How to organize family information

See more how-to videos like this.
In the video, Madeleine and her mother show us how they use Microsoft Office OneNote as a notebook and a filing cabinet to collect and organize all the bits of information their family needs to run efficiently. Here’s how you can use OneNote to organize information in your own home.

Get the software

• You may already have OneNote. OneNote is included in both the Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 and the Office Ultimate 2007 editions of Office 2007. When you purchase one of these editions, you get OneNote automatically. Many editions of earlier versions of Office also include OneNote. To find out if you have OneNote, click the Start button , click All Programs, and then click Microsoft Office. If you see Microsoft Office OneNote in the list of Office products, then you have it.
• Purchase OneNote. If you don’t have OneNote, you can purchase it as a standalone product for $99.95.
• Try the free trial. You can download a free trial and give it a test run before purchase.

---

Create a OneNote notebook

Follow these steps to create a OneNote notebook:

Step 1: Click the Start button , click All Programs, click Microsoft Office, and then click Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 (or the version you’re using), to start the program.

Step 2: On the File menu, click New to start the New Notebook Wizard. Follow the steps in the wizard to create a new notebook. You’ll name the notebook, choose a color for it, and choose a template to get you started. If you want to set it up for the family to share, you can do that in the wizard or share it later.

---

Add and find information in your notebook

In the notebook you just created, you’ll see the notebook name displayed vertically along the left side, the notebook sections at the top, and the page tabs for each section on the right.
You can start using your notebook immediately. The information you enter into the notebook is saved automatically.

• In the video, Madeleine and her mother explained that they use the Snipping Tool to add web information to their notebook. You can use the Snipping Tool to capture a screen shot, or snip, of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image.
  To open Snipping Tool, click the Start button , click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Snipping Tool.
• Organize. Click Organizing and Managing Your Notes in the Help pane to learn how to set up your notebook to suit your needs.
• Take notes. Click Taking Notes in the Help pane to learn about the different ways you can take notes, including using the audio and video note-taking features.
• Search. You can quickly search through all of the information you've collected and retrieve important notes based on criteria that you specify. Just type the words you’re searching for in the upper-right corner of the notebook, and indicate what you want searched.

---

Learn more

On the Help menu, click Microsoft Office OneNote Help, to display the Help pane. Look for specific information by typing your questions into the Search box of the Help pane. Or browse the topics listed below the Search box.