Organize Your Family History

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Find genealogy files on your computer with metadata

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Brown family, before trip to Nebraska, 1922Brown family, before trip to Nebraska, 1922AJ Brown meat marketAs I mentioned in my last blog post, being able to easily access my genealogy research findings is critical to me. I’m creating a reasonable file structure on my hard drive, but I can’t put a ton of information about a document in the file name. Happily, there’s a way I can find all the documents or photographs pertaining to one thing (like a location or a surname) and that’s by tagging my files with metadata.

When I went to RootsTech last month, I heard a couple of talks on metadata (one Mac focused, one PC focused). So I know more than I did  before the conference, but I’m certainly no expert. Here’s a brief primer on metadata, with links to more in-depth information.

What is metadata?

The word metadata literally means “data about data.” So it’s information about what’s in a file or a photo. Think about a caption with info scribbled beneath is or on the back, saying who is in the picture, where it was taken, and when. That’s metadata. You can attach the same sort of information to your digital photos and scans, embedded in the file, without marring the photo.

If you’re familiar with tagging a document with keywords in Evernote or Springpad, you’ll understand the concept. Think also how you tag people in photographs in Facebook. Just use terms you can imagine searching on.

How do you add metadata?

Very generally, you add metadata by right-clicking on a file within the Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, then clicking on Properties (Windows) or Get Info (Mac). On a Windows machine, you’d then click on Properties, then on the third tab, Details. You’ll see a form you can fill in with varying types of data. On a Mac, it’s a little more free form. After clicking Get Info, you fill in the tags you want in the Spotlight Comments section at the top of the info window. Use a semicolon to separate tags.

You can also download software specifically for adding metadata. I need to research that more for my own files. I do know that I want to keep this as simple as possible.

Why bother using metadata?

Even in the most organized file structure, you can only fit so many characters in a file name. And long file names can become unwieldy. Embedding metadata allows you to easily find the files you’re looking for, even if the search terms aren’t those you’d put in a filename. Also, the information stays with the file when you share it. The photo above, of my great grandfather’s meat market in Nebraska, has no metadata attached to it, except that the name of the cousin who sent it to me. I have many photos like that and I hope to make them more meaningful by embedding metadata.

How can you learn more about metadata?

I know I’m not giving you a whole lot of information here, partly because I use a Mac and don’t have a Windows machine at my fingertips to test things on.  Here are some online resources to help you get started.

My goal with this post was to make you aware of the concept and the utility of metadata and urge you to consider tagging your documents. Don’t worry about being perfect. Any data you add will be helpful.

NGS conference offering live streaming

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Live streaming at the NGS conferenceI’m not going to be able to make it to the National Genealogical Society annual conference this year; my husband’s birthday falls during it. So I was delighted to see that NGS is offering, for the first time, live streaming of ten of its lectures (for a fee).

Interested genealogy researchers who can’t attend the conference (to be held in Richmond, Virginia, May 7 to 10, 2014) can sign up  to watch broadcasts of one or two tracks. Track One is Records and Research Techniques. Track Two is Virginia Resources and Migration Patterns. The charge is $65 (members) or $80 (non-members) for either of the tracks and $115 (members) or $140 (non-members) for both of the tracks

Once you register for streaming, you can watch the events live or view them at any time during the subsequent 90 days. You’ll also receive an electronic version of the conference’s syllabus.

People who are actually attending the conference may also register for the streaming, in case they want to watch these talks from home after the conference.

For complete information and registration details, visit the NGS website. Registration for streaming closes on April 30.

 

 

Getting through the dull jobs

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Getting the boring genealogy tasks doneBeing a professional organizer, I actually love  organizing my family history research. (Usually.) But I certainly understand that for most people it’s not the most exciting or glamorous aspect of doing genealogy research.

A week ago, in my mid-quarter progress report, I realized that I was falling behind on the organizing goals I’d set in my big plan for this year. I decided I would focus on marrying my electronic and paper files, making sure that my direct ancestors’ siblings were included in my Reunion software, and ensuring that my electronic files were in their proper folders.

I thought that was a great plan for spending my genealogy research time over the next few weeks. But the problem, I discovered, is that it’s also a bit tedious and boring. What I really want to do is research, not just focus on playing organizational catch up.

So I used a technique I use all the time for other tedious tasks and what I advise clients to do: I set a timer. I told myself that for 15 minutes I would work on making sure the contents of my paper file on Elmer Adams and Hattie Igleheart Adams were on my hard drive in the appropriate place. Just knowing it would be only 15 minutes was enough to get me started. (As Flylady says, you can do anything for 15 minutes.)

Here’s what’s great. In the course of looking over the 1900 census document for Elmer and Hattie that I’d printed years ago, I noticed something I hadn’t noticed then: a baby named Elmer E. Adams, aged 6 months. And I noticed that Hattie had had another child who had not survived. That means there are two children of Elmer and Hattie (both born and died before my grandfather, their son, was born in 1904) who I hadn’t included on my family tree.

So that’s a tantalizing tidbit to explore. I did hop over to Ancestry to see if I could find any more info–there was one unsourced tree with these two children included. I recorded the information in my research tracker so that I could remember to try to find a source later.

So I feel like a big winner this afternoon. Using my timer, I made progress on getting the less exciting work done and in the course of it, I made an exciting little discovery.

If you dread the thought of organizing your family history documents, perhaps you can set a timer and just get started for a little while. I know I’ll get through this if I do a little every day!

Two new-to-me resources: Power Your Genealogy Research with Technology Flipboard Magazine & 4YourFamilyStory.com

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flipboardmagazineToday for some reason I googled “Flipboard for genealogy.” Flipboard is the iPad app that creates beautiful magazines on your iPad (or other tablet, I believe). I don’t really have my mind wrapped around it completely (and when I do, I’ll write about it here, I promise), but the top hit in my google search was Power Your Genealogy Research with Technology, a Flipboard Magazine put together by Caroline Pointer. It pulls together various articles and blog posts related to genealogy. Flipboard is a really enjoyable way to experience the web. You can access it from your mobile device on the Flipboard app, but you can also access it on your computer via the web.

One frequent source of information on the magazine was 4YourFamilyStory.com.  Each day, 4YourFamilyStory.com’s blog creates a list of X number of genealogy things you need to know this morning (might be six, might be seven, whatever that day brings).

The listings include what’s added to various online databases that day and links to interesting genealogy-related articles. Everything is timely and clearly presented. I really feel like I’ve stumbled upon a treasure trove!

The discovery of these two new-to-me resources will prove to be valuable when I’m trying to think about what to write about and what to research. I thought you might enjoy learning about them too.