Easy Sources, Citation Challenges - Genealogy Do-Over / Do-Better

I don't have a problem recording sources.  Keeping track of sources was reinforced to me from my first introduction to family history.  I record them religiously (with the rare possible exception now and then).  Sometimes I have to dig deep at websites like FamilySearch and Ancestry to find enough detail for more than the online location and collection name.  I like to know the physical location of the original source, even down to the page and entry numbers in a county record book and I record as much information as I can find.

My challenge is crafting citations for those sources.  I'm intimidated by my software and the possibility of not creating a correct citation.  There's such a multitude of source possibilities and the varieties of ways citations should be written based on the source.  I like to be accurate and get things right but I sometimes feel challenged by my lack of knowledge.

Someone on the Do-Over Facebook page suggested a simple ABCDE method of citation in which A is the author or editor; B is the book, magazine, or article title; C is the city or company; D is the date of copyright or date reviewed; and E is the page number or url.  It seems too simplistic to me for the kinds of sources I'm recording.

On her post, Why Are EE's Source Citations So Complicated?, at her blog, Quick Tips The Blog at Evidence Explained, Elizabeth Shown Mills points out that we cite records of many different varieties and we use those sources as evidence to help us evaluate the assertions they make.  (She says it so much better than I can.  Just click through to read her post.)  It's not just citing the source, or being able to return to the source that's important.  The citations should help us understand the records we've used by giving details about the sources which can help us evaluate the evidence in them.

On his blog, RootDig, John Michael Neill wrote a post about sources and citations in which he encourages his readers to think about how a source was created and whether we're looking at an original source (the will someone wrote before he took it to the courthouse) or a copy, and why it's so important to clearly record in the citation what source we used.

I think recording sources, crafting accurate citations, and evaluating the information in the records is at the heart of genealogy and family history.  I think I need to use my genealogy software, RootsMagic, to serve me instead of feeling like I have to serve it and not be intimidated that I'll get the format of the citation wrong.  I will continue to try to improve my source citations to make them useful for evaluating the evidence they contain as well as to be able to return to the source when necessary.

I'm not keeping up with the weekly Genealogy Do-Over activities even though I'm only doing a Genealogy Do-Better, trying to improve as I go forward.  However, they have been helpful in encouraging me to think more carefully about the way I'm performing and recording my family history. 

Click on Genealogy Do-Over Week 5 or Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb to learn more and read what others have to say on the topic.  Thanks to Thomas MacEntee for initiating and hosting the Genealogy Do-Over.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Genealogy Research Aids - Genealogy Do-Over Week 5

I once asked my father which tools we should buy to be prepared for the repairs we might have to make on an (but new to us) house -- aside from the basic hammer, screwdrivers, and pliers.  He responded that it depended on the job we wanted to do.  He suggested that we buy the tools as we needed them for whatever job we had to do.  Otherwise, he said, we might buy tools that we'd never use.  That advice has served us well through the years.

My genealogy toolbox, like our physical toolbox, began with some essentials.

• FamilySearch - for a variety of records with new content added often
• Heritage Quest (available through many libraries at no cost) - for census records
• Ancestry - for their variety of records with new content added frequently
• Linkpendium - surname lists and state- and county-specific links by category

I've added to my toolbox over the years.  When I have a question about an ancestor, her geographic location, his employment, or anything else, I search for a source to help answer my question. 

• Libraries' websites may offer obituary files, postcard files, city directories, newspapers, etc.  Libraries also have books, which continue to be useful!
• Genealogy societies have their own websites which offer location-specific information.
• Transcription forms for census and other records help me carefully evaluate what I find.
• Map resources help me learn where an ancestor lived, see who his neighbors were, and how far he lived from town, a church, the school, etc.
• Rootsweb county websites offer location-specific information.  Rootsweb offers a host of other helpful resources, too, including a variety of email lists specific to location, surname, occupation, etc.
• Money changes value. I've found several websites that translate from one time to another.
• And so many more.

