Decade Notes

I’ve been researching my Stephens family line for years. And I LOVE my notes for each generation! My notes are in timeline format and I enter every single thing I can find including “probable” events such as births that I don’t have an exact date for. My source citations in these notes are as complete as anything that I have and are MUCH easier for me to keep up to date than within my genealogy software. I include maps and cropped images of the records that I’ve found within the notes so I don’t have to dig through files unless I need to see the full page. I make colorized notes to myself along the edge with text boxes around them to make them stand out. In these notes to myself, I include ideas of books to look at when I go to the library, questions as to why something might be happening or why I think my records might have a mistake.  For example, I may have a clue to a birth location from someone else researching my family, but when I put it in the notes, the location does not match the proven location of the parent. I also include small images of simplified group sheets with the ages of each person at that time period to help me keep the people straight in my mind. By including the ages at that time, it helps me see if a son is old enough to be found in the tax records or if he is too young to be married. If a mother and father have passed away, but still have young children, where are the children living? These are all questions that I would put along the edges of my notes.

But I still get confused when I have to compare the notes from one generation to another generation.  For example, I can’t find Andrew Stephens in the 1870 census. So I wanted to look at Andrew’s father’s notes as well as Andrew’s children’s notes to see where THEY were in 1870 to see if Andrew was nearby. When that didn’t work, I looked at Andrew’s siblings and their children. Now I’ve got people named the same thing in various locations and my brain just has a hard time keeping it all straight. (I blame this on the medication that I’m taking – and I’m sticking with that story!)

So, during the ride home from Spring Break, I decided to combine all of the notes from my Stephens research into one file. I took each individual’s records and made the text for each a different color. Then, I copied and pasted them all into one file while still keeping everything in chronological order. I’ll still keep my original notes, but by combining them all, I’m hoping to see better patterns in locations and records available. But this new document became QUITE long – beginning with 1715 and continuing through 1928, so I decided to put it in my binder with dividers for every decade. I REALLY like it! In 10 year time periods, I can make some nice maps of the changing county boundaries to get a better idea of where to look for records – and what counties are nearby at that time. It’s much easier to keep track of where each person is that I’m tracking by having a US map with a pin for each person’s locations. And gaps in records become much more evident. By having entire lifetimes in one document, it wasn’t giving me a realistic idea of how much time had gone by from one record to the next. Two pages could be 5 years or 30 years depending on how much information I’ve found.

I’ve decided on a 2 binder approach. One binder has my notes and the appropriate source records all in chronological order. The other binder will be my “clues”. Printed emails, web sites, church histories and such go in the “clue binder” that I can have open side-by-side with my notes binder. This keeps all of my records in order while still having easy access to whatever I’ve found online that I want to follow up on. Group sheets for every family member – even siblings – will go in the Clue Binder. Each decade will have it’s own Research Plan. Before this, I’ve been creating Research Plans for each person, so the new Research Plans will deal with all of the people I’m tracking within that decade.

I’m looking forward to putting these binders together and adding records and hints. I think it will help me stay focused because the time period I’ll be researching will be shorter rather than looking for anything that matches an individual within his entire lifetime.

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Scattered!

As you know from one of my recent posts, for Christmas, I received the gift of my own room – actually 2 rooms because there’s a tiny room just off of “my” room. This is to be my genealogy (and scrapbooking) sanctuary. A place where I can make and sort my piles and not have to put them away. A place for me to put papers and maps all over the wall and not worry about what visitors might think. And I’ve been spending any free time that I have on the week-ends re-painting and moving furniture and such and now it’s finally at a place where I can do a little genealogy without tripping over stuff. It still has a ways to go to be my ideal room, but at least it’s usable and today, I’ve been able to spend the day working on my files.

But what I’m finding it that my files are SCATTERED all over the house! You know how it is, take a file from your filing cabinet to the library. Write all over the file and keep it in a backpack for your next trip. But you need the backpack for a different reason, so the file gets put on the kitchen counter. Then company comes, so you put the file into a drawer – on and on it goes.

So now, my goal is to start collecting everything genealogy related from the various rooms and desks and drawers and backpacks of the house and into my genealogy room. Each of the cubbies that I’ve purchased will be dedicated to a surname as I gather the files. Whenever I get to spend some time in my room, I’ll go through the stacks and get them placed into the correct file in my filing cabinet.

