New Year, New Goals

In 2015 I started a “Do-Over” on my Genealogy Research, or at least that was my intention.

I read Thomas MacEntee’s posts, participated in discussions in the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group, did some of the “assignments,” but never made much progress in actually working on my research.

Some of that is I took on outside responsibilities to a couple of different organizations. Both organizations are good and worthwhile, but they took time and energy away from being able to do what I really wanted to be doing.

I allowed the needs and priorities of the organizations to set the priorities in my life (never a good thing when we allow outside things to sent our priorities!).

They took priority over hobbies, over my responsibilities in my home, and even over my health. As a result I lost touch with good friends, my home became disorganized, my finances suffered because I spent money I couldn’t afford to spend, and my health issues worsened. I have resigned from both organizations, have been trying to recover some level of my health back, and have tightened my financial belt so I can get my life back in balance.

So here I am in January 2021 ready to review the genealogy goals I set for 2015 so I can set some REALISTIC weekly and monthly goals to pursue this year. I shared my master list of goals in a December 2014 post, as well as a number of posts about my prep work for the do-over throughout 2015 and beyond if you are interested in reading through them. They do contain some good ideas and tips so going back and reading them may be helpful to you. In fact I am going to go back and read them myself to encourage and inspire me.

I think for a weekly goal I am going to say I want to spend 30 minutes three times a week working on something regarding my personal genealogy research.

Chances are if I start working on my research I will end up spending more than 30 minutes on it, but if I give myself a small goal I should be able to meet it. Setting a big goal means other things may interfere with achieving my goal and then I will get discouraged and give up. I know me.

I think for a monthly goal I am going to read at least one article in my Family Tree Magazine and watch one genealogy podcast. Again, small goals that I can actually do even when my health isn’t good.

I would like to say I will post on my blog weekly, but maybe I better start with committing to one blog post a month and then increase the frequency as I build habits.

What are your genealogy goals this coming year?

What is Your Research Why?

I belong to some genealogy groups on various platforms. Recently I read a post by a person that said they were just starting out and was asking if someone could take them under their wing to show them the ropes. I posted a couple of responses offering some small bits of advice. Then I got to thinking, maybe there are others out there who could use “someone who could take them under their wing.”

That is what I hope to do with blog post, to take those who are new to doing genealogy under my virtual wing and offer some guidance in where to start.

One of the first things is to clarify in your own mind the “why” of you want to are setting out on this journey. The “why” will help you figure out what your are searching for and what resources will help you answer the questions that you have about your ancestors.

Does your family have stories about a famous ancestor that you want to prove for the bragging rights?

Does your family have stories about an ancestor who fought in the Civil War? In the Revolutionary War? That were passengers on the Mayflower? Do you want to be able to prove those stories so you can join a lineage society?

Do you just want to build out all your ancestors lines as far as you can because you are just curious about where you came from?

There are a variety of reasons people have for starting this journey. Each reason is valid, but each reason will require different methods and different tools. That is why before even starting having a clear idea of your reasons for research is important.

What is your “Why” for researching your family tree and its unique history?

For those wondering, when I first started my "why" was a general I want to learn more about my family and where I came from.

Genealogy Do Over Week Two

Thomas McEntee's topics for Week Two are:
1) Setting Research Goals,
2) Conducting Self Interview
3) Conducting Family Interviews

In looking over my blog posts from January I see that I didn't blog anything about these topics. So let's see what I can manage to do this time through.

Thomas talks about setting research goals in Week Two, but what does he mean about setting research goals? In reading Thomas' blog I find that he is talking about making specific research goals to prove (or disprove) facts about an individual.

I find that I was ahead of the game on this part, a few years ago I had created a template for making research plans to help in my research. Now, I don't have research plans created for very many people at this point, but I do have one for my great grandmother and some of her immediate family, because I have a brick wall in finding her paternal grandparents. I have found my research plan is a great way to see what I know as well as what I don't know, then to plan what and where I am going to look next.

I think that doing one of those research plans on myself would satisfy the "conduct a self interview" part of this week's assignment. I am sure everyone will understand that I am not going to post that research plan online. The names, dates, and places it would contain would be giving away too much personal information on myself and my living family members. But I encourage you to also make a research plan with yourself as the person being researched.

I know many of us haven't fully written out our lives, even though when anyone is starting to work on their family tree the advice is always to start with ourselves. So we put our names, birth date and birth place, then we add our spouses, children, parents, siblings. But do we remember to add all the little things to our own profile that fill out the skeleton of names dates and places to make us a fully fleshed out person to those who will look at our work years from now?

