Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Shifting my focus

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My strategy for focusing my genealogy efforts in 2014Looking back at May, I realize that I wasn’t able to research a whole lot. Life got very hectic in the middle of the month when my husband was in a bad car accident that left him unharmed but his car very harmed. It was a total loss and we had to shop for a new car, which is always surprisingly time consuming. Between that and his negotiating for and accepting a new job, I probably went two weeks without doing any genealogy research.

I love doing daily research, so this made me feel really disconnected from my ancestors. Over Memorial Day weekend, I got back into it, thank goodness. I went to my research log and was reminded that I’d been transcribing deeds recently.

I’m here to tell you that transcribing deeds isn’t my idea of a great time. Which is probably why I didn’t get an itch to research when other priorities took over. So I shook things up a little, just to make things more interesting.

I’ve been researching my Adams family line for the last 16 months. Desperate to get away from deed transcribing, I poked around on Ancestry and took a look at the small family tree of my first cousin (my father’s sister’s daughter). She had the parents of our great grandmother listed (though not sourced). I took that clue and ran with it. I found conflicting evidence and I have not yet resolved who my second great grandparents are, but I’m all energized by the possibilities. I enjoyed the digging and the problem solving.

I think that I will shift my genealogy focus from my father’s paternal Adams line to his maternal line, the Rascos, at the end of the quarter (or perhaps before). I’m feeling the need to explore some fresh names.

I loved being focused on the Adamses for so long because I was able to remember who was who and it kept clarity in my research. But after more than a year with them, I’m taking the blinders off and shifting to the Rascos. I’ll stay focused, just on something else. That feels good and exciting to me.

How about you? Do you focus on a specific family group or line in a single session, month or quarter? Or do you like to mix it up?

How They Do It: Paula Stuart-Warren

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This month’s How They Do It entry is from Paula Stuart-Warren, certified genealogist and well-known genealogy lecturer, instructor and blogger. She is a long-time course coordinator and instructor for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. She has presented courses for Ancestry Academy, Family Tree University, and continues to present seminars all across the U.S. and in Canada.

I had a lovely time interviewing Paula for the What the Pros Know workshop I’m hosting for Family Tree University. I was delighted when she agreed to answer my How They Do It questions!

How They Do It: Paula Stuart-Warren

How They Do It: Paula Stuart-Warren

How long have you been doing genealogy?

I began working on family history a bit in 1977 when my oldest son had one of those magic school assignments that you are supposed to complete in a weekend. I was intrigued when my late father-in-law insisted his mother’s maiden name was Warren and I said that was her married name. Guess what! He was correct. His parents were first cousins, once removed. The biggest impetus was taking community college courses on Minnesota and local history. The professor provided much help for tracing a business owned by my maternal great grandaunts. A few years later I took a beginning genealogy course for adults at a nearby university. It gave me a great foundation. I was hooked.

What’s your favorite thing about being a genealogist?

The investigation and the answers. I can’t stop. I need the answers. Then there
are the people I have met in the state genealogical society and at seminars, institutes, and conferences across the country when I do presentations.

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

Making myself do it continually. I have small families so that part is not difficult. My best decision was to label one box “Dad’s Family” and another “Mom’s Family.” Then I can add new finds to that box and file properly later when I have time. I have less trouble downloading items directly into the appropriate file on my computer! For my research clients, I really do a better job. Why??

What is your favorite technology tool for genealogy?

It’s actually my laptop computer because I can take it everywhere and work from anywhere. It’s truly an extension of my brain.

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

I would do a better job of citing where I found information. I didn’t do a horrible job because I learned well at the beginning, but I am far from perfect.

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

I did that at one time and made my own with more space for citations and remarks. Today I do personal reports, the same way I do for clients.

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

I have lists in “to do” folders in my computer that are labeled by research repository and then divided by family or type of record. The repository or website set up determines how I structure my lists. I have begun to use Evernote for some.

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

I am now adding to my bare bones trees on some websites, provide material when they ask, do some personal stuff on my own blog, and I have shared special things at Christmas. I have had them open up a big envelope all at the same time.

