Organize Your Family History

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Some RootsTech sessions available to watch on demand

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If you weren’t able to attend RootsTech or watch the Live Stream of certain RootsTech sessions, you now have the chance to watch most of those sessions on demand (and a few more). I was disappointed to see that LeVar Burton’s Friday keynote isn’t available. It was a terrific speech that was very moving.

RootsTech has made it easy to click and watch the videos. Here’s the list. (Click on the day name to get access to the videos for that day.) There are a few I wasn’t able to attend that I plan to watch!

Wednesday, February 8

Innovator Summit General Session (Full session or individual speeches)
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Liz Wiseman

Industry Trends and Outlook panel
Speakers: Ben Bennett; Craig Bott, Grow Utah; Heather Holmes, TapGenes; Nick Jones, JRNL, Inc.; Robert Kehrer, FamilySearch

Innovation—Best Practices and Applications
Speaker: Cydni Tetro

Innovator Showdown Semi-Final
Speakers: Innovator Showdown Semi-Finalists

Metadata—Writing on the Back of Digital Photos
Speaker: Alison Taylor, Pictures and Stories

Thursday, February 9

RootsTech General Session (full session and individual keynotes)
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Jonathan and Drew Scott, Steve Rockwood & MyHeritage

Getting Started in Genealogy
Speaker: Kelli Bergheimer

DNA: The Glue That Holds Families Together
Speaker: Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide

DNA Matching on MyHeritage
Speaker: Dana Drutman

Jewish Genealogy: Where to Look and What’s Available
Speaker: Lara Diamond

My Ancestors are in My DNA!
Speaker: Angie Bush

Family History Is Anything but Boring
Speakers: Crystal Farish and Rhonna Farrer

Friday, February 10

RootsTech General Session: African Heritage presentations
Speakers: Kenyatta Berry, Sherri Camp, Melvin Collier

Innovator Showdown Finals
Speakers: Jason Hewlett & Innovator Showdown Finalists

Mothers, Daughters, Wives: Tracing Female Lines
Speaker: Judy G. Russell

Censational Census Strategies
Speaker: Mary Kircher Roddy

Next Steps in British Research
Speaker: Amy Harris

Big 4: Comparing Ancestry, findmypast, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage
Speaker: Sunny Morton

You Found It Where? Unusual Records
Speakers: Rorey Cathcart, D. Joshua Taylor, Rich Venezia

Cross the Atlantic with Religious Records
Speaker: Jen Baldwin

How to Preserve Your Family Heirlooms
Speakers: Anna Graff, Jennifer Hadley, Katie Smith, Andrew Thomas, Tyler Thorsted

Saturday, February 11

RootsTech General Session (full session and individual keynotes)
Speakers: Cece Moore, Buddy Valastro

Journaling Principles That Work
Speaker: Steve Reed, JRNL, Inc.

Don’t Just Be a Searcher, Be a Researcher
Speaker: Crista Cowan, Ancestry

Creating Google Alerts for Your Genealogy
Speaker: Katherine R. Willson

RootsTech’s livestream schedule

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RootsTech has announced its schedule of sessions being streamed from next week’s conference. If you can’t make it to Salt Lake City, you can at least watch some of the keynotes and breakout sessions. (Alas, my session on Friday morning, Go Paperless: Digitize & Streamline Your Research, isn’t one of them.)

Here’s the schedule. The sessions will be streamed live on the RootsTech homepage and then afterward recordings will be posted on the website for a limited time.

Visit the Sessions page on the RootsTech website for descriptions of each of these sessions.

Wednesday, February 8

9:00 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | Innovator Summit General Session
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Liz Wiseman

10:15 a.m.–11:15 a.m. | Industry Trends and Outlook
Speakers: Craig Bott and Guest Panel

11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Innovation—Best Practices and Applications
Speaker: Cydni Tetro

Thursday, February 9

8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Steve Rockwood, Jonathan and Drew Scott

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Getting Started in Genealogy
Speaker: Kelli Bergheimer

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m. | DNA: The Glue That Holds Families Together
Speaker: Diahan Southard

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | DNA Matching on MyHeritage
Speaker: Dana Drutman

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Jewish Genealogy: Where to Look and What’s Available
Speaker: Lara Diamond

4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Family History Is Anything but Boring
Speakers: Crystal Farish and Rhonna Farrer

Friday, February 10

8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Levar Burton, Special Guest Panel

10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. | RootsTech Innovator Showdown Finals

12:15 p.m.–1:15 p.m. | Mothers, Daughters, Wives: tracing Female Lines
Speaker: Judy Russell

