Saturday, January 7, 2012

Organizing Continued - A Smidge Closer to My Goals

On January 1, I started working towards one of  my genealogy goals by sorting out my piles of genealogy papers, notebooks, magazines and envelopes with notes and contact information scribbled on them.  Progress is slow, but it is really satisfying to see the stacks take different shapes.  I have emptied one box and one plastic tote so far and the second one is sitting in front of me.

Also in front of me are five containers - one for each of my grandparents' surnames:  Deal, McCann, Smith and Wile and one for general genealogy stuff like maps, community histories and notes that apply to more than one family.  One added bonus to all of this sorting is that because I can't help but read through the notes, I am discovering leads that I may have missed before!  I am also discovering correspondence and genealogies that I'd forgotten about.

I am feeling really motivated to get this done and looking forward to sorting the surname files and getting closer to the point the information can be analyzed with fresh eyes.

This organizing project might be exactly what I need to break down some brick walls.  Wouldn't it be funny if I've had the answers in front of me all along?

Until next time, Happy Researching!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Genealogy Goals for 2012

The resolutions...I mean goals... are are coming fast and furious so I thought I would jump on the band wagon. Marion Pierre-Louis' blog post at Marian's Roots and Rambles inspired me to think about what I'd like to accomplish this year.  So, here goes:

1. Organize my research material.  It's been all over the place for a long time - in boxes and various bookcases.  I've made quite a dent in this one in the last few days and I hope to be finished within the week.

2. Organize my genealogy research notebooks and paper.  It's been all over the place for a long time too - in too many places to mention.  Marian mentioned that she had watched Mary Hill's FamilyRoots Organizer System webinar so I found the preview on the Legacy Family Tree Webinar Page and watched it today.  It seems like a reasonable and easy to follow method for organization so I'm going to give it a try.  It'll be fabulous to be able to lay my hands on a piece of info within minutes and I'm sure it will save me hours of duplicate research.  Once I have the paper under control, I have to discipline myself to inventory new documents and research notes.

3. Organize my photos and share them.  Not just the vintage ones, but all the photos I've taken over the years.  Those from the 70s, 80s, 90s and up to about 2005 have to be scanned, the duplicates set aside for my daughter and the out of focus, crappy ones pitched.  Then the digital ones have to be renamed.  It's going to be a big job but I'm determined to be in a better place with this by the end of this year.

4. Post to my blog more often.  I can't promise every week, but at least twice a month.  I also want to continue to post to Clarence's Letters Home regularly until the all the letters have been shared.  I enjoy reading them again and other researchers will find them helpful.

5. Continue to educate myself in the field of genealogy and to help new researchers when I can.

6. Spend more time learning about the features of Family Tree Maker and make a regular effort to source every piece of data that I've entered.  This goal might be the most difficult.

7. Work towards getting my research in a format that can be easily shared with family and other researchers.    I don't want my daughter to have to wade through piles of paper and little scraps with scribbles on them trying to figure out what is important.

8. Learn more about Evernote and start using it for my genealogy research log.

Hmmm.  Seems that I've set the bar for 2012 quite high.  I think I'm up to the challenge.  Stay tuned as I will post my progress here!

Until next time, Happy Researching!