Lesson 9 - Clean Up & Collaboration

Doing family history research works best when it becomes a collaborative effort.  It is very common for people doing genealogy to discover other people working on the same lines so they can help each other by sharing information rather than duplicating efforts.  However, that kind of collaboration can get sticky when we discover our information to be slightly different from what someone else may have.  Which is accurate?  How can we be sure?

Sometimes those differences may be minor, such as a date of birth for some long dead ancestor being a week off one way or the other.  Sometimes it is a big difference, like having a particular person listed in an entirely different family.  When addressing the differences we find in our data, whether large or small, it is important to use tact and to give one another the benefit of the doubt.

Using digital tools like FamilySearch or Ancestry.com provides a great way for people to contact each other to discuss issues about contradicting information so that the records posted there can be made as reliable as possible.  Writing letters to others, making phone calls, or going to visit and share info can all be richly rewarding.

Particularly when working in FamilySearch which allows other people to make changes to the information posted, it becomes especially key to take care in how we communicate and to appreciate one another's intentions even when some of the information showing may need some clean up.

MOST online genealogy tools are closed, meaning that each person enters their data how they think it should be and no one else can touch it.  If they have set their research to be made public, others can see their information which is great for collaboration.  But if I am working in FindMyPast or Ancestry.com I cannot do anything to someone else's data base.
 
FamilySearch is a very different sort of program.  The goal of FamilySearch is to create ONE big database for the human family that we each tie into.  That means when I post a listing for my grandmother, that SAME post is what will appear for my cousins (for whom she is also their grandmother),  for my aunts and uncles (for whom she is their mother) or for my grandfather (for whom she is his wife.).   Any of us can go in and tinker with the spelling of the name, the date and place of key events, or post other notes, photos, documents, sources, etc.

It is all too easy to get our feathers ruffled if someone tells us our information is wrong or criticizes some change we made.  Or, the flip side of that, some may initially get down right indignant if they see someone else has been making changes in the records that they originally posted.   Particularly when someone has spent a lot of time and energy putting information into the system, or has a close personal bond to the family, it is only natural to feel somewhat territorial about how things appear.

People approach doing family history work with all different skill levels.  Sometimes mistakes will be made, even by the most skilled researchers. How we respond to those mistakes can make or break our future relationships with potential collaborators and can make the difference between having a great experience in doing family history work or one big knot of frustration.

I really do believe that the potential for building stronger bonds between the living family members is as important a feature of  FamilySearch as is the ability to record information about the dead.  

We all can learn from each other.  Whether you are on the side of having the best, most accurate and complete information or on the side of having some records that could be improved - EVERYONE has something to contribute.  The more we are open to sharing what we know and genuinely being willing to listen to and learn from others, the greater experience we will have.

Lesson 8 - The Ten Minute Genealogist

One of the reasons some people are hesitant to begin working on family history is because they do not have the TIME to get serious about genealogy. Beyond that, they are afraid they will never see their dining room table again. For some people, working on family history projects has a way of taking over their life and space. But it doesn't have to be that way. Meaningful family history work can be done in manageable, bite size increments that can be kept neatly organized.

The lesson in my family history class today was about doing family history in just 10 minutes a day. That's right. TEN MINUTES.

The exact amount of time set aside may vary from person to person, depending on their own circumstances. For some it may be 10 minutes. For others it may be 30 minutes or an hour. However the principle is a good one. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the enormity of the task and not starting at all, or getting lost in one or two marathon sessions that we never return to, we can each set aside whatever amount of time fits for us and then incorporate regular periods of family history work into our daily life.

It really is amazing what a person can get accomplished in just a few minutes a day if they are willing to set aside a plan of action. How that plan will look will of course be customized to fit the individual. But here is one suggested process we talked about:

1. Set the timer

2. Begin with a short prayer
3. Open the log you have created, and note what you will be working on that day. (This may be a simple notebook or a document in a word processing program. Use whatever works best for you. )
4. Open whatever family history program you are using.  This may be
FamilySearch,  Ancestry.com, My Heritage or some other system. 
5. Spend the time you have pre-determined on whatever task that you had planned.  It might be checking census records for particular family members.  It might be writing query letters (either by hand or online) to relatives.  It might be viewing a tutorial video to learn something new.  Each of those things are worthwhile and can be done in as little as 10 minutes.
6. STOP when your timer goes off.  Don't say " Oh, I just need to do one more thing".  There will ALWAYS be one more thing.  Plan your time and then respect those limits.  That makes it far more likely you will come back to it consistently and THAT is what will make all the difference.
7. Save and close your software
8. Close with prayer

A KEY PRINCIPLE of the lesson today was that as Latter-day Saints, we are involved in a spiritual endeavor. MANY people outside the church do family history out of curiosity or from pride in their family history. That's great. But for us, it is something different. We believe we are undertaking a work that has the power to bind families together through the sealing power of sacred temple covenants. With that in mind, we should begin and end each session of family history work with prayer. Because we are doing work the Lord wants us to do we have the opportunity to ask for inspiration and personal revelation to guide us where we should go.