I am taking the time now to start over and do this right. And that means starting with myself and putting in ALL the facts with proper sources and citations. And to do that I need to make a research plan for myself to remind me of all the documentation I need to find about my life.

I have a couple of maternal aunts and one maternal uncle still living, and the widow of my paternal uncle that I should interview before I lose those resources. I need to find a way to do that sooner rather than later. Two are active online so they will be easiest to chat with, the other two will take more effort on my part. I know I won't regret making the effort, I will regret it if I don't.

Here is a blank version of my research plan for your use, I have this in my word processing program which means I can type as much as I want under each heading:

Setting Genealogy Goals for 2015 (and further into the future)

One of the things that the Genealogy Do-Over has been doing for me and many others is forcing us to look at our goals and writing them down in the hopes that we can bring some order to the mess our research has become.  

Below are the goals that I have come up with so far. Yes the list is pretty extensive. No I do not think I can even come close to being able to accomplish this all in 2015. But by writing out the goals I can come up with a workable plan and can make progress in reaching those goals. I have learned from other areas to break things down into baby steps. When I just look at the big picture I can become discouraged and want to give up. When I say today I will spend 15 minutes going through 1 or 2 file folders that I can do. It is amazing how quickly those babysteps can start showing results! 

1. Find 1 or 2 others also doing this to set up a personal accountability group to keep me honest and on track. 
2. Take this list of goals and break it down to yearly, quarterly, monthly and weekly goals with some sort of checklist to help me stay on track. 
3. Set specific time aside for working on my research at least a couple of times a week. If I say it is a priority, I need to show that by actually setting aside time to work on it! 
4. Read magazines and books on the subject on a regular basis, participate in group discussions about Genealogy to keep learning new tips and tricks. 
5. Become more familiar with source citation standards so using them is 2nd nature. 
6. Set naming standards for folder and files, both digital and paper so that not only I can find what I want, but have my files organized in such a way that other will be able to use them. 
7. Develop and USE a research log.... maybe an extension of my current research plan worksheet? 
8. Create a physical file folder for each individual with an inventory sheet and a checklist of source to look for sheet. As research plans are made paper copies will also be placed into this folder. 
9. Start a new tree for my ancestors beginning with myself. 
1.  After entering name onto tree make a folder for that person on the computer and a physical file folder for that person so I can easily store all pertinent documents for that person 
2. Write a research plan for that person, store a digital copy in the folder on the computer and a paper copy in the physical file folder 
3. Locate all documentation I already have for that person, if already in digital form move to their folder. If I only have a paper copy of the documentation, either scan it or find a digital copy of the file online and place in the appropriate file. If I only have a digital copy, print out a paper copy and put into file folder. Goal is to have both a paper and digital copy of all important documents. 
4. Have an offsite backup copy of all files, for when computer glitches or fails. 
5.  Place paper copies of documents in the proper folder and put into the file cabinet, being sure to add the document to the inventory list at the front of the folder. 
6.  Enter the information one document at a time into the tree being sure to properly document the source of the information. 
7.  Only after I have reasonably exhausted all research on that individual, move on to the next individual.  
8. Make sure all information is correct, as well as correctly connected to the appropriate people, and that the source of information is correctly cited. 
10. Stay on top of filing. As I get each new document I need to file it away in its proper folder so things stay in order and don't get misplaced 
11. Pay special attention to Shields/Doten line so I can apply for membership in Mayflower Society 
12. Scan, label, file and share photos. 
13. Write quarterly family newsletter for Newman cousins, consider a quarterly newsletter for Busch cousins. 
14. Self-Publish a Busch family genealogy and submit to Family History Library in Salt Lake City, as well as a copy to the Modoc County Library and the Library is Sierra City, Sierra, California, in honor of my mother's work. Then work on self-publishing other lines and submit to the Family History Library and other libraries as appropriate to the family line. 
15. Join pertinent lineage/family societies, such as the Stiles Family of America and the Association of American Boyers to be able to collaborate with others researching common lines 
16. Finish outlining the Records of the Antrim Family in America book by Harriet Stockton Antrim to help me (and others) in researching that name since the book is not indexed, nor are individuals numbered in standardized genealogical fashion.
17. Write in the journal I started to record my personal life story on a regular basis so my descendants have a part of me in my own words when I am no longer around.

Do you have a list of goals for the coming year? Spend a little time thinking about it. Write them down, then break those goals into bite size babysteps that you can feel good about accomplishing.