Planning Tips Welcome

I don’t know if my title is explanatory enough. I wanted to call it ‘Planning Trips Tips Welcome’ but that sounded weird. So we’re left with just tips. I’m hoping to make some genealogy trips this summer. One to Ohio and the other to New Jersey. So before I’m in the car on the way there, I want to make a list of the things I’d like to look up.

One of the many things I have to do is update my family file for my Mom’s Ohio side. My Dad’s New Jersey side is as up to date as I can get it. I’m ahead of the game there. I plan on taking my laptop and a written list. However, I recently was able to get a cell phone upgrade. I bit the bullet and got an iPhone. I quickly downloaded the free Ancestry.com app, and I’m pretty sure that if I get my private tree up to date, it will help immensely on a research trip. I don’t know if there will be restrictions, natural or otherwise, that will keep me from having my laptop at my disposal.

Ancestry.com app for iPhone

Having a basic version of the family file available on my phone is a godsend for me.

Okay, onto the hard part. I need to make a basic list of which records I’d most like to get while I’m in each place. Most likely I will make an Excel file and have it in my Gmail account so that I can view it from my phone.

Here is what I plan on doing over the next two months:

  • Look up the libraries/court houses/archives I plan on visiting and get their address and hours. This way I’ll know exactly where I need to be and when. Hopefully they have a set of rules online that I can also read, so I know what I’m walking into.
  • Make a list of vital records I want to find and sort them by date, surname, and location.
  • Make a list of secondary records that I can look for if I’m faced with more then I expected. For example, in Salisbury there are many, many alternative resources for the Taylors. (Court records, Land records, Research Papers, Biographical Histories, etc)
  • Make a list of cemeteries and who I need to get photographs for.
  • Make a RootsMagic CD of the family tree for all those interested in having a copy of the current version. There have been sparks of interest over the last year or so.

So I think that’s enough to keep me busy, along with my newfound love of quilting. So hopefully I’ll get enough done to be more prepared for research when I’m there. Luckily enough, most of the things above coincide with my 2011 goals. So I’ll be knocking both lists out.

Feel free to leave some tips or tricks for me about researching on location! I could use all the help I can get!

 

5 thoughts on “Planning Tips Welcome

  1. Claudia says:

    There is an app for Android that is called a Cam Scanner. It lets you take pictures of documents and it will adjust the exposure. I do not know if it is also for i Phone or not. I have not used it yet but it is downloaded.

    Also I have an account at Dropbox. You can set up the account on your computer and then access it through your smart phone. It will store documents as well as photos.

    I am sad that Ancestry is only on the i Phone.

    • Kathleen says:

      Thanks for the tips Claudia! I totally forgot about my Dropbox account. So I’ve loaded that into my phone also. I did find CamScanner for free on my iPhone. There’s a free and a 4.99 one. I don’t know what the differences are, but I’m going to check out the free one first.

      I’m sad that there are such problems with cross platforming so many things. Hopefully they have a Droid Ancestry app soon. It’s very basic, just the family tree section. I don’t see why it would be a problem making it for both!

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