Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

My digital workflow

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Digital workflow for genealogyWhen Brooks Duncan and I spoke at RootsTech last month about going digital with genealogy research, it became apparent to me from the questions that digital workflow is an individual thing. I’ve developed a work flow that works well for me, so I thought I’d share it here. I’m not suggesting I do things The Right Way (I don’t know if there is a right way, especially for hobbyists), but I wanted to show you what works for me. I know that I love seeing examples of how people handle their own workflow, so in the spirit of sharing, here’s mine.

When I find a digital document online–let’s say it’s a census document that I found at Ancestry–I take the following steps after ascertaining that it’s pertinent to my research:

  1. I click Save to download the document to my computer’s desktop.
  2. I rename the file immediately so that it reflects my simple file-naming protocol (year document type-ancestor name-location).
  3. I immediately file the document in my file structure (Genealogy/Surnames/[Ancestor’s surname]/[Ancestor’s name]
  4. I analyze the document and enter the first fact into my Reunion software.
  5. I create a source for that fact, using Reunion’s templates.
  6. I drag the image of the file into the Multimedia section of the Reunion source screen for that source. (That’s an example of the Reunion source screen at the top of this post.)
  7. I enter all other facts I find in the document into Reunion, using the same source number for each fact I find in that document.
  8. I click Preview in the Reunion source screen for that source and copy the citation and paste it into the metadata of the image file on my hard drive.

I added that last step after RootsTech, adapting a suggestion made by an audience member at our talk. I hadn’t thought about noting on the image what the source number and citation is. I think it’s a great idea and now I intend to go to back and do that for all my sources.

This eight-step work flow takes me from discovery through processing the document. It means that I don’t have stray documents on my hard drive with nonsensical file means. It also means I can easily a find a document when I want to. And it helps me see what documents are missing. Having the confidence that I can find a document I’ve saved allows me to feel good about not printing it, which cuts down on my paper clutter. (And, yes, I backup my hard drive daily, both to the cloud and to an external hard drive.) This workflow was about five years in the making, but I’m very satisfied with it!

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 Brooks and me and available for $9.

How important are formal citations?

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I may be opening up a can of worms here, but a conversation in the comments of my post about accountability for research logs has me pondering the question again.

How important is it for the hobbyist genealogist to use properly formatted citations?

(Please understand that my question is about the format of source citations, not about whether we should cite sources. I absolutely believe every fact should be backed up by at least one source.)

I think many folks would agree that Elizabeth Shown Mills’ book Evidence Explained is the gold standard source citations. I own Evidence Explained and I do consult it occasionally. But generally I relax the rules for myself. I make sure that my citations would allow me to find the source again and I typically use the citation templates found in my Reunion software.

Basically, I want to make sure that it’s easy to cite sources so that I always cite them. If I’m hung on doing it right, I may put off citing the source, which does not do me any good.  So, for example, I used templates in Reunion to create this census citation, associated with a fact in the record of my 3d great grandparents, Joseph and Mary Price:

“1870 U.S. Census,” Pleasant Gap, Bates, Missouri, 25 Jun 1870, Ancestry.com, 4 April 2014.

The 1870 date is the date the census was taken, and the 2014 date is the date I first viewed it. If I needed to find it again, I think I could.

So I’m curious: what do you do? Do you use formal citations are are you more casual? If you don’t use Evidence Explained, do you have another source you swear by?

If you think I’m making a mistake by not being more formal, feel free to tell me!

Checking my sources

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Verifying my sourcesThis year I’ve been having the hardest time figuring out what I want to focus on in my genealogy research sessions. I think part of the problem is that I’ve also had trouble finding time to research, so it’s been more sporadic. And when I do have time, then I don’t know what to work on.

A couple of years ago, I tried focusing on a different line each quarter. That was successful, but this year I’m not researching frequently enough to make that work. Last year, I was really focused on processing and transcribing my ancestors’ Civil War pension files. That was great too, but I’m wanting to mix it up a bit more these days.

I know I need to figure out what I want to focus on during my week at the Allen County Library in August, which means that I feel the need to revisit my ancestors and remind myself of my mysteries.