Now I can hear many of you saying, “It’s time to go paperless!” and for the most part, I do have digital versions of my collection, but it’s just not the same as flipping through the pages and writing questions and thoughts in the margins. Not to mention the fact that I have digital files on an old laptop, on an external drive, on Dropbox and Google Drive and on a couple of flash drives.  The flash drives go with me everywhere so that when I have time to do some web surfing, I have my files with me. But until recently, I haven’t had a flash drive large enough for ALL my files, so my digital dilemma is very similar to my paper dilemma. Which location has the most recent file? Did I combine my newest information with the information on my laptop?

So I’m beginning with one family line – Stephens. And I’m making my largest flash drive my final location for files. I’ll be comparing my paper notes with my digital files and getting everything into the FINAL location. When I think I have found all of my print outs, folders, files, binders, etc. and put them in my room and all of my notes for a family up to date, then I’ll print them out and replace anything in my filing cabinet that needs to be updated and then I will throw away the old files. I’ve always been reluctant to throw out anything because of the stuff I written in the margins, but that’s how I’ve gotten into the mess I’m in now. So this will be the ultimate purging of my files. Will this be a quick process, of course not. But I have a feeling that as I go through these things, I will find that puzzles will be solved and I’ll have a more complete set of notes to research from in the future!

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Happy New Year!

Ahhhh…..January 1st! A new beginning! A fresh start! For one day at least, I don’t feel overwhelmed with projects and “to do” lists because, for today, the slate is wiped clean and the possibilities are endless.

Too bad that feeling won’t last long!

BUT, I do have a few goals (I won’t call them resolutions) or projects for 2013.

#1) My first “goal” for this year is to put a serious dent into my citations. I continue to collect information for my family tree and I’ve been indicating the location where the information was found, but not anywhere NEAR the citation format that ‘d like to have. Right now, my footnote might say simply “Find-a-grave” or a library book call number. Time to update those sources into true citations!

#2) Project – I really do hope to create the interactive PowerPoint project for my family to enjoy. Obviously, I was unable to get that done this year, but I’m hoping for some significant changes in my job this year which could potentially give me significantly more time to work on my genealogy. It’s potentially too good to even mention out loud, so this change is in the whisper stages only!

#3) Organization - I have found that I often desire to work on my genealogy, but have NO desire to search for the files I need when I only have an hour or less to work. How wonderful would it be to have a place that I look forward to being in that has fewer distractions (yes, washing machine beep, I’m talking about you!) as well as having all of my genealogy stuff in an easily accessible location? I’d love a way to display my materials on a large scale because I’m just such a visual person that I often see connections or questions only when I see everything at the same time.

I have to say that I’m one of the luckiest women in the world because I have the best husband around! We have been married for 27 years and have 4 children. Our house has 5 bedrooms but two of our children are out on their own, leaving 2 “empty” bedrooms. For Christmas this year, I’ve been given the go-ahead (Along with a very generous pre-paid Visa card!) to make one of those bedrooms into my very own genealogy heaven!

My plans include a fresh coat of paint, with one wall having special paint to make it a magnet board – a twelve foot magnet board! All new furniture including my ideas for the ideal genealogy file system where I can lay out a project and not have to put it away until I’m ready to move on to a different family! I plan to have a counter-height cubbie system to keep my tools, files and magazines stored in while spreading various files across the top to analyze. I will spread my papers across the top for organizing, scanning, hole punching, writing on, or whatever is needed at that time without worrying about putting it all away because my family needs the kitchen table for dinner!

Pictures of ancestors on the walls, maps and charts and colorful dry erase boards to keep reminders and plans on. I plan to have large print-outs of groups sheets and 5-gen charts displayed for quick reference. I’ll have a system for easy storage and access to the rolls of newsprint that I like to use.

And everything in bright colors that I wouldn’t normally have in my more traditional rooms because I won’t have to please anyone but myself! My 3rd son is supplying the painting labor as his Christmas gift to me – a project which begins tomorrow! The room has no windows, so I plan to use color to make the room brighter. I’m buying the colorful canvas boxes to put in the cubbie spaces and I’m getting colorful binders for my single surname worksheets and files.

