TimD

I have a notebook of genealogical information compiled by family members that we would like to get into digital form so it could be more easily shared. I would appreciate some advice as to how to best do that. It's almost 200 pages, so scanning each page individually would be time consuming and (I think) result in 200 files that would have to be shared individually.

Ideally the results could be posted for access by anyone else doing research that might find our family information helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've been using "Roots Magic" for years and love it.
Great pedigree chart display.
Notes can be added for each person.
Lots of reports, easy to navigate and use, and you can create Gedcom files that you can send to people so they can import your tree information. I have over 3,800 people in my database so far.
(Reports can be printed to PDF files.)
Or you can just scan to PDF.

Chadp Loc: Virginia Beach

There are several scanning apps for smartphones that will do this. I use Genius Scan. It is still time consuming as you have to take a photo of each page. But it converts the photo to PDF and you can put all the pages in one PDF file. You can also work on it over time. So if you only have time to do 10 pages you can save it and add to it later.

Or if you don’t mind paying for the service, a professional copy center should have the capability of converting a paper booklet to digital.

repleo Loc: Boston

I have been using Family Tree Maker for over 25 year. I have nearly 1500 individuals in my records. I have a very old version but it can export to a .GED file which I believe is the standard format for genealogical databases.

Canonuser Loc: UK and South Africa

Ancestry.com does something similar although scanning photos in is the only option for prints. Digital photos can easily be transferred and also linked to relevant ancestors. Access can then be given to anyone, none of whom need a subscription to view the tree or pictures.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Just playing around I have found that scanning each page to a jpeg file to capture the image then opening a MS Word document giving it a title and individually inserting the jpeg photos into Word creates a great document. The advantage is that you can size the photos to fit the page, add text to the pages and create a single document that is in book form. You can easily add photos later or text should you want to explain something and it is extremely easy to post, share or even print should you want to put a copy in a folder for someone that does not have electronic access.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

A notebook sounds like it's just a collection of things that were written down. If they're just recording information as it was discovered, there's no need to try to extract the text and make a word file since the information is probably scattered through the document. It really needs someone to sit down and extract the information and organize it into individuals. So the best thing to do would probably just be to bite the bullet and scan individual pages, collect the image files into a folder and put it on dropbox for whatever relatives are interested.

Eventually it would be worth trying to organize the data, whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it. Many programs are are available for genealogists that allow you to produce a list of individuals and add information about each. The relationships can be included and the program will calculate relationships of distantly related individuals as long as there is a link between them. Some of those programs can include photos of the individuals, scans of documents like wills, wedding and birth announcements. The result is a digital document that is easy to disseminate to your family. There are also online sites that will allow you to look up individuals, extract information that others have collected, and add it to your collection. Of course with internet sources you take your chances with accuracy, so keep good records of sources.

twowindsbear

Go to Ancestry.com, make an account - free or paid, your choice - and start entering your facts. It WILL take you a while! Budget maybe an hour a day for the project. Scan your document as a pdf. The odf program will - should - allow you to add more pages to your project so you'll only have 1 document in the file rather than 1 file per page. Again, this will take a while. A document feeder on your scanner would help a lot! Good luck on your project. How many skeletons have you found in the family closet?

Kentski Loc: Michigan

I recently did a biography of my uncle who fought in WWI. It included text, scanned documents, downloaded documents like Census records and photos in jpeg format. I did everything on my Mac. I soon found out not all files could be read or viewed by others using MS or other operating systems. I then changed all to PDF format...and created a folder and posted it on DropBox(free up to a certain generous memory limit). You can send read only invites to family members. They can either view online and/or download. Hope this helps...good luck.

twowindsbear

This is an update to my original post:

I just checked with the local Office Depot. Their price for scanning a manuscript to a PDF file is $0.25 per page, so your 200pg manuscript would cost $50.00 +$3.00 tax = $53.00.

TimD

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions!