Hello,
Sorry but in English.
This is a very important post/thread, dont forget there is something about this in the docs too:
English:
https://docs.ancestris.org/books/user-guide/page/document-your-sourcesFrench:
https://docs.ancestris.org/books/mode-demploi/page/organiser-ses-mediasDutch, which has a bit more about this already:
https://docs.ancestris.org/books/gebruikershandleiding/page/organiseer-uw-stamboom-bestandenMaybe this thread, or a part of it, can be added to the docs too later?
Here are my 2cents:
(partly based on some advises I found in Dutch sites)
First sitdown to define a list of 3-character abbreviations for all your material.The abbreviations should tell what kind of information it is, or where it comes from:
geb geboren (born or birth)
huw huwelijk (marriage)
mil militair (military archives)
ovl overleden (died, the original death act)
kra krant (newspaper, for example advertissement of death or marriage, so not the act itself, but the announcement in a paper)
zkh ziekenhuis (hospital, a registration in a hospital)
grf graf (tombstone on a cemetary or such)
vtl volkstelling (census)
pns pensioen (pension, so when you retire)
pol politie (police registers for something)
Well you get the idea I hope.
Now the date:Define a date structure: YYYYMMDD. That way, when sorting, everything is nicely sorted starting with the year.
If part of the date is unknown, you might get: 17YY09DD, or 178505DD, or maybe just YYYYMMDD.
But always keep the structure and 8 characters.
Last: Name all your material as follows:abb-Lastname-YYYYMMDD-Firstnames-extraWhere abb is that 3-character abbreviation from your list
Lastname is the lastname of the main person of this act or screenshot or photo.
YYYYMMDD is the date of the event, if known.
Firstnames are the firstnames of the main person of this act or screenshot or photo.
extra, can be the place of the event, or "Aunt of xxx", or whatever you wish.
If known, the last part in my names is the original label of the act or photo etc. in the archive itself.
Make sure the total length of the name is not too long.
The advantage of naming things like this, is that when you sort, things automatically fall into place.
All birth certificates in 1 list, subdivided by name and further subdivided by dates.
Big advantage in my opinion: you have very descriptive names of your files.
Now how to put this in maps (directories).
That might depend on the amount of material you have.
First my advise would be, keep directory names and subdirectory names
short.So something like "deed", "div", "fam", etc.
If there are still too many files for a subdirectory, you could start dividing the subdirectory a step further alphabetically like "A-F", "G-O", etc.
Or, when you want a family apart, use an abbreviation for that family name as a subdir name.
Here a (Dutch) screenshots for reference.
Green: the date of the event
Yellow: original filename in the archive
Blue: for a marriage (huw here) the spouse is added behind a _x_
Pink: extra information, here bellingwolde, the place of the event, or "moeder bruid" mother of the bride.
Red, dates that are partly unknown
Orange, the 3 character abbreviation
For privacy reasons I blurred some info here and there.
But I hope you get the point.
It is worth to think about this whole thing very carefully BEFORE starting to name your files and arranging things in directories.
Regards,
mother10