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

Thoroughly scour the websites of convention and visitor bureaus but most importantly do the same for the courthouse, library or archive I will be visiting.

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

Set up an appointment to do sorting and filing and KEEP that appointment. Once a week? Once a month?

Paula Stuart-Warren's genealogy space

Paula’s genealogy den

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

I have a small den, but my computer and I are more likely to be found in the living room where there are nice big windows that add great light.

Do you have anything to add?

Bring in a friend, neighbor, aunt, or fellow genealogist and have them give you an outsider’s opinion on your work area. My daughter is great at this.

I love the idea of setting up (and keeping) an appointment with yourself to work on organizing your genealogy research. And, like Paula, my favorite tech tool for genealogy is my laptop. I take it with me wherever I research.

You can read more of Paula’s genealogy wisdom on her blog, Genealogy by Paula. Thank you so much for partcipating, Paula! 

A time-saving addition to my digital workflow

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I’ve posted before about how I process documents that I download from online sources. In an ideal world, I follow my workflow from start to finish as soon as I download a document. But in the real world, it’s not unusual for me to run out of time to process the document immediately. (By “process” I mean, create a source, extract facts, add those facts to my genealogy software and properly file the document on my hard drive). That’s an inevitable outcome in researching in short, frequent sessions, as I do.

When I download a document, without fail I rename the file using my file-naming protocol (Year Document Type-Ancestor Name-Location) and file it in my Surnames folder. But all too often I don’t have time to properly process it and the document languishes in the Surnames holding pen until I do have time.

Today, I added a small item to my digital workflow. As soon as I download a document and rename it, I right-click on the file in my Mac’s Finder, select Get Info, then in the Comments section, I paste the URL of where I found the document. That way, if I need more information to create a source, it’s simple for me to get back to the online source. Per my workflow, once the source citation is created, I replace the URL in the Comments area with the citation itself (which includes the URL).

It’s a small thing, but I know this is going to save me time in finding the document online again. And it will reduce aggravation. Sometimes little things can make a big difference!

For more in-depth information on going digital with your genealogy research, check out The Paperless Genealogy Guide, a 44-page downloadable guide written by paperless expert Brooks Duncan and me and available for $9.

April 30 x 30 wrap up

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It’s May 1, which means that the April 30 x 30 challenge ended yesterday. How did it go for you?

My month went well, though I missed three days. I was going along just fine until I left town for a conference for professional organizers. I just plain forgot to do research one day! Another day, while at the conference, I started to do research, but my heart wasn’t in it. And then yesterday, my first day home, was hectic and I didn’t manage to do any research.

So I researched (or organized) 27 out of 30 days. I’m okay with that.

One thing I noticed, as I have before, is that I’m best off if I work on my genealogy in the morning, preferably before I walk my dog. If I leave it until the end of the day, I’m sometimes too tired or unmotivated.

Another thing that happened is that I started feeling overwhelmed by my backlog of downloaded documents to be processed. Some were deeds that I’d found on microfilm at the Family History Library and copied to a flash drive. Typically, the unprocessed files hang out in my Surnames folder, as loose files. Since they all start with a date, they rise to the top, above the individual surname folders.

So many deeds had accumulated (I counted 29!) that I was overwhelmed. I created a folder called *Deeds to be processed. (The asterisk puts the folder above the surname folders.) I moved all the deeds into that folder, then moved one at a time out of that folder, so that it was in the usual place for my backlog of documents. A deed stayed there until I finished transcribing it and extracting information. Then I moved the deed and its transcription to the appropriate person folder. (You can read more about my digital workflow…the point of all this is that I created a temporary folder to corral the deeds that were overwhelming me.)

I’m trying hard not to do new research until my backlog is finished. The deeds are a little tedious but they’re providing some great insights, so I’m grateful to be working on them.

Enough about me. If you participated in the 30 x 30 challenge, how did it go? If you didn’t participate or had to cut out early, rest assured I’ll be having another one before too long.