Learn how to use Macintosh Finder aliases to save time and space when you have files related to one person with multiple names, for instance married and maiden names. This will help you stay organized so that your genealogy research will go faster and smoother.
It builds upon my recommended folder structure presented in prior screencasts. While you can use the techniques with other folder structures, you may want to view the other videos prior to this one.
Next article in the series: Genealogy File and Folder Organization System for Mac, Part 5, Multiple People.
Hi Ben… A few months ago you patiently explained the MAc genealogy software to me. I subsequently bought Reunion and LOVE it. It is so much fun, although at times confusing, so clearly it is time to learn and use your hints on organization! I am watching your screencasts and setting up my places and people files. Excuse me if I have missed some points already answered 🙁 There are a number of specific questions:
1) In Reunion, I have been listing a wife with her maiden name, and that is the way she appears in the index. Is that what you recommend?
In your system for data files, it looks like a woman’s file should be set up as married name with an alias linking to the maiden surname… or to a folder created for her within the maiden surname folder?
2) The family I am researching is from Greece, where surnames have different endings for males and females. And in a few cases, I also have a shortened/Americanized/Ellis Islandized surname also. For example… Male in Greece: Goulakos. Female in Greece, whether maiden name or married, Goulakou. Current US-ified name Goulos. Do you have any advice or case studies of situations like this?
3) For each person, I will create alias(es) to appropriate folders. I will add any supporting documents to the primary folder, and they will automatically be linked to the aliased folders as well, yes? This would be census, ship manifests, jpegs (links from iPhoto), etc?
4) Surname misspellings. On some of these Greek immigrants, names were misspelled on the manifests as they left port and further misspelled – sometimes impossible to recognize – by the saintly people who typed for Ellis Island’s site or who took the census. So I have the original name because I know it, Should I make a folder for the same person for each misspelling of his surname (sometimes five, if the person crossed several times!). What do you recommend?
Thank you so much for this inredible resource, and for encouraging me in this venture.
Pat
I think the situation of multiple variations on a name that Pat describes comes up frequently a lot for many researchers.
I have also encountered the opposite situation – multiple people with the same name, about the same age, living in the same area at the same time, and you’re not sure which ones are actually the same person and who is related to whom.
And what do you do when a woman has multiple marriages and married surnames? Put the alias in each husband’s surname file with only that surname in front of the maiden name, or string them all together, with or without parentheses?
What if you don’t know her maiden name yet? Just list her under the husband’s surname, with empty parentheses?
I think your system deals with these kinds of complications much better than other ones I have looked at, which are based on a Windows directory structure. I don’t think a purely hierarchical structure can really address these issues very well. This is why I decided to look for a Mac-oriented approach and found your tutorials. Thanks for sharing your ideas with such clarity.
When I have people with the same name similar dates and I haven’t proven them to be different people, I put all the files in the one folder until I’ve proven they belong elsewhere (using my Lineascope.com system).
With respect to women with multiple marriages, I do what you wrote: “put the alias in each husband’s surname file with only that surname in front of the maiden name.” And yes, if the maiden name is unknown, I use the married name until the maiden name is discovered. I don’t ever use empty parentheses.
I’ve watched the video several times now trying to understand the structure for married persons. In the video by the way, at the beginning of the demonstration, you say “married name” when referring to Minda Roan’s married name and maiden name folders–that makes it very confusing. For this to work for single and multiple marriages, I think you have to put the original folders in the maiden surname folders. For example: Betty Jones marries Bob Brown. In the Jones surname folder would be a folder Jones (Brown), Betty; and in the Brown surname folder would be the folder Jones (Brown), Betty alias.
If Bob Brown died and Betty subsequently married Jim White, we need a folder Jones (White) Betty alias in the White surname folder. This be another alias of the Jones (Brown) Betty folder in the Jones surname folder, but to get the forward trace to both the Brown and White surnames from the Jones surname folder, we should rename that folder Jones (Brown, White) Betty.
I think that makes this work, but please reply if I have it wrong.
So Ben, I can see the elegance of this system on the original computer where you set it up, but if you copy the directory structure to another drive/another machine/etc. do the aliases remain pointing to the proper location on the new drive/machine/etc. or do the links break? Does this work if you copy the directory structure to a cloud based storage provider like dropbox or skydrive?
As long as you’re copying (or backing up and restoring) to and from a Mac OS X computer everything stays as-is. When you leave the Mac OS X filesystem you’ll lose the aliases (links), but not the files and folders to which the links point. The lesson: don’t leave the Mac–as if you needed a reason to stay.
I just had to migrate to a new laptop. When I transferred all the files, etc. from my old MacBook Pro to the new, everything remained in place. I was essentially restoring from a backup, but everything came over with no broken links.
Do you create file folders for the surnames of collateral relative or lump them under the surname of the ancestor they share with you?
I create a folder for them.
I really like your filing system and have begun using it. It’s very gratifying to get things in order finally! I do have one question, though. When a name is spelled differently in a document (not a married vs. maiden name) do you put the spelling used in the file name or revert to the common/correct/most-often-used spelling? I guess the same goes for documents that give the middle name as the first name, etc. Thanks!
