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johnnyboy · 12-09-2010, 05:54 PM

I have quite a deal of information stored in hanging files for my family history. I have it stored in 4 drawers under the names of each of my 4 grandparents. Each drawer contains files mainly labelled with names of people. It is a reasonably efficient system but to make it easier to locate what I want it really needs matching with a database system. I have had a play with Excel, which is with my version of MS Office 2003 (no MS Access), and perhaps it will do but before I commit I would like to have other people's thoughts. I have not used a database before and therefore am wary of buying something with a steep learning curve.

Andrew B. · 12-09-2010, 06:21 PM

What type of information is this. Excel would be good if the information is things like name, city, date of birth. IOW, short bits of information in a tabular format. If you have some sort of narrative Excel is impractical.

The next question is how do you want to search this. Are you going to use specific predictable bits of information to search, or do you want to search based on whatever pops into your mind.

If it's only specific and predictable a database application like Access can work. You can keep some data in specific fields to search, and keep larger chunks in memo fields.

But if you want to contain a lot of loose information than a free form database might be better. A free form database allows you to dump information in as if it's a word processor, and it can find it and even report it. AskSam is an example of this.

ktinkel · 12-09-2010, 06:48 PM

It would probably be more efficient for you to use one of the genealogy-specific programs. They not only come set up so you can just enter your data (and easily correct errors if they arise), but they include traditional layout formats so you do not have to do that yourself. Most also have screen layouts so you can post your family history on-line.

You might look into one of these:

Family Tree Maker
Legacy Family Tree
Reunion (for Mac or iPhone)

Good luck with it.

johnnyboy · 12-09-2010, 06:52 PM

Well I think it might be predictable. My only experience of using a database was going to a class on Dbase4 about 30 years ago so you can see I am pretty green. I will try and explain what I hope it will do.
If I am writing an article about James Scott I would like to be able to locate any information I have about him. The problem I have is that even if I have a hanging file for him he might be mentioned in articles about other people which I have filed under a different name. If I am to locate that it means searching through other files.

There are two programs on the market that are advertised to do what I want called "Clooz" and "Custodian3", both of which I think are based on MS Access. Quite a while ago I used "Clooz" and I was not happy with it and since then it has virtually gone out of production. Lately I downloaded "Custodian3" on a trial basis but that doesn't seem to do what I want either. Perhaps I should just be prepared to search manually?

johnnyboy · 12-09-2010, 06:55 PM

I use Legacy Kathleen and it is a vital part of my family history but it is not designed for this specific task.

Howard Allen · 12-09-2010, 07:39 PM

Have you looked at FileMaker? I've been using it for all sorts of things for years (though not for your specific genealogical purposes), and I find it very friendly and flexible to use. You can use it right out of the box in a simple flat-file format, or make it pretty much as complex as you want. The learning curve is pretty shallow—at least for me it was, and I had no prior experience with any database products.

Andrew B. · 12-09-2010, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyboy

If I am writing an article about James Scott I would like to be able to locate any information I have about him. The problem I have is that even if I have a hanging file for him he might be mentioned in articles about other people which I have filed under a different name. If I am to locate that it means searching through other files.

Okay, but where will your information be? Will it be in the paper files, and the database is an index to those paper files. IOW, you perform a search and it tells you which paper file to look at. Or, are you going to transfer textual information from the paper into the database.

johnnyboy · 12-09-2010, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew B.

Okay, but where will your information be? Will it be in the paper files, and the database is an index to those paper files. IOW, you perform a search and it tells you which paper file to look at. Or, are you going to transfer textual information from the paper into the database.

I just want perform a search and it will tell me which paper file to look in. i.e. When I enter "James Scott" it will say there is information in the file tagged "Scott, James" as well as in other files with different tags. It will also give me a brief summary of what is contained in the article or document so I can decide if I want to dig it out.

Of course this depends what information I enter and perhaps I have no appreciation of what is involved in that.

Thank you the trouble you and others are going to to answer me.

johnnyboy · 12-09-2010, 10:06 PM

I had a look at FileMaker Howard and it seems ideal but oh dear the price here in Australia!

Andrew B. · 12-09-2010, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnyboy

I just want perform a search and it will tell me which paper file to look in. i.e. When I enter "James Scott" it will say there is information in the file tagged "Scott, James" as well as in other files with different tags. It will also give me a brief summary of what is contained in the article or document so I can decide if I want to dig it out.

