Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Doing research first thing in the morning

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Doing genealogy first thing in the morningI’ve been frustrated this year by the small amount of time I’ve spent researching. I do love it, but between a new puppy, a kitchen renovation and a busy business, I just wasn’t making the time for it. It felt like the day just wasn’t long enough to squeeze it in.

One thing I’ve discovered is that if I get out of the swing of researching, it’s harder for me to jump back in. When I research infrequently, I don’t have a burning desire to solve a particular mystery. Then it’s hard to get started. So for me regular research, even just a few minutes at a time, is really beneficial.

In the last two weeks, I’ve been doing a half hour (or even 15 minutes) of research first thing in the morning. It happens before email, before blogging, before Facebook. I’ll set a timer and start on it while I’m drinking my coffee. I stop when the timer goes off. It’s a fabulous way to start the day–I feel I’ve accomplished something and I get to work on something I enjoy. Best of all, I’ve stopped beating myself up over not researching.

I’m helped by the fact that my current project is checking my source documentation, which lends itself to short bursts of activity. But if I weren’t doing that, I could still easily jump into my research, because it’s top of mind (since I’m working on it daily).

We’ll see how long this lasts, but until life gets crazy again (which it inevitably will), I think this one little adjustment to my schedule will reap great benefits.

Photo by Thomas Ulrich via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Checking my sources

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Verifying my sourcesThis year I’ve been having the hardest time figuring out what I want to focus on in my genealogy research sessions. I think part of the problem is that I’ve also had trouble finding time to research, so it’s been more sporadic. And when I do have time, then I don’t know what to work on.

A couple of years ago, I tried focusing on a different line each quarter. That was successful, but this year I’m not researching frequently enough to make that work. Last year, I was really focused on processing and transcribing my ancestors’ Civil War pension files. That was great too, but I’m wanting to mix it up a bit more these days.

I know I need to figure out what I want to focus on during my week at the Allen County Library in August, which means that I feel the need to revisit my ancestors and remind myself of my mysteries.

So I lit on a strategy that, for the moment anyway, is working well for me. (And I also came up with a strategy that’s allowing me to research more frequently–more on that in the next post.) Here’s what I’m doing:

I’m going through all my sources in the Reunion family-tree software, checking the format, and attaching an image of the source to the source entry.

I exported the list of my 300 sources as an rtf file then opened the file in Evernote. I made the type big enough to read easily, then turned it one long bullet list with checkboxes for bullets. One by one, I’m going down the list and looking at each source and at the document that goes with the source. I’m checking the usage of the source. I attach the document as a multimedia file (leaving it on my hard drive in its folder, organized by surname and individual).  I’m getting reacquainted with my ancestors. And it’s been really fun.

I’m seeing several benefits to this process:

  • I know exactly where to start when I sit down to do research.
  • I’m cleaning up some formatting issues, since I became better at source documentation over time (so I’ve been able to make entries more consistent).
  • I’m making a list of things to investigate further, which will be helpful in planning my research trip.
  • I’m finding things I missed in the source documents the first time around.
  • I’m making new discoveries as I go along.
  • I get to work on a variety of ancestors every day, which suits me these days.
  • I see tangible progress every session.
  • I can make progress in just a few minutes, which is great when I don’t have a lot of time to research.
  • I’ve found that some electronic files had not been filed correctly and I’ve been able to refile them.
  • I end up with a wonderfully organized source list.
  • It’s systematic and enjoyable. I love checking off the box when I’m finished with that source!

If I wanted to focus on the sources of a single family, Reunion makes that easy for me. (I just click on “Family” rather than “All” in the sources list.) But for me, right now, mixing up the families by checking the sources in the order in which I entered them is working out nicely.

So far, I’ve checked off 20 of my now-306 sources. (I’ve made a few discoveries in the process, so I’ve added a few sources.) I’ve been doing a little a day for the last five days or so. Clearly it’s not fast work (though it may get faster as my sourcing gets better). But it’s beneficial and enjoyable. Hooray!

Who needs a staycation?

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nostaycationWeek before last, I blogged at my excitement over the prospect taking this week off to devote to genealogy research. You know what they say about the best laid plans.

I ended up having to schedule clients Thursday and Friday and yesterday was occupied with details surrounding moving back into our newly renovated kitchen (hooray!). So my staycation shrunk to two days.

My first thought was to abandon the idea and try to find another week to take off. But then I realized that (a) that week would probably never come and (b) I don’t need huge blocks of time to accomplish research. As I documented during my first 30 x 30 challenge, I can get a whole lot done by doing just a little every day.

I have other business- and kitchen-related things I need to do today and tomorrow, so I’m going to commit to grabbing at least two hours each day to do research. That’s four hours more than I did last week.

I have the week-long NGS research trip to the Allen County Public Library to look forward to in August. So I know I’ll get that intensive research time I crave. But in the meantime, I’m going to try to devote at least four hours a week during the eight weeks leading up the trip–taking time where I can find it–to get some research done.

This is an important reminder that, as appealing as a staycation is,  I don’t need a big chunk of time to get work done!

It’s my 4th blogiversary!

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happyblogiversarylgI published my first post on Organize Your Family History four years ago today, on June 14, 2012. This is my 282nd post. I can’t believe how quickly time flies!

I love writing this blog. It helps keep my genealogy research top of mind.  I learn so much researching the posts. But I think what I love most of all is interacting with my readers. Your comments are so educational and so appreciated!! And I’m grateful to have met some of you in person.

The readership of the blog grew very quickly in the first few years but growth has slowed down as the blog matures. That doesn’t surprise me–I can’t expect that kind of growth forever. I was delighted to surpass 100,000 pageviews last year and I certainly hope to do that again this year, though I’d better start blogging more frequently if I’m going to accomplish that. (It’s been a year of competing priorities.)

At the risk of boring you, but for the sake of continuity, I’ll spout some statistics here about the blog, as I’ve done for each blogiversary post. I find it interesting and it’s helpful for me to be able to look back.

In the fourth year of Organize Your Family History there were (as compared with last year):

  • 60 posts (72 last year)
  • 94, 172 pageviews (84, 270 last year)
  • 451 comments, about half of which were from me (compared with 245 last year)
  • 344 subscribers (272 last year)

If you’re interested in data from the previous two years, check out my 3d blogiversary post.

I have so loved meeting readers at genealogy conferences and look forward to meeting more at the Midwestern Roots Family History and Genealogy Conference in Indianapolis next month (please let me know, if you haven’t already, if you’re going to be there and you’d like to meet up!).

On this, my fourth blogiversary, I just want to say thank you for reading the blog. It’s such a joy to know you’re reading!