Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Taking a brief detour from digital to paper

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Earlier this week I couldn’t put my hands on a tax document I needed. (It’s nice to know that professional organizers have these problems too, right?) I tore apart my office looking for it (not a pretty sight). And in doing so I discovered a whole bunch of unfiled papers related to genealogy. What? I’m supposed to be all about digital genealogy. Where’d all this paper come from?

I put all the papers together in a container. (That’s a picture of it at the top of this post.) They appear to be categorized in some way. At least I think they are, because they’re in five separate plastic file sleeves, plus a few loose papers.

I also gathered together all my unread genealogy publications. I have a backlog of issues of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, NGS Magazine and the Missouri State Genealogical Association Journal. I have a bad habit of putting these publications aside when they arrive in the mail. But I know that at the very least reading case studies can be useful, so I’d like to dig into them.

I have no idea what treasures or clues might be hiding among all that paper. So I’ve decided to focus on the paper until it’s gone. Starting today. Here’s my plan:

  • Review the loose paper first, spending 30 minutes a day processing it until it’s gone. That might mean discarding or scanning and processing like I do other documents I find online. Or it might mean simply reading and taking notes (in Evernote). Or it might be a simple case of not needing the paper any more. (I’m hoping for some no-brainer recycling in there.) In any case, my intention is to discard the paper after it’s digested. I’ll feel successful when all the paper is gone.
  • Once the papers have been dealt with. I’ll turn my attention to the journals. Again, I’ll spend 30 minutes a day. I imagine I’ll take notes in Evernote. And I won’t be too surprised if I end up keeping the publications on a bookshelf (but we’ll see).

Does anyone want to join me on dealing with a paper backlog in February?

 

How They Do It: Lisa Alzo

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It’s back! I’ve  turned my attention back to my How They Do It series and and delighted to present this interview with Lisa Alzo. Lisa is a genealogy writer, lecturer and researcher who is very popular on the genealogy speakers’ circuit–I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her speak on several occasions. Among the many topics Lisa writes and speaks about is organizing genealogy research, so naturally I’ve been drawn to her! Lisa is a specialist in eastern European genealogy and is the author of ten books, including The Family Tree Polish, Czech & Slovak Genealogy Guide and Baba’s Kitchen: Slovak and Rusyn Family Recipes and Traditions, 2nd edition. She’s also written numerous articles for genealogy magazines.

How They Do It - Lisa AlzoHow They Do It: Lisa Also

How long have you been doing genealogy? 

30 years

What’s your favorite thing about being a genealogist?

No matter how long you have been researching, or how many ancestors you have found, there is always someone or something new to discover.

What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to organizing your genealogy?

Filing papers/documents. I am trying to move into a more paperless system.

What is your favorite technology tool for genealogy?

Tie: Trello for organizing ideas and projects and Scrivener for writing family stories.

If you were starting out new as a genealogist what would you do differently?

Not start with a female ancestor (I began researching my maternal grandmother) because females are more challenging to trace.

Do you keep a research log? If so, what format?

Yes. I use an Excel spreadsheet.

How do you keep track of clues or ideas for further research?

I create research boards in Trello.

How do you go about sharing your personal research with cousins or other interested parties?

Through my articles and I wrote a book about my family, Three Slovak Women. I write the blog called The Accidental Genealogist (started in 2006).

What’s the most important thing you do to prepare for a research trip?

I use Finding Aids whenever available to learn what materials are available at a library or repository and the procedures for access.

What’s your biggest piece of advice to genealogists in terms of organizing their research?

Break the tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and find a system that works for you and stick with it.

Do you have a dedicated space in your home for doing genealogy research? What’s it like?

I have a home office because I am self-employed. But, because I travel so much to speak at conferences I often do a lot of my research on my MacBook Air – so my space is really my computer.

Do you have anything to add?

Genealogy is one part skill, one part persistence and one part serendipity. My genealogy motto is: Be serious about your research, but have fun doing it!

I absolutely love that genealogy motto! And I’m intrigued with her use of Trello, which I’m using more and more. Thank you, Lisa, for taking the time to share your insights. You can learn more about Lisa and her work at her website, LisaAlzo.com. Be sure and check out her blog, The Accidental Genealogist as well!

January 30 x 30 challenge: how’s it going?

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It’s January 15 already and it’s time to report in on our progress with the 30 x 30 challenge. Twenty people signed on for the challenge, which involves doing genealogy research (or organizing or whatever you choose to do) for 30 minutes a day every day for 30 days. I’d love to hear how it’s going! Have you been able to research every day? Have you missed some days but gone back to it? Have you given up? I’d love to know what you’ve accomplished and what benefits you’ve found to researching daily (or trying to research daily).

I’ll start! I have indeed managed to research every day. Over the weekend I even researched several hours each day (and blogged about how I lost my focus). It’s been so nice to make daily research a priority again. It makes me feel more connected with my research (and my ancestors). I haven’t made any startling breakthroughs, but I am giving Trello a whirl for keeping track of genealogy tasks and I look forward to writing a future post about how that is working out.

If you’re participating in the challenge (regardless of whether you officially said you were), please check in!

Giving myself permission to be unfocused

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It's okay to be unfocused sometimesI’ve been so focused on being focused that my brain rebelled this weekend. We had a foot of snow here in St. Louis and I wasn’t going anywhere. That meant I could spend more time than usual on my genealogy research. But I just couldn’t focus. I was all over the place.

I blogged last week about how my research log keeps me focused. This morning, I discovered that I was so scattered that I didn’t even write in my log yesterday! I was able to recall most of what I did and create a log entry after the fact. But today I was equally scattered in my session.

And you know what? I’ve decided that’s okay. I did write my next steps in my log and when I get back to it tomorrow morning (which will by necessity have to be a short session), I’m hoping to have more focus. I think it was somewhat beneficial for me to clamber all over my family tree this weekend. Here’s why:

  • I’d been starting to get frustrated at my inability to find some specific documents that would help prove that a grave marker I found on Find a Grave indeed belongs to my family members. Walls (brick or otherwise) aren’t fun.
  • I started thinking about other resources I have in my possession that would be helpful to review (rather than focusing on my online research).
  • I certainly didn’t suffer from tunnel vision this weekend!
  • I decided to give Trello a try for some genealogy to-dos, inspired by comments on the 30 x 30 challenge post from reader Jerry Hereford. (More on that when I’m able to give it a more focused try.)
  • It’s always good when I’m placed in the shoes of people who are asking for my organizing help (genealogy or otherwise). If you sometimes feel unfocused, please know that I can empathize!

So instead of considering my hours of genealogy research this weekend unproductive, I’m going to embrace my lack of focus. I’ll note the ideas and clues sparked by my trips down rabbit holes and let them inspire future research. I’m not going to beat myself up. I’ll just try get back to my focused self tomorrow.

Photo by Robin Spielmann on Unsplash