Hmmm. I would guess that you don't want to enter a summary into multiple records. So you might want do a relational database with a single record for every file. It would be related to a second database file that would be keyed to the id number for record in the first database. Every person you want to search for would have a record for every file they appear in. And then if you want to search other values, you could set up a database for each one off those. Or, I guess you could mix data in the same field if it's just simply lookups.

I gotta say, I would not look forward to setting this up. Were it me, I'd use a free form database with one record per file, and just type in whatever words you want to associate with that file right into the same record. You don't need fields and you can search on whatever word you want. Of course, I'm not there looking at your project, so I might be missing an important point.

BTW, I once evaluated a system called Laserfiche. With this you could scan in your documents, it would OCR them and store the image of the document along with OCR version. You could also create key fields to enter data in if you wanted to. That way you could search on content or pre-defined fields. Great for massive storage with quick access. Great for massive storage.

12-09-2010, 05:54 PM	#1
johnnyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Tasmania, Australia Posts: 127	Simple database I have quite a deal of information stored in hanging files for my family history. I have it stored in 4 drawers under the names of each of my 4 grandparents. Each drawer contains files mainly labelled with names of people. It is a reasonably efficient system but to make it easier to locate what I want it really needs matching with a database system. I have had a play with Excel, which is with my version of MS Office 2003 (no MS Access), and perhaps it will do but before I commit I would like to have other people's thoughts. I have not used a database before and therefore am wary of buying something with a steep learning curve.

12-09-2010, 06:48 PM	#3
ktinkel Founding Sysop Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: In Connecticut, on the Housatonic River near its mouth at Long Island Sound. Posts: 11,187	It would probably be more efficient for you to use one of the genealogy-specific programs. They not only come set up so you can just enter your data (and easily correct errors if they arise), but they include traditional layout formats so you do not have to do that yourself. Most also have screen layouts so you can post your family history on-line. You might look into one of these: Family Tree Maker Legacy Family Tree Reunion (for Mac or iPhone) Good luck with it. __________________ [SIZE=2][COLOR=LemonChiffon]::[/COLOR][/SIZE] [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

12-09-2010, 07:39 PM	#6
Howard Allen Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada Posts: 824	Have you looked at FileMaker? I've been using it for all sorts of things for years (though not for your specific genealogical purposes), and I find it very friendly and flexible to use. You can use it right out of the box in a simple flat-file format, or make it pretty much as complex as you want. The learning curve is pretty shallow—at least for me it was, and I had no prior experience with any database products. __________________ Howard OSX 10.10.5

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12-09-2010, 06:21 PM	#2
Andrew B. Staff Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Los Angeles, California Posts: 4,326	What type of information is this. Excel would be good if the information is things like name, city, date of birth. IOW, short bits of information in a tabular format. If you have some sort of narrative Excel is impractical. The next question is how do you want to search this. Are you going to use specific predictable bits of information to search, or do you want to search based on whatever pops into your mind. If it's only specific and predictable a database application like Access can work. You can keep some data in specific fields to search, and keep larger chunks in memo fields. But if you want to contain a lot of loose information than a free form database might be better. A free form database allows you to dump information in as if it's a word processor, and it can find it and even report it. AskSam is an example of this.

12-09-2010, 06:52 PM	#4
johnnyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Tasmania, Australia Posts: 127	Well I think it might be predictable. My only experience of using a database was going to a class on Dbase4 about 30 years ago so you can see I am pretty green. I will try and explain what I hope it will do. If I am writing an article about James Scott I would like to be able to locate any information I have about him. The problem I have is that even if I have a hanging file for him he might be mentioned in articles about other people which I have filed under a different name. If I am to locate that it means searching through other files. There are two programs on the market that are advertised to do what I want called "Clooz" and "Custodian3", both of which I think are based on MS Access. Quite a while ago I used "Clooz" and I was not happy with it and since then it has virtually gone out of production. Lately I downloaded "Custodian3" on a trial basis but that doesn't seem to do what I want either. Perhaps I should just be prepared to search manually?

12-09-2010, 06:55 PM	#5
johnnyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Tasmania, Australia Posts: 127	I use Legacy Kathleen and it is a vital part of my family history but it is not designed for this specific task.

12-09-2010, 10:06 PM	#9
johnnyboy Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Tasmania, Australia Posts: 127	I had a look at FileMaker Howard and it seems ideal but oh dear the price here in Australia!