30 Seconds: A Guide to Organizing Your Genealogy Files

There appears to be a need among many genealogists to find a way to organize their papers, so they can find them quickly. This book presents a choice of filing systems. The first, is a filing cabinet filing system and the second, is a notebook filing system. This is written to show two ways of filing genealogy papers. There are ten steps to organizing your papers. Included are drawings and illustrations (some in color) that help the reader to understand the steps to organizing. Many actual examples are included to assist genealogists with their own files. This book is written to the beginning genealogist, the experienced genealogist, as well as the professional genealogist.

Robert "Bob" Russell Langman, Ph D Midvale, Utah

Bob was born in Rexburg, Idaho and raised in California, he left California to attend Brigham Young University, then stayed in Utah to be near the Salt Lake City Genealogy Library. His Doctor of Philosophy Degree focused on the financial and economical aspects of tourism and the leisure industry. He has written articles for professional magazines and publications. He has taught university classes as an Assistant Professor in the Business Department. He loves to teach Business Organizational Behavior. He is an organization expert and knows where to put important papers and documents. Over the years he developed an organizational style.

His profession has been in business administration and accounting. Most of his career was in the mining industry and he became a Chief Financial Officer. He also managed hotels for a time. As an accountant he was in charge of all office duties including business filing systems.

His passion for genealogy and family history is legendary. He not only studied, organized and researched his own family lines but also volunteered his time to help others do their research. He taught classes in Indiana research techniques as well as research techniques in Devonshire, England. He has taught students how to use the Windows computer programs and the PAF 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 genealogy programs. He has taught many students the principles and value of organizing their paper filing systems. He has been captivated in the genealogy world since 1970. He married Sharon Orvilla Smith of Portland, Oregon - they have 12 children together.

Jimmy B. Parker Bountiful, Utah

Jimmy was born in Nampa, Idaho and attended Brigham Young University where he earned a B S degree in Secondary Education in 1961. He is a graduate of the Institute of Genealogy Research in Washington D C. He received the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society in 1978 and the Special Services to Libraries Award 2000 from the Utah Library Association.

His professional career peaked when he earned the position as Manager of the Genealogy Library in Salt Lake City, Utah for many years. He was a consultant for private genealogy companies. He is an Accredited Genealogist in New England, Eastern and Midwestern and American Indian Research. He has extensive experience in administration and lecturing in conferences, such as the National Genealogical Society Conferences, The Federation of Genealogical Societies Conferences, and the World Conference on Records in Salt Lake City. He is the past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and has been an important member of many conferences, programs, services, societies, seminars and lectures.

Jimmy is the author of numerous books, pamphlets and articles on genealogy. He was the collaborating author on the recent publication "Genealogy for the Clueless." He married Sherlene Lavon Byington and they are the parents of 14 beautiful children.