There are several important considerations in organizing your family history. After all, the finished product is what others will be looking at. The more thorough you are in planning the finished product, the more understandable it will be to the end user. In approaching this initial step, you must answer eight important questions.

1. In which direction will your family history go? In genealogy, a project is either ascendant (starting with a particular person and detailing that person's ancestors, working back in time) or descendant (starting with a particular person and detailing that person's descendants, working forward in time). Both approaches are straightforward and easy to understand. It's important to choose the direction that is most comfortable for you; usually this will be the direction you are following in your research.

2. What are the beginning and ending points of your project? This is sometimes referred to as the start person and the end person, and it defines the number of generations you wish to cover in your family history. Obviously, the more generations you wish to include in your history, the greater the number of individuals who will be included. In projects covering many generations, this number can easily grow into the hundreds, even thousands. This decision will probably be the most important one you make, as it will determine the overall size of your finished project.

3. Will your project be lineal—the direct line from your start person to your end person—or will it include all the family lines between the two? Many researchers want to prove their link to a particular ancestor in order to achieve membership in a lineage society. Likewise, there is a great deal of exciting DNA research being done today on the umbilical line (your mother's mother's mother's mother). These types of projects are examples of lineal projects, which connect two people in separate generations directly. Other researchers wish to trace all of their family lines, including all of the female lines. This is a more comprehensive project and can be more time-consuming. The answer to this question will also affect the ultimate size of your project.

4. How will you divide your material into sections that will comprise the chapters in your family history? A common approach is to devote one section to the history of the dominant family name you are researching, one section to the couple or individual who will be the starting point of your project, and separate sections for each of the following or preceding generations (depending on which direction you choose). Many published family histories follow this approach, but it is by no means the only option. Your imagination is the only limitation in making this decision.

5. How will you identify or number the individuals you include in your family history? This is an important consideration, since the system you choose provides the means for others to use your research. There are several different numbering systems you can choose from, and the one you select will, again, be influenced by which direction you wish to follow. These are the more common numbering systems:

Ahnentafel — This is an ascendancy numbering system in which the first person is assigned the number 1, his/her father the number 2, his/her mother the number 3, etc. Males (other than the number 1) are always represented by even numbers and females by odd numbers. Double any person's number and you have that person's father; double any person's number and add one and you have that person's mother (3 x 2 = 6 [3's father]; 3 x 2 + 1 = 7 [3's mother]). The advantages of this system are that lineal ancestors are quickly identified by their unique number; it is an easy way to cross-reference information between research files; and it parallels the pedigree chart, the most common tool in genealogical research. The disadvantages of the Ahnentafel system include the difficulty of identifying collateral relatives and the difficulty of following the system if one is uncertain as to relationship to person number 1.

Register — This is a descendancy numbering system developed by the New England Historic Genealogical Society of Boston, Massachusetts, as a method of displaying research in their publication, the New England Historic and Genealogical Register. In this system, the first person in a descendancy study is assigned the number 1. His or her children are then listed in birth order, indented, and identified by lower-case letters (a, b, c, etc.). The children who continue the study are also given an Arabic number, which is written to the left of their birth order letter. Advantages of this system include its ease of use, as it resembles an outline (once a person knows where he fits in the research, he can go in either direction); the ability to trace all descendants of the start person through their unique numbers; and the ability to include vital information, biographical information, and pictures for each individual. Disadvantages of this system include the fact that spouses of the numbered individuals receive no number, excluding them from the study; the fact that children without issue are not assigned a unique number, making it hard to locate them; and the difficulty of adding a previously undiscovered descendant (this can create confusion in the numbering system).

Record — This is a descendancy numbering system developed by the National Genealogical Society for use in its publication, the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and it offers several improvements over the register system. Most notable of these is that all children in the descendancy families are given a number, whether or not they have issue. Unfortunately, this system suffers from many of the other disadvantages of the register system.

Henry — The Henry system is also a descendancy numbering system, supposedly named for the person who used it in a family history some years ago. The Henry system assigns the number 1 to the individual who starts the line of descent, similar to the previous systems discussed. The difference comes at the second generation, where the oldest child of person number 1 is given the number 11, the second child the number 12, etc. In the third generation, the oldest child of person 11 is assigned the number 111, the second child of that person is 112, etc. Number 12's oldest child is 121, the second child 122, etc. Thus the individual digits represent generations and the specific numbers represent birth order within that generation. The biggest advantage of this system is that each number reveals considerable information about the person, and it is very easy to trace that person's line of ascent back to the individual assigned the number 1. As with the register and record numbering systems, the Henry system does not provide for numbering of spouses, and thus their information is left out of the study. Also, the Henry system can become confusing if there are more than nine children in a particular family, even if one adopts the hexadecimal numbering system (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, etc.).

d'Aboville — This is also a descendancy numbering system named for the person who developed it. This system is identical to the Henry system, except that a period (.) is inserted between generational numbers. Using the examples from the Henry system, the number 1 is assigned to the individual who begins the descendancy. The oldest child of this person is identified by the number 1.1, the second child as 1.2, etc. In the third generation, the oldest child of 1.1 is assigned number 1.1.1, the second child 1.1.2, etc. Number 1.2's oldest child is 1.2.1, the second child 1.2.2, etc. If this last individual had fourteen children, the youngest of these would have the number 1.2.2.14. This modification to the Henry system allows for tracking larger families, but it still does not provide identification numbers for spouses of the children in the study.

6. Which supporting materials will you include in your family history? Among the more common supplemental materials found in family histories are copies of vital records (birth, death, and marriage certificates), copies of important family papers (military discharge papers, naturalization records, school diplomas), plat maps or sketches of a family homestead, a description of family traditions, family recipes, location of family cemeteries, addresses of living family members, photos of family members and family homes, and other items of interest to the family.

7. Are you prepared to document the sources used in compiling the family history, and will it be indexed? It goes without saying that source documentation is extremely important so that those who refer to your work will know where you found your information. Your history could be a real time-saver for someone who is researching a collateral line. Likewise, the index is invaluable. It may even be the most important part of your family history, in that it will be the doorway through which most readers enter your work.

8. Finally, how do you proceed when you are ready to have your family history published? This is a topic covered elsewhere in this issue of Ancestry; be certain to read "Publishing Your Genealogy" by Christine A. Reed, starting on page 44.

Organizing the research you have done and presenting this work to others in book form is one of the most rewarding experiences a genealogist can have. After all, this type of project is a wonderful legacy to leave, as it will be enjoyed and appreciated for years to come. Be certain, however, that you have spelled Aunt Betty's name correctly.

Terry and Jim Willard hosted the ten-part PBS series Ancestors. They have researched their genealogy fifteeen generations back on both sides.