Under the header of this blog are clickable links to pages (in either red or green, depending on whether you've clicked on them before):

Genealogy Research Aids      Ohio Resources      Pennsylvania Resources              

Many of my most-used online resources are listed there.  I have others bookmarked in my browser and a few in emails.

I'm not averse to acquiring physical tools that we might or probably will use when they're on sale new at a store, we see them at an auction, or someone is giving tools away.  Likewise, when someone recommends a site that I think may be helpful to me in the future, I copy the url for possible use.  After I've found it to be useful, I add the link to the appropriate page, above.  I know I'll be adding more resources in other categories.

My goal is to clean up and organize the resources that aren't on the pages above -- the ones that are scattered hither and yon as bookmarks, as emails, and jotted on paper.  (Either I'm slow or time is going faster than it used to because things take me so long to do.)

As a family historian/genealogist I never know what I'll want to learn next about an ancestor or where I'll find the information.  Having resources at my fingertips is such a blessing; even more so that new and helpful information continues to become available online.  I'm grateful to other bloggers who share research aids and websites they've found. 

Click on Genealogy Do-Over Week 5 or Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb to learn more and read what others have to say on the topic.  Thanks to Thomas MacEntee for initiating and hosting the Genealogy Do-Over.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Reevaluating My Research Log - Genealogy Do-Over / Do-Better

I've been reevaluating the format of my research log.  This is the one I currently use, created before I knew much about family history research and before so many sources were available online.  This is my Froman research log.

With one research log per surname, I've been using them to record letters I've written requesting documents that are not available online.  They've served that purpose well but with online research my logs have fallen short of the need.  (And I've fallen short in using them to record all the online searches I've done including what I've found, and especially what I've not found.)

I would not have thought about evaluating my research log except that it was one of the topics in the Genealogy Do-Over.  I've been looking at the ways others have created and organized their research logs. Here are some things I've found.

Earlier this year Diane Haddad of Family Tree Magazine wrote a post at Genealogy Insider about her research log.  Hers includes columns to record this information:  Status, Research Task, Repository/Site, Name, Place, Notes, Prep Work Needed, and Findings.  She keeps hers as a spreadsheet on Google Drive, which makes it available wherever she can connect to the internet.

The FamilySearch Wiki on Research Logs suggests recording this information in a log:  Ancestor's name and years; Researcher's name; Date of search; Place of research; Purpose (objective); Call number; Source Description; Scope of Your Search; Document Number; and Results.

In his post for Genealogy Do-Over Week 4, Thomas MacEntee indicated that he recorded the following information when tracking searches:  date of search; website; specific database; criteria of search (what he typed in the search box); results (with url); plus notes on the search and results including analysis or thoughts.

After reading about others' research logs and seeing the information they track, I think I'd like my research log to include

• Date of search or request
• Objective/Purpose of the search/Research Goal (the question I'm trying to answer, what I hope to find)
• Where I searched or who I asked:  repository, courthouse, library, website including addresses and contact info for all
• Specifics about search criteria (name, dates, and any other information used in the search)
• Results (what I found or didn't find) and date if different from search date
• Source (where I found the information with enough detail to let me return to the source easily)
• Copy?  Do I now have a copy, either hard or computer image?
• Next Possible Steps -- a to-do list, of sorts, based on what I found/didn't find (which I will also record in a separate To-Do list) 

My research logs are in tables in WordPerfect since I don't like spreadsheets.  I like having them there but I wonder if they may be less cumbersome to use if they are in a place like Evernote.  Colleen Greene wrote a post about her research log on Evernote which generated plenty of discussion in the comments section.  I will investigate further before completely changing my log to Evernote or any other online cloud storage system.  Evernote is currently free and available wherever I have access to a computer, but I know it may not always be so.  One can never depend on technology staying the same or continuing to be available for free in the future.

As an aside, I'd like to note that while I don't always use my research log for online searches I continue to save the results of searches plus all pertinent details (such as direct link, collection name, page and image numbers, and any other details I can find) by sending myself emails with the information.  It's very cumbersome.  Hence my need to become more serious about using a research log for all searches.

