Getting Started & Organized

Okay, so I wanted to start researching my family history. But, where do I begin?? Living in Florida, with no family in close proximity, I needed some advice from hopefully a seasoned pro. Thankfully, I found some very friendly staff members at the local library in their research room. The year was 2001, and all I had to start with was some family names, and places of birth. I knew that I wanted to begin with my paternal side because my Pipe`, (grandfather in english), had immigrated here from France. I had his name, Andre` (Andrew) C. Guerin; and was always told growing up that he came to the US to escape the war. Not much to go on! With some help, before my first visit to the library was up, I had located him in the 1930 US census, and found his WWI draft record!  Needless to say, right then and there, I had been infected with the genealogy bug!
From that point on, I knew that I could not rest until I found more information, more records. I became insatiable! The more I learned, meant the more I wanted to know. Then, there is all the printing of records. Before you know it, you have an armful of paper that needs to be organized in some fashion. Which method to use?? Oh, there are literally hundreds of options available to store & organize all your findings. What you choose is determined by your personal preference. There is no right or wrong way. Even the experts state that. You can even take a class on organizing your records. Since I had previously been employed for years in an office environment, I chose what was comfortable for me; binders and files. I soon learned, that if I wanted those paper documents to hold up for any length of time, I had better use good quality sheet protectors.
It is now 2011, ten years later, and my family history has taken over my half of the office. No surprise. So now, I have made a decision that the next time  we move, I will need my own office!