Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Transpose shutting down December 9

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I have posted here about Transpose, the app I have used to create custom forms, including some forms for my genealogy research.

When I logged in this morning to access some information, I was really disappointed to see the following banner at the top of the site:

transposeclose

I wasted no time exporting my data into spreadsheets or pdfs, as appropriate, so I’ll lose nothing. But I will miss this very easy way to to gather information.

I am getting so tired of hopping on the bandwagon of great apps that then fold (see Springpad). I hope and trust that Evernote is here to stay because I have loads of information stored there. I am encouraged by its popularity and the fact it has a multi-tiered paid model.

But still. This strengthens my resolve to store as much data as possible on my hard drive, rather in the cloud. (Though my resolve was shaken a little a couple of weeks ago when I had to do a clean reinstall of my operating system. It all worked out, though.)

If you starting using Transpose on my recommendation, I’m sorry. Please don’t forget to export your data before December 9!

Time for a new 30 x 30 challenge!

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30x30 challengeIt’s been ten months since I implemented a 30 x 30 challenge, in which I challenged myself to do genealogy research for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. I started this new challenge on Wednesday, so my 30 days will go from November 2 to December 1.

I did this in August 2015 with great results. My attempt to do another one in January 2016 was ill-fated, thanks to the potent combination of a new puppy and a typically busy January for my organizing business.

For many people November is a busy time, what with Thanksgiving and the December holidays coming up. That’s not really the case for me; I don’t have to do any work for Thanksgiving and my Christmas responsibilities are limited to holiday cards. I will be enjoying a visit from my brother (who lives in Australia) during this time, but he won’t prevent me from doing genealogy research.

Thanks to my moratorium on bringing in new information, I’m newly focused on processing the rather complicated pension file of my great great grandfather, George Washington Adams (1845-1938), who fought with the 35th Regiment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. While living in the U.S. National Home for Volunteer Disabled Soldiers in Danville, Illinois, in the 1920s, he was turned in for not being as disabled as he said he was on his pension application. Investigations  and appeals ensued (he even got his senator involved). That made for a lot of documents to process–more than 150 pages worth! But it’s a true treasure trove of information and paints quite a picture of my ancestor.

I don’t think I’ll have a problem putting in 30 minutes (or more) a day, if life stays on an even keel.

Would anyone like to join me on a 30 x 30 challenge?

ETA: Commenter Maria asked for a photo of my puppy Bix, who just turned one. Here’s a favorite: celebrating victory after removing a squeaker from a toy. He loves destroying toys!

bixsqueaker

My moratorium on new information

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stoplightI love attending genealogy conferences and learning about new opportunities to learn more about my ancestors. I sat in on some of the National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair and learned about new-to-me records I might explore for information on my ancestors. I got really excited about the possibilities. And then I was struck by revelation:

I will benefit more from processing the information I’ve already found than from seeking out new information.

I’m speaking personally, of course. For me, I think one way I can avoid being blindsided by overwhelm in my research is by focusing on the (not-unsubstantial) documents I’ve already found. I want to examine and evaluate them, keeping track of the clues contained in them and taking note of new avenues of research. I’ll keep a list of these next steps and I’ll try very hard not to explore them until I’ve caught up with what I have on hand. If I just keep gathering new documents without taking the time to analyze and benefit from them, I’ll constantly feel behind. That’s not how I want to feel about my genealogy research!

I’ve done a pretty good job of collecting military and pension files for some of my ancestors. I’m going to make processing them a priority. So far, here’s what I have:

  • Three Union Civil War pension files, which are various stage of processing, from almost complete to barely started
  • One Confederate Civil War pension file I have (from the Alabama archives)
  • A Civil War Compiled Service Record for one ancestor I downloaded years ago that I didn’t do much with
  • A newly acquired military record for my great grandfather’s service in the Philippine Insurrection

In addition to processing those documents, I’d like to continue systematically checking my source documentation.

If I focus on these resources I’ve already gathered through the end of the year, I feel like I can start 2017 with a sense of accomplishment and a fabulous to-do list of things to research. So much of the fun of genealogy research is the thrill of the hunt. But if I take the time to analyze the clues I find, the hunt will be even more thrilling.

Photo by walknboston via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Find help at National Archives’ new History Hub

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historyhubimageI listened to a portion of the National Archives and Records Administration’s Virtual Genealogy Fair this week. It was terrific. For me, there were two big discoveries and a revelation.

First the discoveries:

  1. The talks, slides and handouts from this year’s Virtual Fair — as well as those from the last three Fairs–are freely available online. So if you missed a talk, or just want to revisit one, it’s there for you. (That took the pressure off to sit at my desk all day!) Click to access the 2015 Fair. Here’s 2014. And 2013.
  2. The National Archives has a new website, History Hub, in beta mode. I think it’s really promising. (More on that in a moment.)

I’ll share the revelation with you next week.

I don’t know about you, but I have always found the NARA website to be challenging to navigate. I know there’s info there (and am I’m so glad I figured out how to find my ancestors’ Civil War pension files), but tracking it down can take some effort.

The talk called Innovative Online Resources and Tools to Help with Your Genealogical Research provided some insight into how to navigate the NARA website. It’s worth checking out the talk if you find the NARA website challenging. In the first part of the talk, presenter Sarah Swanson, pointed out ways to navigate the site, and she revealed the many aspects of the site I had overlooked (including a link to the NARA YouTube channel and 16 NARA special-interest blogs!). I’m going to go through the session slides again and familiarize myself with how I can access the vast online holdings. It will also help me plan a research trip to NARA in Washington, DC, perhaps next year.

The second of the talk was about History Hub, which is described as “A support community managed by the National Archives for researchers, citizen historians, archival professionals, and open government advocates.”  The speaker, Kelly Osborn from NARA’s Innovation Office, likened History Hub to the Apple Support Community. If you’ve ever had a problem on an Apple product and googled it, you’ve probably ended up in the Apple Support Community where your question might be answered by an Apple employee or by a fellow Apple user. You might have asked the question yourself or got you needed by reading the answers to someone else’s question. That’s what the National Archives wants to do with History Hub–it’ll be a place where people can get their genealogy questions answered and learn from others’ questions. I think it’s an amazing idea.

Of course, History Hub is the kind of site that will only get better with age as more people use it and offer their expertise. The idea that I can tap into the knowledge of a subject matter expert from the National Archives–as well as other knowledgeable people–is really exciting. The site is searchable and has discussion boards, blogs and community pages. I think it has huge potential and I think it’s really great that the National Archives is embracing innovation this way.

By the way, if you’re getting an error message when you click on the History Hub link, try it in another browser. I found that the link works in Safari and Chrome, but not in Firefox, at least on my computer.