So, that's what I've been up to with my Genealogy Do-Over / Do-Better this past week.  I'm excited to create a new research log and begin using it.  Thanks to Thomas MacEntee for creating the Genealogy Do-Over.  Participating is showing me some of my shortcoming as a family history researcher.

Read more about the Genealogy Do-Over here at GeneaBloggers and here at bagtheweb.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Never a Name Collector - Genealogy Do-Over / Do-Better

I've never been a "name collector," never one to search online trees to find an ancestor's name and then add all the information to my own tree.  I'm too possessive of my ancestors.  I think of them all as individual people and I want to claim the ones that really are in my family -- and I don't want to claim someone else's just because the names and dates seem to fit.

I know some folks think (one of my daughters, in particular, thinks) I'm too careful because it takes me a while to be sure.  It's not enough to have a name or a group of family names and ages in a location that seems right.  I want to find enough information that I don't have any doubts about whether the people in question are my ancestors.

I suppose this explains why I've been able to uncover direct-line ancestors to only the seventh generation on only two lines, and much less on most of my lines.  I patiently -- and possibly inefficiently -- search for and wade through potential ancestors and sources, collecting likely information until I have enough to feel confident of a relationship (or lack of a relationship).

When I find a person or family that seems to fit, I transcribe the information, note its source, and save the link, if found online, or if found at any other location such as a courthouse, library, in book, I record all information that will let me find the source again.  (Okay, to be honest, I didn't always note whether a census record came from HeritageQuest, FamilySearch, or Ancestry, but I do now.)  I add the information to a file with everything else I've found about the individual or family.  When I finally have enough documentation to conclude that the person is really related to me, I then add the person/people to RootsMagic.

Perhaps I'm missing an opportunity by not using online trees as suggestions or possibilities about ancestors and then just following up with my own research.  I hesitate because I know myself well enough to know it might seem too much like winning the lottery then finding that the money is fake.  (I don't play the lottery, either.)

On the other hand, I've saved myself the work of meandering down the wrong path only to have to begin research all over again in addition to trying to figure out which ancestors are mine and which aren't and what information is accurate and what isn't.  I think I would feel sorrowful to have to remove names from my family tree, imagining those people as someone's lost ancestors and wondering if their descendants would ever find them and care about them.  (Maybe it's nonsense but they are/were real people.)

Sometimes I have a vague desire that family history research went faster and I could claim thousands of ancestors already found, but I know careful research will help me better than speed with inaccuracy.

This post was prompted by Thomas MacEntee's post, Genealogy Do-Over – Week 5. . ., in which he mentioned being a name collector who didn't always cite his sources.

You can read more about the Genealogy Do-Over at Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb.com.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

A History of My Research Goals - Genealogy Do-Over Week 2

After more than eight years of searching for my ancestors I still often feel like a novice.  All I've learned has come from reading books, watching webinars, and perusing websites.  I've had no formal education on how to research ancestors.  Even so, I know more than I did when I began.

To prove my progress to myself I've compiled a few past (undated) research goals.

• Find a death record for my paternal grandmother, Beulah Mae (Gerner) Doyle.
• What can I find out about my maternal grandfather's parents in Steubenville, Ohio?
• Maybe there's a newspaper article about their marriage?  (Asked pre-OCR online images.)
• What were the names of my maternal grandfather's siblings?
• What other ancestors lived in Jefferson County, Ohio, at the time my maternal and paternal grand- and great-grandparents lived there?
• Search for Fred Gerner's will. 
• Find John Froman.  When did he die and how?  Where is he buried?

Despite the broadness of some of these goals there were purposes behind each of them.  But with research goals like these it's easy to see why my progress is so slow.  Several were so broad that it was hard to decide where and how to begin.