So I lit on a strategy that, for the moment anyway, is working well for me. (And I also came up with a strategy that’s allowing me to research more frequently–more on that in the next post.) Here’s what I’m doing:

I’m going through all my sources in the Reunion family-tree software, checking the format, and attaching an image of the source to the source entry.

I exported the list of my 300 sources as an rtf file then opened the file in Evernote. I made the type big enough to read easily, then turned it one long bullet list with checkboxes for bullets. One by one, I’m going down the list and looking at each source and at the document that goes with the source. I’m checking the usage of the source. I attach the document as a multimedia file (leaving it on my hard drive in its folder, organized by surname and individual).  I’m getting reacquainted with my ancestors. And it’s been really fun.

I’m seeing several benefits to this process:

  • I know exactly where to start when I sit down to do research.
  • I’m cleaning up some formatting issues, since I became better at source documentation over time (so I’ve been able to make entries more consistent).
  • I’m making a list of things to investigate further, which will be helpful in planning my research trip.
  • I’m finding things I missed in the source documents the first time around.
  • I’m making new discoveries as I go along.
  • I get to work on a variety of ancestors every day, which suits me these days.
  • I see tangible progress every session.
  • I can make progress in just a few minutes, which is great when I don’t have a lot of time to research.
  • I’ve found that some electronic files had not been filed correctly and I’ve been able to refile them.
  • I end up with a wonderfully organized source list.
  • It’s systematic and enjoyable. I love checking off the box when I’m finished with that source!

If I wanted to focus on the sources of a single family, Reunion makes that easy for me. (I just click on “Family” rather than “All” in the sources list.) But for me, right now, mixing up the families by checking the sources in the order in which I entered them is working out nicely.

So far, I’ve checked off 20 of my now-306 sources. (I’ve made a few discoveries in the process, so I’ve added a few sources.) I’ve been doing a little a day for the last five days or so. Clearly it’s not fast work (though it may get faster as my sourcing gets better). But it’s beneficial and enjoyable. Hooray!

Letting go of should

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shouldgraphicIt’s natural to ask about questions about organizing (your genealogy or anything else) that start with the word “should.” Should I organize my documents this way or that way? Should I store things here or there? Should I focus on this or that?

When I try to answer a question that starts with should, the answer is almost always, “It depends.” Because it’s all about what will work for you.

I encourage my clients (and anyone else who will listen to me) to let go of the word should. And to also let go of asking questions that start with, “What’s the right way to…” or What’s the best way to….”

Because here’s the thing: I can’t tell you what you should do. Only you know what’s right for you. It can be much more beneficial to think in terms of what you’d like to do, or what you think will work best for you, rather than what you should do. Especially when it comes to organizing your genealogy research, the thing you should do (in my opinion) is the thing that works well for you and that you can keep up.

For example:

  • Maybe you’ve always heard that you should store your paper documents in binders, but you have trouble keeping up with that. Let go of that should and consider using file folders or scanning your documents.
  • Maybe you think you should print every document for the sake of posterity but you’re overrun with unfiled paper. You can let go of that should, particularly if your electronic documents are already organized.
  • Conversely, maybe you’ve heard you should scan every bit of paper and store files electronically, but you’re overwhelmed by the prospect. Bye bye, should. You can let your paper files be sufficient. Or just start storing new files electronically and leaving your papers unscanned.
  • Maybe you’re told you should keep a research log, but you just can’t get yourself to do it. A research log can be hugely beneficial. But don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have one just because you think you should.

In other words, set yourself up for success and do what works for you. Decide what your priorities are (accessibility for you, accessibility for others, ease of use, etc.) and focus your organizing systems on those priorities. Don’t do something just because someone told you you should if it doesn’t seem like it will work for you.

All that said, there are some genealogy shoulds that I think you should pay attention to:

  • You should cite your sources so you can find them again and know where your facts came from (but you don’t have to cite them perfectly if that’s getting in the way of citing them at all).
  • You should back up your electronic data in case of a crash. (I use an external hard drive and automated cloud storage.)

Genealogy is supposed to be fun. Don’t let the shoulds drag you down. Make your own choices and own them. And keep yourself open to new ways of doing things. (See what I did there? I told you all sorts of things I think you should do, without using that word. Take what works for you and let go of the rest.)