Scrapbooking and Genealogy Visitor Tips

Here are some of the GREAT tips our visitors and patrons have sent us. If you'd like to contribute, e-mail your helpful tip to: tips "e;at"e; webYFL.com

I have quite a few "e;old"e; pictures of family groups. It was always difficult to decide how to list each person's name in the photo. So I put a light sheet of paper over the picture while holding it on a window and trace an outline of all the people. Then I number each person and put the numbered list, with names, below the tracing. Now my photo is safe, but I have a nice identification list. - Thanks to Nanci

Take the time to go through old family albums with older family members and identify individuals, places and dates, if possible. I recently spent some time with my mother looking at family photographs taken in the 30's and 40's and she doesn't remember many of the people in the pictures. Last year I inherited my aunt's photos and I have no idea who the people in the pictures are -- her friends, family members? I am taking the time and using a photo safe marker to write on the back of all my family pictures so that future generations will know who those funny looking people are in Grandma's pictures. - Thanks to Conni Braun (Note: Read our article on Photo Preservation.)

Keep an ordinary piece of blue paper in your briefcase and place it on the reading surface when working with microfilm. The contrast makes it easier to read.

My husband just had to get a copy of his drivers license. After doing this, he found the old one. Since he had no need for 2, I put one in our genealogy records. What a treasure for future generations! Wouldn't you have liked to have your gg-gf drivers license (had he had one of course!). And all for only $5 too!!!!! I plan to get mine copied too! - Thanks to J.H.

When I first started gathering info about my family at the library, I often put several family's data on the same note page. Afterwards, that made my notes page difficult to file, because I didn't know which family to file it under. I now write one surname at the top of my notes page and then only put data on that surname on that page.

I sometimes make a mistake while journaling on a scrapbook page. To fix it, I write over the mistake with a white gel roller pen -- the kind designed to write on black and other colored paper. It's easier than correction fluid, and it's acid-free! Another option is to rewrite your section on a separate piece of acid-free paper and mount it on your page like a photo. - thanks to C.D.

In my heritage scrapbook I include a printout from my genealogy software that shows a family relationship, especially one that shows a husband, wife, and all of their children. This goes at the first of the pages of photos for each family unit. A lot of information is packed into a small space on the charts! You normally have a choice of colors for box borders, and that works well if your are color coding your families. I also include, at the front of the album, a descendancy listing of the oldest family member represented, choosing as many generations as I want to fill the page(s). - Thanks to Joyce Locke

My mom is compiling our family history. She put on her "e;buddy"e; list the first Initial and then last name of our family. Except the first initial was just a letter. When someone popped up on the "e;buddy"e; list, she would inquire if they were a part of our family. This worked for us because our last name is not that common. An example is A. Name, B. Name, so on. It worked! We found my father's Uncles grandchild, who then connected us with her father, my dad's only surviving cousin by that Uncle. It was great! - Thanks to Kelly

When I was putting my baby pictures in my scrapbook, the back of my pictures had messages from my mom to my grandparents regarding the pictures. I copied the back of the pictures on the copier and put the writing below the pictures on the page. This way I could always preserve and remember my moms handwriting and her sentiments regarding me as a baby.

Save items that you think of as everyday. A grocery receipt, doctor receipt, sales paper. Let the future generation see how much items cost in 'our time'. I have receipts from my grandfather of items he bought, war ration books, things that he was use to seeing daily. - Thanks to Robin (Note: Read our article on document preservation.)

When visiting relatives take along a tape recorder and a camera. Take a face shot of your relatives and ask questions about their past. Then you can make a page using their picture and the information you collected on your tape recorder. The tape recorder serves two purposes: 1. Records the information correctly and 2. Keeps a copy of the sound of their voice.

When making a genealogy or heritage album, one way to keep track of family members is to color coordinate them. For example, all of my mother's side of the family will have red backgrounds or mats and my father's family will have blue backgrounds or mats. You can also place a section of your family tree on the page noting how this particular person fits in to the family.

When scrapbooking always, always, always name everyone in your photos. Add the date the photo was taken and the occasion. If there is baby in the photos, make sure you state how old she is. Future generations need to know who they are looking at in the photos! You can also add: What were you thinking about when you took the photo? What was the weather like? What was going on that day or time period in history? Add personal comments so that when future generations look at your scrapbook they will get a real sense of who the people were in the photos and what was going on when the shot was taken. - Thanks to Donna Cohen

I used to get confused as to what I had sent or received from various email contacts in my genealogical research. I decided to use the address book that comes on the computer software and enter the name of the contact; their surname search; date; abbreviated comments on what and when they sent me material and what and when I sent them. I also keep a note on the last time we corresponded. This way I can go through quickly and touch base with anyone. - Thanks to Sylvia

If you have the family, get some professional photos taken of all generations alive today ... in 1986 I had 5 generations when my son was born and it is one of my favorite geneaology layouts. - Thanks to Vicki

I am just starting a Family Heritage album of my husband's family, mostly on his mother's side. Most of the pictures I have are identified. I interviewed my mother-in-law on a tape recorder. I put small post-it notes on the BACK of each picture with a number on it. During the interview, I would ask her questions about each picture like, "e;Who is in picture number 17?"e;. When I play the tape back, I can hear the conversation about that picture based on it's number. I can easily find it and make notes about it later. That way I do not have to take a lot of notes during the interview. I made a FORM on 8-1/2x11 paper that looks like the following: Photograph No. ______________ Who is in the picture? What year? Ages of people in the picture? Where was it taken? How are they related to you? Stories about the picture. I asked her these questions EACH TIME we looked at a different picture. After the interview, I can write on the FORM the dictation I hear on the tape. - Thanks to Carolyn Burke

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