This is one of my current research goals:

• Determine whether Martha (Redick/Reddick) Smith could be the mother of Rebecca (Smith) Bartley by using census records to approximate the date of Martha's birth and compare the ages of Martha and Thomas Smith's known children.  (If Martha and Rebecca are less than about 16 years apart, there's a good chance Martha is not Rebecca's mother.)

Perhaps it's still too broad but I think it's more specific and will tell me whether to continue researching Martha Redick/Reddick or seek a different mother for Rebecca and previous wife for Thomas Smith.

Looking online for more about genealogy research goals led me to Decide What You Want to Learn, a section of FamilySearch's Principles of Family History Research.  It mentions objectives, questions, and goals and gives examples of goals.

I like the simple, forthright goals suggested in this chart.  Each piece of information or document can be carefully considered, analyzed, and evaluated.  After completing many small goals the results can be evaluated together, individuals can be added to family trees, and sources can be cited.

I'm determined to clarify my research goals.  Perhaps doing that will help me stay focused and make better progress.

This post was prompted by Genealogy Do-Over Week 2.  Learn the steps others are taking to either do-over or do better at Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb.com

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Dinosaur, Notes, and File Names - Genealogy Do-Over / Do-Better

Dinosaur
I'm a dinosaur, technologically speaking.  I love paper and pencils and pens.  I love notebooks and tablets with spiral bindings, and real books with paper pages and hard covers.  I love the printed word and the smell of books.  (Open that new book, stick your nose in and breathe deeply.  What's not to love?)  I love all things relating to office supplies, especially if they're paper.  I don't believe I could live in a world without paper.

Notes
When researching my ancestors I make notes on paper.  Until recently my notes could be found in a notebook, on a research log on my computer, and/or on small pieces of paper about 4" by 6", all stacked neatly near my computer.  All easily forgotten and hard to find, especially three weeks later and at the very moment when I remembered that I needed that piece of information.  I've reformed.  I'm using only a spiral notebook.

My reformation continues.  I downloaded Evernote and am beginning to use it.  If I can use it the way I imagine, it may be the best thing I've ever done for my family history research.  (I say may because I haven't used it enough yet to tell.)  Being able to keep all notes in one place and search by word to find a note will be a great research aid:  help for my aging brain.

Other Genea-bloggers have mentioned Evernote but an article by Thomas Houston at "The Verge at work:  backing up your brain.  How I use Evernote as a memory tool for deep reading, writing, and research", was the one that persuaded me to try Evernote.  It is a detailed, encouraging, and informative post in which Houston explains several ways to use Evernote and how it helps him.

File Names
I think I'm in control of the storage system for my WordPerfect documents but the naming system for my image files is out of control.  About 8 years ago I learned about scanning photos and downloading online images.  The person who showed me how to do these things assumed I knew more about computers that I did.  He recommended one way to name the files but I discovered that it didn't really work for me.  Over time, I've added a variety of naming patterns: 

• 1870 U.S. Census Pennsylvania Mercer Fairview Doyle William
• 1870 US Census, Pennsylvania, Mercer, Fairview, DoyleWilliam
• Doyle William 1870 U.S. Census, Pennsylvania, Mercer, Fairview
• Doyle-William-1870 U.S. Census, PA, Mercer, Fairview
• Doyle Lee school photo about 1927
• Doyle, Lee - school photo - about 1927
• Doyle-Lee-School-Photo-about-1927
• Doyle-Lee-SchoolPhotoAbout1927
• Doyle-Lee-SchoolPhoto-abt1927
• DoyleLee-school photo-about1927
• DoyleLeeSchoolPhotoAbt1927

You get the idea.  If there isn't uniformity there isn't a system.  I'm currently researching ways to name files.  I think surname first, given name, document identification, with the date in there somewhere is how I'd like to do it.  I have yet to decide how much information to include in the file name, and whether to use spaces, no spaces, or underlines between words is still up for consideration.  Newspaper articles are a little more difficult.  Two obituaries for the same person without naming the newspaper could be very confusing.  I'll have to think about this a little longer. 

