TECHY TIPS for family historians

Genealogy tech guru Paul Carter advises how best to organise your digital family history research so you can reap the benefits of a clutter-free computer that is easy to search and update as you grow your tree

‘A place for everything, and everything in its place.’ Mrs Beeton may have been born 150 years too soon to have recognised a computer, but her prescient words describe perfectly how we should look to structure our electronic files. Today’s technology enables us to store, process and share incredible volumes of information quickly and easily but with that power comes ever more responsibility to organise in a logical and responsible manner.

Have you ever wondered where you put that file on your computer? I have more than 4,000 files in my family history folder alone, and I am by no means a prolific researcher. Imagine organising each of those in its