Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Help others (and yourself) by indexing

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When the self-isolation around the COVID-19 crisis started, I jotted down some things I might do to occupy my time. I was inspired at RootsTech to volunteer to index once again for Family Search (I hadn’t done it since the 2017 Worldwide Indexing Event) so I added indexing to my list. This past week, I gave it a try.

Family Search makes it so easy to volunteer to index. I logged in, selected Indexing from the top menu bar, then Find a Project. I focused on the United States (there are plenty of opportunities in other countries as well), then selected “US, Michigan–Naturalization Records, 1837-1933.” I did a thorough reading of the instructions and indexed a batch. I only did it for a short while that day, but I plan to go back to it this weekend.

If you’re getting a little tired of your own research, this might be a nice change of pace. As someone who has benefited from the volunteer indexing efforts of others, it feels nice to contribute. And here’s a bonus: Indexing might make you a better researcher!

More time for genealogy?

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If you’re staying home 24/7 right now, all this time at home might be a boon for your genealogy research. But I have to admit it hasn’t really benefited mine, not yet anyway. I’m feeling a little untethered without work appointments providing structure to my day. I’m trying to make the best of the situation by accomplishing some of the tasks and projects for my organizing business that I felt I didn’t have time for in the past. As a result, I’m feeling disconnected from my genealogy research. I hate that feeling.

But what I’m trying to do to regain the spark and connection to my research is spend some of my free time on the many learning opportunities available to me from my computer. There’s a lot from which to choose, some free and some paid. In case it’s helpful to you, I’ll list some of the resources I’m choosing among:

I’m easily overwhelmed by choices, so I’m not even considering the many learning resources I’ve downloaded over the years that are waiting to be read or viewed.

How about you? Are you using your extra home time to do more research or learn more about researching?

Hiring a professional genealogist

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Every now and then I hear from someone who is interested in hiring a professional genealogist. I’m not one (though I do offer professional genealogy-organizing services) and I usually point those inquirers to the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) to find a genealogy consultant. I definitely stand by that method.

At RootsTech, I became aware of another way to approach finding a professional genealogist: Trace.com. They’re middle men between professional genealogists and and people who need those services. (According to their FAQ page, they started as AncestorCloud, then acquired Genealogists.com and then created Trace.com)

If you have a need for a genealogist, you pay a deposit to Trace and describe your research question. The folks at Trace flesh out the question to create a project. They then contact researchers in their network of 4,000 researchers in 90 countries (who are contractors, not employees) and request proposals. They screen the proposals before sending them to you. You select one of the proposals and Trace manages the project. The company says they are “on a mission to make genealogy research accessible and affordable.” As someone who is easily overwhelmed by choices, I can see how their service would make hiring a genealogist feel easier.

At RootsTech, I had a chance to try them out. Trace was offering free 30-minute coaching sessions with their genealogists. I signed up in advance of the conference was asked to present a research question. I decided to ask for help tracing the whereabouts of my second great grandfather, George Washington Adams, between the time his second wife left him in 1919 (according to divorce papers) and his entry into the Old Soldiers Home in 1922. I have not been able to find him on the 1920 census and it’s been driving me crazy.

My genealogist, Aimee, was not able to answer the question (nor would I expect her to in 30 minutes) but she did give me some avenues for exploration that I hadn’t thought of. It was definitely time well spent. And it gave me a little taste of the service. I quizzed Aimee a bit about Trace and learned that she was very happy working with them.

If you’re interested in hiring a professional genealogist, you might look into Trace as well as consulting the APG website.

 

 

Making the most of RootsTech

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RootsTech 2020–the giant genealogy conference in Salt Lake City sponsored by Family Search–starts this morning! I’m attending this year and I learned at a reception for speakers last night that 14,000 people have registered and on Saturday (Family Discovery Day) they’re expecting 24,000!

This is my fifth RootsTech conference. I also attended in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 and this is my second as a presenter. (I spoke at the 2017 conference.) I really enjoy RootsTech because of the great keynote speeches, the over 300 classes offered and the opportunity to learn about new services and products in the Expo. I also like meeting up with blog readers and doing research at the Family History Library while I’m in Salt Lake.

As much as I love RootsTech, I have to admit that it is exhausting. I’m not much for crowds, so I have to be sure and schedule down time during the conference. I went to bed really early last night–self care is especially important here. I’m giving my session, “The Imperfect Genealogist” at 3 pm on Friday, so naturally I’m a little keyed up about that. So good self care for me will be daily rehearsals in my hotel room to keep me confident.

The folks who organize RootsTech have created RootsTech 2020 Survival Guide. If you’re going, I encourage you to check it out. Here are a few things to do right away if you haven’t already:

  • Download the RootsTech app (or update it if it’s already on your phone from a previous year)
  • Select the classes you think you’ll want to take
  • You might enjoy watching the Road to RootsTech video series, which shows behind-the-scenes peek at the planning for the event.
  • If you’re a paper person, you might appreciate the printed RootsTech Conference Guide you can pick up at the conference. You can peek at an online version here.

Some of the conference will be available online to people who can’t attend in person (as well as those who can).

  • Free Live Stream. Each day of the conference five or six sessions will be streamed live, free of charge. Just go to www.rootstech.org to watch. Note that the livestreams from previous years are also available!
  • This year, they’re offering a Virtual Pass for $129 that gives you access to 30 classes for a full year after the conference, starting 10-15 days after it ends. (If you’re attending RootsTech in person, you can buy the Virtual Pass as an add on to your conference registration for $79.) I’m really excited to have the Virtual Pass because it helps me narrow down which class to attend each session. (I’ll skip the ones I can catch online.)

If you’re going, I hope you have an amazing time. This conference is an organizational marvel and the way the organizers have handled the speakers has been top notch. Feel free to reach out to me via the Contact form if you’re at RootsTech and would like to meet up.