Rob,
Do you _want_ your filing system tied to one location and one Legacy-only 
database? Any system seems to work for a small family project with known 
event dates. If the original researcher finds more data than expected or is 
short of time, it might be practical to split a project with sibling(s) or 
cousin(s) who agree to work on one branch each.

My family printouts are currently in more than 60 color-coded two-inch ring 
binders with family group printouts for the "main" households, scrapbooks 
and descendant reports chosen to suit the data available for each branch. 
Binders match (more or less) specific files and may have Windows folders 
with hundreds of pictures as well as scanned sources. In theory, a cousin 
could take a binder plus a matching data file and pictures on a CD to 
continue working on a branch.

Compare with a method of assigning numbers in the order marriages were 
entered in one family file or acquisition numbers for every source document 
in the order collected. Some researchers had to start over with "better" 
picture filing methods by the time they scanned about a thousand images.

Since 1967, I've collected many examples of family trees and books with 
numbering systems that were more confusing than helpful. My preference is to 
give each person a unique name and estimated year of birth rather than a 
number. The same branch might have a dozen men called Robert. One in 
particular was always called Robert Andrew but Legacy Narrative report drops 
his middle name and surname for the marriage to his second wife.

Some families reused the same name if the first child named for an ancestor 
died very young. Cousins named after the same ancestor were often neighbors 
close in age and easily mixed up in sources. Two brothers died in 1890, both 
leaving widows called Margaret. I made the mistake of assuming that the 
first one found in the 1891 census was the one from my direct line. --  
Elizabeth

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Weiss"
> Hi Cathy,
> This sounds like you had "Re-use Abandoned RIN's" checked.  That will fill 
> in the gaps, but I thought only with new additions.  Maybe you didn't have 
> "Try to keep original ID numbers (RIN's)" selected.  Otherwise, it sounds 
> like a bug to me.
> I'm interested, because I (and others) depend on reasonably stable MRIN's 
> for filing.



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