Genealogy Do-Over 2018 Reboot

I joined Thomas MacEntee's Facebook Genealogy Do-Over Group at the end of Dec 2014, basically when we were preparing for the first go through of Thomas' Do-Over process.

Well, that first quarter I managed to pack up all my genealogy papers.

I also managed to come up with HUGE list of goals, both short term and long term.

I wrote up my "Warm Up Exercises"

And a research flow chart

I learned lots by reading all the posts and joining in conversations, but did very little towards actually DOING my Research over. I did post on this blog a few times about the Do-Over starting in December 2014 if you are interested in the little progress I made last time.

I plan on spending this next year filling in the holes in my genealogy knowledge and skills. I hope to start the process of becoming a Certified Genealogist in 2019. Figure this is a good time to get serious about actually DOING the Do-Over.

One, this will make sure my personal tree is in good shape. And two, this will help me put the new skills I am trying to learn into practice.

It helps that I have managed to let go of an outside responsibility that was taking a lot of my free time. I have also been working on whittling down the piles of things that have been accumulating around here while I was busy with outside things. I actually have my laptop sitting on the desk in my "Office" (also known as the spare room)! The space still has a lot of work to do to make it a really effective work area. But I have made some good progress on it.

I am putting this on my blog hoping that maybe it will help make me more accountable. Anyone want to join me in rebooting (or starting) a Do-Over with their Genealogy?

Here is to a productive 2018!

Tracking and Organizing My Genealogy Studies

Over the years I have read lots of articles, books, blogs, attended talks, watched webinars, learned from others. But if I was asked to name even a fraction of them I would not be able to do so.

So I decided that I needed some way to document this upcoming year of study in preparation of becoming a Certified Genealogist.

First requirement was that it fit my way of thinking so using it would be instinctive. If my method was difficult I might use it short term but not long term. I learned this from a book called "Organizing From The Inside Out" by Julie Morgenstern.

Second requirement was that it would include all the information I needed so that I (or someone else) would be able to locate the information again. But again keeping it simple enough that I would use it and not feel bogged down having to write a bunch of stuff down.

So this is what I have come up with...

I will be using Excel spreadsheets. Someone else might use Word, OneNote, Evernote or even Scrivener. As I will explain later in this post, I am going to also use OneNote for a particular portion of my tracking. But for now I will concentrate on why I decided on Excel and how I am going to utilize it.

I have been playing around learning how to use Excel for a couple of years now and have become quite comfortable with the program.

Excel will allow me to create a "book" of spreadsheets to track the different types of learning I will be doing. Each sheet has its own tab that I can name, allowing me to know what is on that sheet and to easily navigate between them.

My tabs (the "How" I am getting the information) are titled:

*Webinars
*Online Courses
*Books
*Live Lectures & Seminars (meaning I was physically at them)
*Live Courses and Classes (again I was physically at them)
*Blogs
*Magazines and Periodicals (including newsletters and professional journals)

Each tab has some variation of the following columns:

*Title (of Webinar, Course, Book, Lecture, Blog Post, Article this takes care of the "What")
*Presenter/Author/Teacher (This takes care of the "Who")
*Date of Presentation/Publication (This takes care of part of the "When")
*Location (URL for things online, for live events where the event was held, for books I have Publisher in this spot, for magazines I have Magazine title. This takes care of the "Where")
*Length (Time of presentation, or if written word number of pages.)
*Date I watched/read/attended/completed (That takes care of the other part of "When")
*Subject/Topic
*Notes (some things, like webinars and classes, are labeled "Beginner" "Intermediate" "Advanced" If something I do has such a label I will include it in the Notes column)

I mentioned also using OneNote in my record keeping for my project. I will use OneNote to organize any Syllabus I get from a class, lecture, or webinar. I think I will also add the Table of Contents from books. This gives me a quick easy way to go through the things I have heard and read, as well as good documentation of what was included in that lecture/course/book.

For those who have managed to reach this point of my post, hopefully you have found some inspiration and ideas for tracking your own learning. Whether the topic is Genealogy or some other subject (especially if it is for your profession) tracking your educational pursuits is probably a good idea.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

A Christmas Gift

Thank you to my daughter for my Christmas present.

Her gift was a membership to the National Genealogical Society and two of their courses:
American Genealogical Studies - The Basics
American Genealogical Studies - Guide to Documentation and Source Citation

But actually her greatest gift is believing in me and supporting my dream to become a Certified Genealogist

On Becoming a Certified Genealogist

Becoming a Certified Genealogist is an idea that I have been playing with off and on for several years. I have bought some of the books on the subject. Most of them I have flipped through quickly before placing them on my bookshelves to gather dust. But have I read them and studied them thoroughly? The answer is no.

I was talking to my younger daughter about how at least 3 of my 4 kids gave up on the dreams they had as teenagers. One wanted to be a singer and everyone agrees she has a good voice. One wanted to go into acting, and she is a good actress. One had dreams of Baseball, and I believe he has the talent (rather reminds me of a Ricky Henderson type of Ball Player). But for one reason or another they all chose different paths.

Then she asked me what my dream was/is.

When I was young and healthy it was to teach English and Drama in High School. In my 30's I even managed to enroll at the University of Rhode Island in the Secondary Education Program. Then I developed Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I quickly realized if I couldn' physically handle taking 2 college classes a semester there was no way I would be able handle spending 5 full days a week teaching in a classroom. That ended that dream.

