Cindy,

FTM doesn't really have any way to manage your hard copy files.

I used something like CLOOZ for a while. You might see if it's still around. It's specifically for organizing your hard copies. I stopped using it because it required me to keep two parallel computer files for my genealogical data and I didn't like that. And ultimately, I found that I preferred to organize my hard copy files by family.

I keep a notebook for each major surname that I am researching, and I use sheet protectors (preferably archival quality) for storing the various records (census copies, etc.) and then I sort each notebook chronologically.

In some cases, where I am tracking the descendants of an emigrating family, I have sections (which often turn into their own notebooks) for each of the children of the emigrating family.

Then the documents in each section are sorted chronologically.

I do it this way because my interest in genealogy is family history-- is the story, the history. When I review my records chronologically, a story emerges.

-- Jillaine