Genealogy Go-Over: Setting Guidelines

genealogygoover

The series of posts I will be writing is based on the Genealogy Do-Over Workbook by Thomas MacEntee. I highly recommend it. ๐Ÿ™‚

This post is about the procedures and guidelines I am setting up for myself. I even made pretty Word documents, because if I make a list, that means I mean business! I hope at least!

procedures

None of this is too earth-shaking, but it’s what I should have done every time I researched. I still have to add a section where I make sure I am tracking my searches and negative results… Okay, I added it before I forgot, you can’t tell but it’s there. ๐Ÿ˜‰

To organize myself better, I am also playing around with ways to keep track of what I have yet to do. Right now I am playing with an Excel file I call my “Genealogy Task Tracker”.

Genealogy Task Tracker

 

The hard part of this is to remember to use it. These are all things I will be working on when I am not researching. I will probably do another tab for a different list while I am researching. I added in Filters to the file so that I can just focus on Blog, or Computer, or Documents if I want. I can even turn off those Done items and not look at them while I am working on things I still need to do. The biggest thing I have done for myself during this time, has been to work on my time management. I don’t have a traditional 9 to 5 occupation. That means that I need to be extra aware of where my time is going. Sometimes before I know it the day is done and I couldn’t tell you where it went.

masteringgenealogicalproof

All this has been very helpful because I started reading and working through Mastering Genealogical Proof and things are clicking! I am definitely setting myself up for a stronger foundation in my genealogy. I know how to solve research problems I didn’t have any idea were possible before. I am better able to decide if a record is actually an original or if it is a copy that might have some wrong information on it. For the most part, it is just that I feel my eyes are seeing more than they used to.

I also got a webcam, you can’t tell from that picture but I didn’t take the picture, my webcam did! Which maybe means I could make videos if I found a need for them. I don’t know, I haven’t figured out what to use it for yet. It’s there though. I find myself getting very excited about what I am doing again. It feels good to be excited about things again.

Other posts in this series:

  1. Genealogy Do-Over or Go-Over?
  2. Genealogy Go-Over: Getting Started
  3. Genealogy Go-Over: Setting Guidelines <- You are here.
  4. Genealogy Go-Over: Actually Do-Over
  5. Genealogy Do-Over: Where I’m At
  6. Genealogy Do-Over: More Decisions
  7. Genealogy Do-Over: More Prep Work
  8. Genealogy Do-Over: My Research Toolbox

Source List:

Thomas MacEntee, The Genealogy Do-Over Workbook (Kindle Edition); GeneaBloggersย (http://www.geneabloggers.com : downloaded 31 December 2015), Month 2.

Microsoft Office 365. My family loves to use Office, we pay the yearly subscription price and share it within our household. This beats everyone paying for a single license CD version of Office. If you don’t like Office, you can check out Google Drive or Open Office, both free alternatives.

Genealogy Go-Over: Getting Started

genealogygoover

The series of posts I will be writing is based on the Genealogy Do-Over Workbook by Thomas MacEntee. I highly recommend it. ๐Ÿ™‚

Okay, so the best way to get through things is to just jump right into them. I’ve learned that about myself over the years. Starting on Thursday of last week, I started getting things ready for my Genealogy Go-Over. The first section of the Do-Over/Go-Over is to clear your slate. I know myself, which means I’m going to have some problems keeping my fingers out of the cookie jar. My intention isn’t to start completely over from scratch. What I do want to do is revisit my current family file person by person. One of the big things that I wanted to happen in my Family File Cleanup was I wanted a good sync between my Ancestry.com DNA Family Tree, my computer database and my website database. I don’t want to have one thing in one, and have to use another for something else.

Since I will only be going over what I have, I do want to have access to my old files. I just don’t want to jump in and do 8,000 things at once. To help myself with this, I took all my paper documents which I have in acid-free page protectors and I put them in 3 ring binders that I have here. Eventually, when the time is right, I will be analyzing each of those documents. I will be getting rid of some. Anything that comes from a state repository will be staying (basically that I paid for). To help myself not get lost in the documents, I have made myself an index using Google Sheets. This way, I can easily access the list of paper documents that I have.

Binder Index in Google Sheets

I know that I could have spent hours deciding how to index this and what to put on it. That’s just how I am. Instead I went with being short and sweet. I have the focus of the record, the type of document, and whether it is scanned or not. I didn’t allow myself to even check my digital files for scans. If I knew off the top of my head it was scanned, it got a yes, otherwise it got a no. I have separate tabs for each binder. It will be very easy for me to just glance at this and get to what I need to find. The documents are in the order that the list is in, so I shouldn’t have to flip back and forth looking for anything. It’s already saved me a lot of time just when I was doing my Timeline post for William Harmon Mays.

The next big thing that I have to take into account is my digital files. When I went through my previous cleanup, I set up a numbering and organizational system that works for me. I am still trying to decide if I’m going to keep it that way, or re-organize it some other way. I don’t have to think about that yet though. Right now I’m just clearing my slate so I can breathe again. That means I did a thing.

My Genealogy DriveThis is the current state of my Genealogy Drive. I’m not going to lie to you, I still panic a bit when I look at it. I tell myself that I can still use my old organization if I want to. That thought is what pushed me into going ahead and moving everything into the Hold Over folder. In fact, I might even move the Hold Over folder to my Media Drive so that I can’t be tempted too much to go wandering in there. The only thing in my Family Files folder is my current working Legacy file. The Office Files only holds one file currently. It’s my new Genealogy Task Tracker.