Then I discovered a passion for genealogy. Although I have to say it wasn't really a new passion, I had been interested in my family history since I was a child. I just didn't know much about the how to research until I started learning in 1995. But it took another 2 years and moving back to California when I was able to go with my mom to the Family History Center in Oakland, the National Archive in San Bruno and the California State Library in San Francisco that I really became hooked.

Fast forward through years of learning and researching, of helping others find their family's history, to last night and my daughter's question of "and what has been your dream mom?" My answer was to be a Certified Genealogist.

She said "you have wanted to do that for years mom, you should do it." I told her one of the things that has stopped me is the cost and that once you start you are supposed to finish it in a year, and with my health not always cooperating with my obligations and desires I wasn't sure I could meet the deadline. So then she asked how much would it cost and offered to pay for it for me.

I have to admit that brought tears to my eyes.

So today I went seaching for answers to her question. I looked at the Board of Certification for Genealogist (BCG) website. Preliminary application costs $75, then once it is accepted you have a year to turn everything in with a $300 fee. You can get extensions for an additional year for another $75 fee. That eased some of my fears of what if my health interferes and I couldn't finish it in a year, BUT if the requirements have changed or the fees have gone up you have to use the new requirements and/or pay the new fee amounts. All that is just to become Certified!

Once you are Certified then comes things like annual memberships to BCG ($75/yr), setting money aside every year so I can do the recertification in 5 years ($60/yr), membership to National Genealogical Society ($70/yr), Association of Professional Genealogists ($100/yr). Then there are the subscription site fees Ancestry All Access ($389/yr), Find My Past Premium ($239.50) and Genealogy Bank ($69.95). That is $1002.95 a year. And it doesn't include office supplies like ink, paper, postage, advertising, travel, etc.

I realize I would be able to deduct most if not all off my taxes as business expenses, but just looking at that number is scary. I don't currently get that much a month on disability. If I do this I have to be serious about actual getting clients or I will quickly go under.

But the truth is this really IS something I want to do. So I will get my books off the shelves and start studying so when I do send in the Preliminary Application I will be prepared to give it my best.

Looking forward to the day I can put out my shingle as Linda Newman, C.G.

Think of Doing a DNA Test? Things to Know Before you Take It

I know Ancestry pushes the ethnicity part of DNA testing. What they don't tell you is that the ethnicity part is fairly new science and the database is still limited enough that it probably won't be 100% accurate.

In addition just because 1 great grandparent is from England, 1 from Spain, 1 from Africa, 1 from Germany, 1 from Scandinavia, 1 from Cambodia, 1 from China, and 1 is 100% Native American does not mean you will be 1/8 of each of those ethnicities.

Yes you get 50% of your DNA from your mom and 50% from your dad, but I don't think anyone has ever gotten exactly 25% from each grandparent. It may be a 30/20/15/35 mix or some other combination.

Plus remember just because your Great Grandparents came from a certain region doesn't mean that is where their ancestors were from. Or even if they have lived in the same region for the last 1,000 years most places have had invaders. Sometimes the invaders stayed in the new region, or sometimes they left little souvenirs behind which affects the ethnicity of future generations.

The ethnicity results are fun and interesting, but the real benefit to DNA testing is in the DNA cousin matches. They help verify the paper trail and break down brick walls.

Just be aware you may find out things you weren't aware of. You might find a close relative you weren't aware of, or you might find out someone you thought was a blood relative really isn't related by blood after all.

I don't want to discourage anyone from taking a DNA test, in fact I actively encourage people to do so. I have tested at both 23andMe and at Ancestry, then transferred my DNA to Gedmatch, FamilyTree DNA and My Hertitage. My feeling is the more places my DNA is the more likely I am to connect with all the DNA cousins I can. And the more DNA cousins I connect with the more brick walls that will fall, either for myself or for others.

In addition to my own tests I have paid for 2 family members to test at Ancestry and 5 to test at 23andMe. As you can see I think DNA testing is great. I have verified some of my paper trails, including one that was based on circumstantial evidence at best. And the more people that test the more likely I will be able to verify the rest of the lines. But I think it is important that people make the choice to test based on facts, not because of fancy advertisements.

No Ancestry Subscription? What's a Girl To Do?

I was just reading a post in one of the Facebook groups I belong to. In it a woman was saying for financial reasons she had to take a break from having a subscription to Ancestry and was looking for ideas on things she could do so she wouldn't get bored.

Here is my list of suggestions:

1. Take a fresh look at your documents, sometimes when we first find a document we only look at the obvious bits, but if we go back and look again we can find details we missed the first time through.

2. Go through and write some research plans. I have a sample of one of mine at: 2012 January - Emma Antrim

3. Read some blogs and/or check you tube for genealogy how to videos, there are some excellent ones out there.

4. Check out Pinterest for ideas and forms, I know a lot of people pin things on their Pinterest boards that can be helpful. My genealogy board is at: Linda's Pinterest Genealogy Board

5. Work on your life story, think about how much we would love to have great grandma's life story in her own words. Someday one of your descendants will feel the same way about your life.

6. Talk to the living and ask them about their memories, not just about relatives but about themselves, use a camcorder or digital voice recorder if they will allow it so you get their stories in their own words, in addition it allows you to concentrate on the person rather than in the process of trying to take notes.

There are lots of other things genealogy related you can do while taking a break from your Ancestry subscription. I would love to hear your ideas, leave them in a comment.