Numbering Your Genealogy Sound and Simple Systems (USED) 1992 by Joan Ferris Curran

The full title of this revised volume is Numbering Your Genealogy: Basic Systems, Complex Families, and International Kin. When you are ready to write your family history, how will you keep track of your relatives in a logical way that your readers will understand? You could invent your own numbering system, of course, but that usually just leads to confusion. Instead, you will want to learn the more tried and true methods that have been developed by generations of professional genealogists. Although this book is thin, it packs a great amount of information into its pages, along with many examples. The authors discuss both descending genealogies, “for those tracing descendants of an early forebear,” and ascending genealogies, “those that present all the ancestors of a particular individual.” In the first section of the book, the authors explain the two “user-friendly” formats used to compile descending genealogies: the Register system and the newer NGSQ system. They include annotated examples of both, so you can easily understand the similarities and differences. They then discuss ascending genealogies: the Sosa-Stradonitz system and the newer Multi-Surname approach. The second section of the book goes into detail on complex families and relationships, which virtually every family now contains. Surname changes, step relationships, and adoptions are covered. Finally, how to work with International Kin is the topic of the last section in the book. There is also a page of suggested reading at the end.

Written by Joan Ferris Curran, CG, Madilyn Coen Crane, and John H. Wray, PhD, AG, CG, Edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Published by National Genealogical Society, Arlington, Virginia 2008, 35 pgs.
softcover.