There will be a few resources I will be using as I go through this process. I will be working through Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas Jones before I get back into researching. I will also be trying out Evidentia for the first time during this process. It is a lot, but I think if I take my time and go through it slowly, I will be setting myself up for success in the future.

The last thing I’m going to share today is that I’ve made a new e-mail address just for genealogy! In a perfect world, I would use my moore-mays.org email. However, it’s always been temperamental. So instead I am now using leeny.genealogy@gmail.com. I had every intention of trying to ditch the leeny part of my e-mail. I thought maybe I should have a more grown-up sounding e-mail once and for all. It was almost impossible to find one that wasn’t already in use and I’m not a fan of adding a million numbers into an e-mail.

emaildoover

So that’s where we stand as of today, I’m still working on the next part of Month 1 in the workbook. I will tell you more about that next Wednesday! ๐Ÿ™‚

Other posts in this series:

  1. Genealogy Do-Over or Go-Over?
  2. Genealogy Go-Over: Getting Startedย <- You are here.
  3. Genealogy Go-Over: Setting Guidelines
  4. Genealogy Go-Over: Actually Do-Over
  5. Genealogy Do-Over: Where I’m At
  6. Genealogy Do-Over: More Decisions
  7. Genealogy Do-Over: More Prep Work
  8. Genealogy Do-Over: My Research Toolbox

Source List:

Thomas MacEntee, The Genealogy Do-Over Workbook (Kindle Edition); GeneaBloggersย (http://www.geneabloggers.com : downloaded 31 December 2015), Month 1.

Genealogy Do-Over or Go-Over?

informationoverload

I have been equally overwhelmed and inspired since returning from my genealogy break. Coming back from a long break has left me with fresh eyes, and a mostly fresh brain. What isn’t fresh, is my computer files. After all the stress and heartache of 2014, I just didn’t have it in me to continue trying to fix the mess my computer swap left me. I basically just walked away from the task and didn’t think about it anymore.

I previously talked about it in a March 2014 post. So now here I am. Wondering how I’m going to get started again. Sure I’ve been researching, but I am limping along. My digital organization is working alright, though I’m still trying to better it. I have an overabundance of files after my computer switch and then a software switch after The Unforgivable Act (TUA). Honestly, I don’t even know if I got around to telling you the details about that aftermath. In the interest of saving web space, I will just briefly say that I was using Family Tree Maker and was test driving Legacy Family Tree. Family Tree Maker crashed for the thousandth time and corrupted my file. I restored it just fine but I officially signed off Family Tree Maker that day and started to use Legacy full-time. I was just done with dealing with it.

legacyfamilytree

The great news is that I love Legacy Family Tree. I had used it for about 6 months, learning one thing at a time. In fact, it was probably because of Legacy that I decided I’d had enough. I am very glad that a software company has taken the reins with Family Tree Maker, because I think the program is going to get better now. That doesn’t change my mind, I am still done with it as my main program. I am in love with Legacy Family Tree and I’m not changing again. ๐Ÿ™‚

You are probably wondering what my point is, and why I continue to ramble. Well, the reason is that I am a rambler and rambling is what I do best… No, sorry, ignore my sad attempt at humor. I’m rambling because I’m contemplating another decision and I think I know what I’m going to do but I’m not jumping in just yet. While I was away, the genealogy online community started a Genealogy Do-Over movement, which is kind of like my Family File Cleanup except more organized, with peer support, and you know actual planning!ย  I was feeling pretty depressed about the state of all my files and even the state of my source citations which I am re-doing… again. I know, it’s not lost on me either that I am doing it again.

The difference between a Genealogy Do-Over and a Go-Over is kind of self-explanatory. I don’t think I need a full do-over because I just did my file cleanup and everything in my file is sourced. I just want to re-do them in Source Writer. I think what I need to do is go over everything one more time and make it uniform again. I was reading Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over workbook and it really inspired me. What I didn’t do in my family file cleanup was to set guidelines or practices for myself. I don’t have any set plans, I just fly by the seat of my yoga pants. That is what I know I need to change. I also want to learn how to better examine evidence and not work through it so quickly. If you are worried I will disappear again, never fear, I am going to document everything here. Just because I don’t think you hear from me enough. HAHA!

Other posts in this series:

  1. Genealogy Do-Over or Go-Over? <- You are here.
  2. Genealogy Go-Over: Getting Started
  3. Genealogy Go-Over: Setting Guidelines
  4. Genealogy Go-Over: Actually Do-Over
  5. Genealogy Do-Over: Where I’m At
  6. Genealogy Do-Over: More Decisions
  7. Genealogy Do-Over: More Prep Work
  8. Genealogy Do-Over: My Research Toolbox

Disclaimer: Legacy and Family Tree Maker have no connection to me. I receive no compensation for talking about them. I purchased both programs with my own money. There are no affiliate links in this blog but I can’t speak for when you leave this blog. I purposely didn’t link to either software program because I didn’t want to have to link them a million times as I talked about them. You can find Family Tree Maker and Legacy Family Tree by clicking their names in this disclaimer.