30 Seconds: A Guide to Organizing Your Genealogy Files [Paperback]

Robert R Langman (Author), Jimmy B Parker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 82 pages
• Publisher: Heritage Knights, LLC; 1st edition (August 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971252602
• ISBN-13: 978-0971252608
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Organizational Book That Added to the Confusion, January 15, 2006

By 

Terry L. Kaul (Ivanhoe, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 30 Seconds: A Guide to Organizing Your Genealogy Files (Paperback)

I purchased this book to help me learn more about different systems that could be used to organize the inevitable pile of papers that accrue for most genealogists. After reading the book (and rereading it in case I really just missed the point), I still can't understand how Mr. Langman suggests these miscellaneous papers be organized.

He recommends a color tabbed system that includes your four main surmanes and couples that is simple, but never explaines how the system can accomodate more than 5 generations. He simply repeats himself and makes confusing statements about the types of records that should be stored in the files.

This book does not give value to anyone who has even rudimentary organizational skills. Consider other genealogy books for a more thorough explanation of organizational systems for genealogists.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 15 Seconds: Why this probably isn't the book you want, August 24, 2005

By 

R. Tynan (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 30 Seconds: A Guide to Organizing Your Genealogy Files (Paperback)

While I am certainly a novice genealogist compared to the author, I am able to organize file folders and make tabs line up in files or three ring binders. The book, as short as it is, explains in excruciating detail how to set up "couples" based genealogy files. The first half decribes it for file folders, the second half basically repeats the first half only for three ring binders. If you need explicit details on how to label tabs and make them line up and use color coding this book may hold value for you. However, be prepared for poor editing which abounds. If you have basic organizational and labeling skills then get "Organizing Your Family History Search" by Sharon Carmack. The only reason this got two stars is because there may actually be people out there that are so bad at organizing files that this book may add value for them. I sent mine back. This is the first book I've ever sent back to Amazon.com and I've bought dozens.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book I've ever seen, August 7, 2006

By 

James Oneill (Coeur d'Alene, ID) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 30 Seconds: A Guide to Organizing Your Genealogy Files (Paperback)

This is without a doubt, the worst book I've ever even seen! Poor, weak content and apparently never proofread.
Fortunately, Amazon has a good return policy of which I took full advantage.