant. If local family history support is not an option for you there are the FamilySearch Forumsthat provide more detailed family history related dialog.

dubhdara wrote:On a related note, how do you best use the software? I transferred my PAF files over to nFS (although it does not seem to have carried over the "source" information (accessed via the little "s" buttons in PAF). I also cannot find any way to print out all the records from nFS (including all information - notes, etc.)

Is it recommended that PAF be used to update records and then change them on nFS? Also, I use GenesReunited. Having to update three different pieces of software is time consuming.

Is there anyway around this? I tired "Get My Ancestors" (as I had updated nFS since uploading the PAF Gedcom file). However, it have me back a file which was not complete! It was about a third the size of the older file! I do not trust it.

At the FamilySearch Forums I found a thread, New Family Search & PAf that may be of interest to you. The discussion there is similar to what you are dealing with.

dubhdara wrote:Thanks for the swift reply. None of my ancestors are on the Church system so it was safe to upload them. Adding them manually was not an option anyway - I would never have had time.

I'm very busy (with important things) and hoped the new nFS would save time but it is such a slow process for me that it is hard not to still see family history as the domain of the retired

I'll keep plodding away

One of the important reasons that NFS was created was to help individuals to work with other members of their family and share information. My experience has shown that once you enter one or two generations from yourself that you often link into work that others have submitted. This can save you a lot of entry time, but it also requires some work to eliminate the duplicates.

Doing Family History research isn't something that can be done quickly. It can often take years of patient research before you see the benefits. I would urge you to continue your work and try and contact a local consultant who can lend some support, encouragement and training. One additional thing you may wish to look at is the new Beta version of a FamilySearch Forum. You can find it at:
http://forums.familysearch.org

NFS is a great program that's still in the development stages, but it's really one of the best methods of helping your to organize your efforts between family members.

dubhdara wrote:Thanks for the swift reply. None of my ancestors are on the Church system so it was safe to upload them. Adding them manually was not an option anyway - I would never have had time.

We have a member in our ward who is a convert and was sure that no one in his family was in nFS. He has been entering the info he has from his mother and has found that he connects into names in nFS sooner than he would have expected.

I'm not sure exactly what your situation is, but currently all software I've seen (including PAF) is conclusion-based software. That is, you must come to a conclusion about how a fact fits into your tree before you can enter it into the computer. That works fine when you're dealing with immediate family or have a compiled tree handed to you, but quickly falls apart when trying to piece your tree together from source documents.

Source-based software that can help you sort though a pile of facts, draw some conclusions, and assemble your tree simply doesn't exist at this point. (At least there's none that I've found.) nFS is headed that way, but they need to integrate the record search with the tree view before that happens.

If I have guessed correctly and you're digging though a file of birth, death and census forms to figure out your tree, then I'd suggest you best ask in a genealogy forum for suggestions on the best way to get organized. At this point, I don't think technology has much to offer. If you find differently, please return and let us know.

ryan jones wrote:We have a member in our ward who is a convert and was sure that no one in his family was in nFS. He has been entering the info he has from his mother and has found that he connects into names in nFS sooner than he would have expected.

That happens. I think I only go back 3 generations before I find the work has already been done due to name extraction. I'm an only convert, but it seems I have a distant cousin that's submitting information. They don't have to be a member to submit information.

dubhdara wrote: Is there anyway around this? I tired "Get My Ancestors" (as I had updated nFS since uploading the PAF Gedcom file). However, it have me back a file which was not complete! It was about a third the size of the older file! I do not trust it.

I have used "Get My Ancestors" and like it quite well. It doesn't bring down the LDS ordinances, and I would guess that it doesn't bring down the source info.

I have read also that over time the paf file can end up bloated. Some of the tools say they can shrink the file down and reclaim the unused space. That might be part of the file size difference.

I used the download from "Get My Ancestors" and compared the pedigree chart from it and from my paf file. I was able to find some places where I had to merge duplicates in nFS to get it to show my line back as far as I had in my personal sources.