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Censational Census Strategies
Speaker: Mary Kircher Roddy

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Big 4: Comparing Ancestry, findmypast, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage
Speaker: Sunny Morton

4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. | Cross the Atlantic with Religious Records
Speaker: Jen Baldwin

Saturday, February 11

8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m. | RootsTech General Session
Speakers: Cece Moore, Buddy Valastro

11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. | Journaling Principles That Work
Speaker: Steve Reed

1:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. | Don’t Just Be a Searcher, Be a Researcher
Speaker: Crista Cowan

3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Creating Google Alerts for Your Genealogy
Speaker: Katherine R. Wilson

That’s a lot of free information! I hope you can take advantage of it.

Using a calendar to introduce variety in your research

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Over on the Genealogy Research Loggers Facebook group, member Laura Aanenson posted her 2017 research plan and the brilliant method she uses to select the ancestor to research each session. I thought it was a such a great idea I asked her permission to write about it here.

She uses Family Tree Maker software that has a calendar function. Each day the calendar shows her the names of the ancestors who were born, died or married that day. Each session, she focuses on the ancestors that are listed that day, filling in blanks, answering questions and carefully logging her research, including her observations and further areas for investigation.

Laura wrote, “I find if I concentrate on just one branch of my tree, the others get neglected and I miss opportunities to connect with prospective cousins. My calendar-based log helps me turn nearly every leaf in my tree several times a year and move everyone at least one step forward.”

I find myself really excited by the idea, despite the fact that my 2017 research plan has me focusing me on a single line all year (and so far this year, I’ve just been working on one couple). I’m enjoying the focus, so I’m going to stick with it. But what I love about Laura’s method is the unpredictability of which ancestor will be researched each session. I think that makes everything more fun and exciting!

I imagine many family tree software programs have the calendar function. I checked Reunion, the software I use, and there is a calendar function I could use for this purpose, though it’s a little clunkier than what Laura is describing.

Feel free to join us at Genealogy Research Loggers if you’d like to learn other great ideas like these!

Creating a research log habit

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Creating a research log habitI’ve been doing genealogy research long enough to know the value of keeping a research log. Yet I really resist it. I’m not sure why and it’s driving me a little crazy. I was thinking about it this morning as I was walking my dog and I vowed to amend my 2017 genealogy goals to add this important goal:

  • Create a habit of logging each research session

I think one of the reasons I’ve resisted using a log is that I find myself a little intimidated by complicated spreadsheets. The research log created and shared by Thomas MacEntee is a thing of beauty. Used regularly and properly it would elevate anyone’s research. Yet the idea of filling it out is just too much for me. And so I’ve been very hit or miss on writing down what I’m researching.

On my walk this morning, it hit me that a research log is like any organizing system: The very best one is the one you will use. It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing. There’s no right way to do it. The important thing is to just do something.

When I got home, I mindmapped what a simple research log I might create for myself would look like. Then I looked back at my previous attempts, all in Evernote, and I realize I actually have something in place that I can just pick up and start using again.

Back in late 2013, I partnered with the personal organizer app Springpad (RIP Springpad!) and created a Family History Organizer custom notebook. Part of it was research tracker template, a very simple form to track what you’ve done in each session. A Research Log Lite, if you will. I think I never felt my research tracker template was good enough to qualify as a research log and I didn’t fully commit to it. (I’ve blogged about my attempts.) But now I feel that if I use it regularly, I’ll actually have a nice body of knowledge. I’m going for it.

Today’s the first day of a new focus on keeping a research log. I created a 2017 Research Log notebook in Evernote, which is my preferred place to keep track of information (genealogy-wise and otherwise). I revised the original research tracker template a little and placed in my 2017 Research Log Notebook. (That’s the template, in its entirety, up in the top of this post. Click on the image to see it larger.)

I created my first note in the notebook, titling the note with today’s date and the names of the ancestors I researched. I copied the template into the note and filled it out. I tagged it with the ancestor’s surname (Adams) and created an “Adams RL tag”, so I can easily pull up all my research log notes about the Adamses.  I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful habit.

Bonus! I made the research tracker template, public, so you can add it to your own Evernote account if you want to give it a try.  Just click on the link and it should open up in Evernote for you. (I’m a novice at public Evernote notes, so if it doesn’t work for you, please let me know and I’ll figure it out.)

I’m always excited about creating new habits in the new year; I hope to be reporting here that it’s become ingrained!

I’m curious: Do you keep a research log? If so, in what format?