I have benefited so much from the MRIN method of organizing papers and photos!

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I have benefited so much from the #MRIN method of organizing papers and photos! (I used the method described here: http://fileyourpapers.com/legacy/legacy.html).

Since I was revamping already, I saw the value of having the most recent families being at the lowest numbers. So I renamed all of my MRINs starting with my husband and I as number 1, and just went from parent marriage to parent marriage from there. So his parents’ MRIN is 2, my parents’ is 3, his father’s parents are MRIN 4, etc.

As a math teacher, I noticed an interesting feature of this method. Actually it may seem a bit obscure, but in my case it was very useful. I have a family tree which was given to me, and it contains records back five centuries. So one part of my tree is really long, whereas most are really short. So what is the MRIN for that long line? I didn’t have to draw a pedigree chart with thousands of name to know the right MRIN – I just did the math!

I’m talking too much, so I’ll stop =] but I hope the picture explains it. If you are looking at couple MRIN # 112, and want the MRIN of the parents on the mother’s side, just double 112 and add one, so the MRIN will be 225.

Math is fun.


Comments

  1. Tessa KeoughMay 16, 2017 at 9:00 AM

    I have always used the RINs and MRINs to identifiy my family members and also use it with my filing. Interesting that you re-numbered and how you did it. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. JL BeekenJune 6, 2017 at 10:50 PM

    Good Lord, that is one thing I would not want to have to do; renumber my MRINs. I have 9,713 of them assigned with filing to match. My parents are 1 and after that there's no order at all except for splitting maternal and paternal lines and using a different range of numbers for Inlaws.

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  3. Tessa KeoughJune 7, 2017 at 6:57 AM

    I agree JL Beeken - the only way I have paid attention to the numbers is to make sure I have my list saved and that I never have checked renumber - the number anyone got originally is the number they keep! For me it is about the identification and filing and won't change it. If you are just started or so tangled up okay. Reminds me of the people who all "restarted" their genealogy a few years back. Yikes - I don't have the time to do that one either! I prefer fresh eyes and cleaning up what you already have.

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  4. JL BeekenJune 7, 2017 at 8:54 AM

    Tessa Keough Mathematics was my specialty in school so I can appreciate the beauty of patterns, but in this case as long as I can throw a number into a search box ...

    Of course I didn't see everything on the road ahead when I started so ...

    Where things got tricky with no organization of numbers was that I couldn't sort my father's from my mother's line of documents for my Cuz without picking through folders one at a time. So the numbers got changed into maternal/paternal ranges.

    Then I filed all the folders into tree-style to be able to gather up an entire line of documents from whatever generation back to whatever point down. Now the numbering system only matters back in Legacy if I want to work on, say, my mother's side only, I can do a search for 50000-99999 and hold off everything else.

    If anyone doesn't have their free copy of my slideshow yet: jlbeeken.blogspot.ca - MRIN Filing System

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