Some recommendations from online searches about naming images:

• avoid leaving spaces in the name
• use all lower case (because some systems are case-sensitive) 
• use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underlines
• if using a date record it as YYYYMMDD, using four digits for the year and two for month and day

As I continue to evaluate which system will work best for me I'll begin making changes to my image naming format.  With all the photos I have it could take a while . . . .

These are my Genealogy Do-Better efforts for the week.  I hope the dinosaur in me can return to its rightful place in pre-history and let me make progress in the here and now.

Read what others are doing for the Genealogy Do-Over at Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Children, Parents, and Records to Identify Them

I've been musing on children and parents, prompted by one of the Genealogy Do-Over topics this week:  start with yourself, your birth, and go from there.  My mind can meander wide....  This post may seem far afield from family history but for me it seems to get to the nitty gritty of genealogy.  Please bear with me (if you choose to continue reading). 

Everyone has parents:  a mother and a father (though, admittedly, not every child grows up with parents).  Learning who those parents are is part of the challenge of family history.  In the past we relied on the honesty of the mother and/or father to identify themselves as the parents of the baby.  But truly, only the mother and midwife/doctor are present at the birth.  Only they can claim the mother's relationship to the baby.  Only the mother truly can name the baby's father, and only so far as her relationship with only one man (him!) goes.  In which case she can, with certainty, state the name of the father of the baby.

In past centuries, records primarily pertained to men:  pre-1850 census records, tax records, deeds, wills, etc.  In most of those cases women are an aside.  We are hopeful and think ourselves lucky to find a mother, sister, daughter named in the will of one of the males in her family -- one of our male ancestors, assuming the mothers have been accurate in declaring the names of the fathers.

In the mid-1800s some states and counties began recording births, including the names of the parents.  If we're searching for ancestors during that time period, we may be successful in finding recorded names for babies and parents.

For the most part, though, so much of genealogy seems hidden behind the wall of men in families.  Last year I spent some time researching Rebecca (Smith) Bartley's parents.  Thomas Smith was named as her father in a newspaper article and she was named as his daughter in his will.  In November or early December, another Smith descendant contacted me and invited me to join her and two others who are in search of Thomas Smith's wife and other family members.  Based on the information they've found, they suspect that Thomas Smith was married twice and that Rebecca was a child of Thomas and his first wife and that the other children were from Thomas and a second wife, possibly Martha Redick/Reddick.  They are descendants of Thomas and Martha.  If they are correct about Thomas having two wives, I would be a descendant of Thomas and his first wife. 

If Rebecca's mother was Thomas's first wife, how will I ever know her name?  How will I ever find who she is?  What records could there possibly be that would name her?  (Rebecca was born in 1820 before births, with parents' names, were recorded.)  Thomas Smith did not name her -- did not name either wife -- in his will.  Without some hint as to her name I am without hope of finding her.

That parent-child relationship is everything in genealogy.  We trust that the records accurately record the names of parents.  And then we sometimes have such a hard time finding those parents again.

Just some roundabout musings....

See more at Week 2 Genealogy Do-Over and Genealogy Do-Over at bagtheweb.com.

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

A Clean Start Toward Doing Better

A clean desk makes everything look better.

After being away from family history research for nearly a month and without too much time to think about my ancestors, I needed to take stock of the situation.  Which individuals and families was I focused on?  What did I last do?  What did I plan to do next?  A genealogy do-better is a good aid just now.

A clean desk makes everything look better, but organization makes everything run more smoothly.  These are my efforts and my thoughts this week.

1)  Set previous research aside
Because I'm doing a do-better and not a do-over, I didn't set aside research except in the physical sense of cleaning up those stacks of papers and files you see to the right and putting them in their places in the file box.

The files and loose papers were easy enough to sort, organize, neaten and put away.  Before I moved each one I noted which file it was and what I should be my next action when I begin working on that individual/family again.