The other principle we talked about was the importance of keeping a log. Especially because this method means committing to working in small, manageable bites it is critical that we stay on track. It is very easy to get distracted on different tangents. Also, if we don't leave a bread crumb trail of notes in a log sheet of what we checked already and what we plan to check on next we may forget where we've already been, leading to wasted effort as we follow the same trail again and again. Besides that, keeping a log allows us to see the progress we make, accumulating our accomplishments bit by bit, like marking a child's growth on the inside of a closet door.

TIME IS UP. This entry took me about 10 minutes. What can YOU do in that time?

Remember, it doesn't take a lot of time. It just takes a little time used well. As it says in Alma 37:6 "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances does confound the wise."

Lesson 7 - ON Target : Setting Genealogy Goals

In today's family history class we returned to the idea of goal setting.

We talked about some of the suggestions for genealogy goal setting that professional genealogist Jennifer Holik-Urban has posted online which can be found HERE.

In some ways it seems logical to have specific outlines for what we hope to accomplish. After all, most worthwhile activities require some forethought and planning, perhaps the creation of something like the ...M-O-A-L (Mother of All Lists) check list that Quintin Phillips uses when planning a white water rafting trip.

However, one of the points we discussed was the difference between establishing specific goals and living in patterns that lead us toward what we want to achieve.

I might have a GOAL to completely document all the principle players of my pedigree sheet for 10 generations. However, it is the pattern of continually seeking, learning, organizing, sharing that is what really matters. Whether I wind up with the information on every single person I planned to or not, that pattern will enrich my life and will help me accomplish a great deal.

This is more than just a matter of semantics. Goals are destination focused. Patterns are all about the process, the journey along the way. It is my hope to establish patterns that will guide me toward developing increased research skills and help me build relationships with others (extended family, fellow researchers, etc). Whether or not I get full documentation for all those generations....who knows? Sure, I aim to try. But I will consider myself to have SUCCEEDED when I have so completely ingrained the pattern of regularly engaging in research, networking and organizing records that it becomes as natural to me as brushing my teeth before I go to bed at night. If I can manage that, I have no doubt that tremendous breakthroughs will come my way despite having a few lines that today seem pretty much stuck.

Nevertheless - Ms. Holik-Urban has some great ideas and resources for genealogy goal setting that I find very valuable to help me in my process of building patterns into my life:

1) EDUCATION Goals- There are a variety of resources for workshops, classes, webinars and other learning opportunities to pick up new skills or sharpen expertise in doing family history research.

Whether someone is interested in formal certificate programs such as those offered by BYU or the National Genealogical Society or a more casual approach such as setting aside a certain time to read books and journals, follow genealogy blogs, etc it just makes sense to commit one's self to learning all they can to be a more effective researcher.

2) RESEARCH Goals - Clearly there is a difference between "working on my family history" in a general way and trying to identify which ship John Burlington emigrated to America on and then to obtain a passenger list to seek the names of the three children I know died along the way. There is a time for casual meandering through records to get a feel for a family and a time for making specific lists of what information I am looking for so I can build a strategy for finding it. This is where specific research goals can really help. Ancestry.com has some good guidelines for how to go about that.

3. ORGANIZATION Goals - This is where I really need to focus over the next six months. Because I recently moved, all my family history records got stuffed into boxes and I have yet to set up an adequate filing system that meets my needs within the space and resources I have to work with. There are a lot of different ways to approach this. One that is important to me is to digitize all my records. Because I work full time and do some adjunct teaching at a community college on the side, I do not have a lot of discretionary time. Still, like eating an elephant, I can take on this mammoth job "one bite at a time" by committing to spend 20 minutes or an hour every weekend scanning the next stack of documents and photographs. I just need to DO IT.

4. WRITING Goals - One of the reasons I feel so close to some of my ancestors is because some of them took the time to write about their lives. For a few others, there have been fascinating histories written by down downstream relations who researched their lives. The Armchair Genealogist Blog is a terrific resource for tips on writing personal or family histories.

I've very much enjoyed working on writing OTHER people's histories. My own I've been more reluctant to take on, for a number of reasons. However, even if I never get around to writing an "official" history of my life, I console myself with the knowledge that my grandkids can always take a peek at my views and values, as well as some of the key events of my days by reading my various blogs:

Mind Muffins(2006-2012)

Life by Design (2007-2009)

Apprentice Human (2006)

5. NETWORKING Goals - In this modern age of Facebook and Twitter some people forget about the good old fashioned form of networking - writing letters or going to visit. I have met many WONDERFUL people over the years who I found through seeking family records. Some were "shirt tail relatives" and others were not related at all. However, the things I learned from people like Bess Britton in Van Buren County, MI or Cindy Allen in Salem OR are treasures I will never forget. I believe that as we share the spirit of Elijah with others who have an interest in family research, all our lives will be richly blessed.

So there you have it - that's a summary of the goal categories that Jennifer Holick-Urban shared in her work. Some may fit you well for your life while others you may choose to skip over for now. That's fine. The thing is, for too many people, the task of taking on a family history project can seem so big and complicated that they just get overwhelmed and do nothing.

When it comes to genealogy, like many other areas of my life, I try to remember the words of Edward Everett Hale who said: " I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

Remember, the best, and only way to eat an elephant has always been one bite at a time.

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