Hi Jane, Thanks for your thought provoking post.
I'm a real neophyte at this filing game, but so far I really like filing under Family Group. For me that's the important thing. Whether you number it with the MRIN, or the RIN of the Father or a random number is secondary for me.
The reason I like using family groups, is that you can get a lot of info on a family group report, particularly with the Chronology and Print source citations options selected. This is all I need to print, and it includes the basic details of all the children (Born, Died, Buried, Spouse - not sure about multiple souses). For the main line of interest I create another family group file for the preferred child plus their family, but I don't need to create files for the other "non-preferred" children. For me, this is where it saves a lot of time and effort.
However, I'm thinking of switching from MRIN's to number the family groups with the RIN of the father. This is because RIN's are much more accessible in Legacy, and easier to sort by and search for. It also means you can create a file for an individual of particular interest where that is warranted. There is also a neat little feature that allows you to "back up" all your RIN's in case they get changed. On Options > Customise > Other you can copy RIN's to UserID's.
Just my thoughts based on a small database, even smaller paper file and a few months experience!
Cheers,
Rob
----- Original Message ----- From: "Jane Hakes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 7:48 PM
Subject: [LegacyUG] RIN versus MRIN?
I've seen much discussion about filing systems and it seems that most people are filing using the MRIN. Could the file-by-family-group be a hold-over from pre-computer days? I started with filing by RIN, which worked fine for me, but after re-reading the article "Organize Your Paper Files Using Legacy Family Tree" I thought I'd perhaps made a mistake. I'd save some (can't see it would mean a lot of difference) space by changing, but if I do go ahead and reorganize my system based on the MRINs, I can see a couple of potential problems:
1) What happens when a person marries more than once? Would I have two file tabs (two MRINs), possibly #3 and #99, for him/her? Wouldn't that be more confusing? If I file by RIN, I have all that information filed with the individual. I don't currently duplicate any papers that apply to both husband and wife. Copies of marriage licenses, census records, etc. are filed with the husband and simply referred to in the wife's records.
2) The Index View tab, which is primarily what I use when working in Legacy, doesn't display the MRIN unless I specifically highlight(/click) an individual name, then read it from the status bar at the bottom of the screen. I can't see at a glance ALL the MRINs unless I go to the Marriage List screen. This could mean a lot of jumping around.
A second dilemma: While I do enter every child from a direct-ancestor family, I don't enter every spouse and child of that person. For example, John and Mary Jones have three children: Tom, Dick, and Harry. I'm descended from Tom, so while I did enter birth/death details for Dick and Harry, I don't enter their spouses and children and certainly not the spouses and children of their children's children, etc. Is this the way most people do it? I can see where it could/would be helpful to have as many persons with as much detail as possible, but at this stage it seems unnecessary (and not a little overwhelming).
So now I'm suspended in motion.... I've emptied half of my binder with the idea of changing to using MRINs, but having second thoughts. Apologies to those who are tired of non-research questions. I know this is probably petty, but I think it's important to get it right before I get too many names to deal with.
Thanks for any suggestions,
Jane Hakes [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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