But that stack of smaller papers (which I didn't photograph) took far too long.  As I research, I make notes.  Often I use odd pieces of paper, especially if the note relates to a different ancestor or a different family than I'm working on.  After dealing with a several-inch tall stack today I resolve not to do that again.  (If I don't have time to do it right, where will I find time to do it over?)  I moved the information on some of them to the appropriate person's notes in my RootsMagic file.  The ones that weren't person-specific I put on a page in my genealogy notebook.  I'm of an age where I need notes, but I also need organization.

2)  Prepare to research
Knowing what's in the files I put away is part of my preparation.  Knowing the next step for each file is also preparation for research when I return to the file.  In addition, I had some loose papers that I filed.  I noted what needed to be done next with those, too.

Also in preparation for further research I'll decide one line to work on, what I need to find about the individual and family, then make a list of the documents I hope to find and where I can look for them.

3)  Establish base practices and guidelines (subdivided into several categories)
Notes.  I need to find a better way to take/make notes (which is not using small pieces of paper).  Options include my genealogy notebook; notes on the individual's file in RootsMagic; and experimenting with Evernote or One Note.  Research logs could play a part in my notes.

Research Log.  I typically use a research log if I write letters to request documents.  I note the date, the item I requested, the name and address of the person I wrote to, and, when a response comes, I note the date it came and what I received.  I could do better about keeping track of where I've searched online and what I've found, though.

Ground Rules / Golden Rules / My Expected Standards / Etc.  I'm still formulating these in my mind.  I'll share them later.

Sources and Documentation.  It seems like much of the research I've done in the past year has been trying to identify relationships to be sure the individual or family is related to my ancestors and me.  I wait to add those people until I have enough information to be fairly certain they're my line.  That being said, I'm generally good about recording the sources of documents.  I want to be able to go back to the source if I need to.

Image Files.  My naming system could be better.  I didn't know what I was doing when I began so file names are inconsistent.  Some start with the date, some with the item name, others with the ancestor's name.  I don't plan to make changes all in one sitting.  When I choose a system, I can make the changes either as I use the files or as I have a few spare moments. 

You can read what others are doing at the Genealogy Do-Over resource page.  Participants have written some great blog spots to share their ideas and progress. 

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

Starting from Scratch? Again?

When Thomas MacEntee announced his intention to set aside all his previous research and start his genealogy from scratch, and then invited members of the GeneaBloggers community to join him in a Genealogy Do-Over, my mind went into a frenzy and I got hives just thinking about starting from scratch again.  (Not really about the frenzy and the hives, but it felt that way.)  I've only been at this family history research seven or so years and it's been such slow going.

As a youth I sometimes acted impulsively (nearly always with later regrets) but in maturity I've learned to accept the impulse as a reaction or a thought and let it rest in my mind while I think and mull over the situation rationally before acting on the impulse.  I've done that with this Do-Over.  Calm thought has not removed the frenzied feeling or the hives.  So I've decided not to participate in the Genealogy Do-Over.  I can't do it.  I can't start from scratch with an empty pedigree chart. 

However, I think I can be a Do-Better participant (or, as some call it, "Go-Over."  Yes, there are improvements I can make.

• Some already-obtained documents need careful scrutiny, transcription, and evaluation. 
• Instead of letting documents stack up I need to file them, even if I don't have time to do any more than that at the moment.  (And record their receipt in the appropriate research log.)
• There are some documents that I acquired early on that seemed to reveal little at the time, but after having done more research about individuals and families may give helpful information to further research.
• Pay closer attention to my "to do" lists for family history. 
• Plan when to do genealogy activities (research, recording, etc.) instead of just letting things happen whenever I get around to them.
• Be more attentive to recording search results in my research logs.
• Learn to use Evernote and/or One Note.
• And more.

I'm certain I'll learn more ways I can improve in the future as I follow along with what others are doing as they participate.  I'll be following the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group and reading Thomas's posts at Genealogy Do-Over Resource Page at bagtheweb.com.

How about you?  Are you going to set your research aside and start from scratch?

--Nancy.

Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.