Hi Chris. I do both. It depends on my certainty in my conclusion. If I’m unsure it goes in a folder with the spelling documented in the source. If I can later prove it refers to someone in a different folder I move it.
Thanks, Ben. How about first name changes (Giovanni > John, Pietro > Peter, etc.)? I have a ton of these. In my cases, there is no question as to it being the same person. I’m wondering whether tidiness (i.e. uniformity) or accuracy according to the individual document is what should guide me. Thanks again.
Ease of retrieval is my guiding principle with this file storage system. Fact accuracy is paramount in research notes and conclusion statements.
Thanks, Ben. That’s more or less the principle I’ve been following. I’m very happy to have confirmation from an expert. Thank you again for helping me get things organized. You are a fantastic resource.
Hi Ben! Saw your screencast about Folder structure! Very good! I have a question! What do you put into the Places folder? For example? What about a birth cert? Would that go into Places (place where the person was born ) ? or Surnames (under that person) or would I make alias to join both? The census record you mentioned in your screencast could I not put that into Places (where the census took place) or is better in Surnames (under the person its related to) I don’t really understand what info goes where! I would be grateful if you could put my mind at ease. Thanks Jason
Hi Jason.
I use the places sub-folders for files containing information that is primarily about places and aliases to others (see below). For example, I store histories and photos of a place in there.
If the files reference a person of interest I create an alias of it and put that in the person’s folder.
A census could go there. The system is flexible so use it the way you prefer. I would put such image files in the person folder of the person I’m most interested in then link it to other person folders for other people of interest enumerated on the page.
If you keep them, I suggest putting an alias of each census page in its respective place folder. This makes it easy to determine which pages you have a for a place-time. Otherwise you have to remember all the people you have in that place-time and check all their person folders.
I wouldn’t put an alias in the place folder of a person’s birth because the enumeration isn’t about that place. It’s about the place-time to enumeration occurred.
Most of my files go in person folders. That seems appropriate as genealogy is about people in places and times not the other way around.
Remember that since you can use aliases the files can appear in multiple places so it’s hard to go very wrong.
—-Ben >@<
Thanks Ben
Hi Ben, love your tutorials easy relaxed style and very helpful! I love the magnified mouse pointer you use, I could use that in my U3A tutorials on genealogy, can you tell the name of it? Thanks Rick
Hi Rick.
That is a feature of the screen recording software I use called Screenflow.
—-Ben >@<
Thank you for the info! I have downloaded and started to use Screenium, I will have to see if that has that cool feature!
Hi, Thank you so much for this video. I am brand new to Mac but not new to Genealogy, I have hundreds of files from my PC and decided that it was time for an update on my file organization. Your explanation of alias is excellent. What a great tool. I look forward to watch the rest of your videos.
Hi, I have been working on my family tree for years and boy is it scattered in different places Thank you for explaining a system that is understandable and organized. I only wish I would have found you years ago. Keep up the great work and I look forward to learning more. (I also learned more about the Mac file system. Thanks,
Want to make sure I have this correct. I saw how maiden name was in () in married name folder. If is is a daughter of another folder name is the name in there first… maiden name… and all docs go there and the alias is then placed in married name folder? Of if a daughter marries does a new folder start with her husband’s name and her past items go in here along with future children??
Also if the female marries someone but her family isn’t a ‘folder family’ how do you handle her earlier maiden name data?
I am having a good time finally getting organized but, WOW, wish I had done it long ago. This is a great system.
Thanks. Marianne
Hi Ben I have watched your videos over and over and I am not very computer smart. I have a lot of genealogy info on my computer. I use Ancestry and FTM. I have started to make the folders like you have shown. Are they then separate from the Ancestry and FTM? Do I store the photos and documents in all the places? Then how do I clean up my Mac to get rid of all the duplicate files? I hope you can help me or point me in the direction to get help… I wish there was a in person Mac class on your system. I really like the idea to get it all in folder. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. Hope I don’t sound to dumb.
Hi Cheryl, You could store photos in the filing system, but I don’t recommend it. I developed the system to store source files.
I love these videos! I have long been trying to find a system where I didn’t have to have duplicate files. Thanks for introducing me to “alias”. I have a question about name spelling. How do you handle the different spellings in your surname folders. For example: my maiden name is “Auer”, but my great-grandfather’s name went through six variations – Hours, Hour, Ours, Our, Auer’s, Auer. My great-great grandfather shows in the census as “Hour” and “Ower”. Which do I use on the Surname Folder?
Thank you.
I found this video to be very confusing. One time you said her married name is Roan and further into video you said Knutson was married name. I don’t know which is which and why we re doing this
As a wrinkle in all this, I am using the new Google Drive which mirrors to my hard drive. If I create an alias on my hard drive, Google Drive ignores it. BUT – if I create a shortcut on Google Drive it is copied over to my hard drive as a symlink. I can drag-and-drop the symlink on my hard drive and the shortcut gets moved automatically when Google Drive syncs.
So – that’s one use case scenario where shortcuts can actually work!