Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

New year, new 30 x 30 challenge

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Happy new year! I don’t know about you, but I love starting new habits at the beginning of the month. The beginning of the year is even better! So now seems like a great time to start a new 30 x 30 challenge.

The original intent of the challenge is to challenge yourself to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research for 30 days in a row. I’ve done probably a half dozen of these challenges over the last 2.5 years and the August 2017 one finally stuck. I’ve done research every single day since August 1.

The challenge doesn’t have to be for 30 minutes of  research. Perhaps it’s 30 minutes of genealogy organizing or scanning or whittling away at a backlog. Whatever type of genealogy-related work you’d like to do for 30 minutes a day is perfect for this challenge.

For me, I have a lot going on, so I’m sticking with the original 30 minutes of research. I want to set myself up for success.

Please comment below if you’d like to take on the challenge and let us know what you’ll be working on.

Join me for the What the Pros Know workshop!

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I was tickled pink to be asked by Family Tree University to host a workshop called What the Pros Know: Genealogy Organization Tips. In this one-hour workshop, which will start on January 29, I interview four prominent genealogy experts. Each interview will focus on a particular aspect of genealogy organization. It’s designed to provide some great practical tips that will help you make your genealogy more organized and streamlined.

The experts are:

  • Denise Levenick, on organizing family archives
  • Joshua Taylor, on time management and streamlining your research
  • Drew Smith, on organizing the research process and
  • Thomas MacEntee on using research logs

Also included in the workshop is the opportunity to ask questions in the workshop’s online forums; I will be on hand to answer them.

Click here to learn more and sign! [registration is closed]

Themes from 2017’s How They Do It series

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I spent an enjoyable hour or so going through all 12 of this year’s How They Do It interviews to see whether there were common themes that emerged among all the interviews. I wasn’t surprised to learn that there were!

Here are the 2017 participants (in chronological order), with links to their interviews:

There were a lot of commonalities among these successful genealogists. Most of them, for example, keep their data digitally, rather than on paper. Staying on top of paper was a bigger struggle than organizing digital files. Almost all wish they had crafted a source citation for all information when they first started out. (Don’t we all?) The thrill of the hunt, the problem solving, the discoveries and/or the connections were the favorite aspects of genealogy research with everyone.

The piece of advice that virtually everyone offered is no surprise. Cite your sources. Other themes that emerged include Keep a research log (and note unsuccessful searches as well as successful ones). Organize as you go — don’t let a backlog build up. Use an organizing system that works for you. And in order to avoid being overwhelmed, several of the interviewees suggested you focus on one line or one family at a time.

There was so much wisdom in these interviews that I don’t have space to quote them all. But here are some of my favorite quotes from the interviews:

My philosophy on organizing things right away is this: the more you put it off or delay it the more difficult it will be. That time spent reorganizing could be better spent researching for ancestors. Lack of organization basically squanders your precious time. (Thomas MacEntee)

I’ve learned that “getting organized” can become an all-consuming goal if we get stuck in the mindset of finding the “perfect” system or solution. I do better when I remind myself that progress is better than perfection; fix what isn’t working and move forward. (Denise Levenick)

The Internet is a bittersweet trap. You will never solve your tough genealogical problems by using only online sources. There is so much more out there that will never see the light of digitization. (Michael Lacopo)

I would encourage people not to make their systems too complicated. If another researcher or a family member ever has to go through your papers later and it isn’t clear how things are organized, that’s when research ends up getting tossed. Simple is good. (Amy Johnson Crow)

When we freely and openly share, family history becomes this truly collaborative environment that helps us make discoveries quicker and helps us be more accurate. (Crista Cowan)

In 2017, I basically asked the same questions of all interviewees. I’m thinking I should change up the questions for 2018. Help me out. What would you like to hear from the experts? And do you have folks you’d like me to interview for the series in 2018? Please share!

Do you have unread resources on your hard drive?

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Earlier today, I was entering my PayPal transactions into my financial software and I saw that I had purchased a document from Sassy Jane Genealogy last month that I had not read and don’t even remember purchasing. So I looked in my Mac’s Finder to see what I’d downloaded from that website and saw that it was a pdf called Ten Skills Every Genealogist Needs. That sounds fantastic! I can’t wait to read it.

I knew there were doubtless other forgotten documents on my hard drive, so I created a notebook in Evernote called Downloaded items to read/watch NOW and put it in my genealogy stack. Then I went on a hunt for other unread or underutilized resources hanging around on my computer. I bought them with the best of intentions and then moved on to the next shiny object.

I found digital copies of Family Tree Magazine. At least one webinar I haven’t watched. A research guide to Kentucky research. Another Sassy Jane Genealogy guide. And I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface!

In these next couple of low-key weeks, I’m going to try to actually read or watch these valuable resources. And I vow to do a better job of keeping track of what I buy/download. Evernote should be my friend with this.

How about you? Do you have any learning resources you’ve downloaded but forgotten about? Happy hunting!