One of my Christmas gifts was a small, wireless speaker that has fantastic sound that I plan to use to listen to podcasts or music. I also got a nice flatscreen tv that won’t take up much space, but which will allow me to hook my computer into to watch web videos on various genealogy subjects. I’m even planning to have an area for “refreshments”. I have a small refrigerator that we got for college boys that will now be in my room and I’m planning space for making my favorite tea.

Shopping starts today! Any suggestions for my “genealogy heaven”?

Happy New Year to all my genealogy friends! Praying that you have many blessings in the coming year!

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Excel and Word Group Sheet Templates

I had a blog reader ask me if I’d be willing to send him my group sheet templates in Excel and Word.  I thought for SURE that I had made those available to download on this blog, but I can’t find them, so I must not have!

I’m not sure if all of my column settings download correctly for everyone or not, but here they are. If you need setting details, let me know and I’ll be happy to share.

Blank Group Sheet – Excel

Blank Group Sheet – Word

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30 Minute Genealogy

Lately, I’ve been wallowing in self-pity over the lack of time that I have to work on my genealogy.  If you read my last post, you know that I worked to get a big project completed so that I could have some research time over the 3 day week-end. So now, the big project is done (at least, this phase of it) and how much time have I spent working on genealogy this week?  None.  Why?  Because “there isn’t enough time.”

What this really means is that I don’t have an entire day available to me to surround myself in genealogy.  To spread out the charts and maps and forget about the housework and the schoolwork and just immerse myself in genealogy. But really, how often does THAT come along? What I really need is to get organized in such a way that I could grab something from my file and work on a specific task for 30 minutes or so.

I could easily spend 30 minutes just thumbing through my records for an ancestor and thinking of what I’d like to research next.  I need to have a list handy of things to do so that I can jump right in and feel like I’ve accomplished something in that 30 minutes or so. I’ve been brainstorming ideas on this for the past couple of days and I’ve divided my list into 3 areas depending on how I’m feeling when that free time arrives.

I could use my hypothetical 30 minutes for personal RESEARCH – or preparing for research when those wonderful “surround myself in genealogy” days come along. I could spend my 30 minutes on genealogy EDUCATION to learn something that will help me break down a brick wall or learn about a new resource I’ve never used. Or I could spend my time on BUSY WORK to complete some of those not-so-fun tasks that always seem to be hanging over my head.

So I’ve decided to post my three lists and see if anyone has additional ideas to add. Right after I find a few minutes to make my list a little more coherent… Stay Tuned!

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Decisions, decisions

Ahhhh….an unexpected day for genealogy research.  I’m at home sick today so I thought I’d catch up on some genealogy emails. In a Genealogy Newsline email, I clicked on a link for newly posted Illinois Probate Scans on Family Search.  I decided to look for some information on family lines I haven’t researched in about 3 years on my husband’s line and found some great stuff!

As I went to update my group sheets and notes, I realized that my group sheets for this line were not converted to the Word template that I created in order to easily add my citations.  In other words, nothing in these groups sheets have citations. My typed notes have general citations in parentheses after each fact, but they are not in footnote form.

So my decision delimma.  I so seldom get to do research, do I spend my time today on the web site collecting new information or do I work on updating my group sheets to include citations?  The organizer in my desperately wants to update my notes and group sheets to include citations, but that’s not a quick fix and each file will lead to another file and so on.  I’m not happy with the way these files are organized on my computer, so I could update things today and then decide to reorganize files later, which would mean my links in the citations would be broken.

So I suppose that because of the very limited amount of time I have to work today (not to mention the pounding headache I have) I’ll probably collect more files to add to the “to be organized later” pile.  Maybe a nice compromise will be to convert the group sheets to my Word template and add a citation for the stuff I collect today so at least I’ll have THAT much done.

All in all, I’m just happy to be researching!

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The Microfilm Log

As promised yesterday, I’m posting the log sheet that I created to keep track of what I’ve researched on specific microfilm reels.  I’m using Excel for this file with margins set at .25 for top and bottom and .45 for left and right.  It’s created to be sheets for 2 different microfilm – 1/2 sheet each. I cut them apart and hole punched them to put in my Research Planner which is a Franklin Covey Compact Planner.

Click Blank Microfilm Logs to download the form.

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Only One Research Log?

I have a problem.  I’m a perfectionist.  Sometimes called “Type A” personality. My husband sometimes says I’m OCD.  All I know is that I never feel organized enough.  I don’t have a very good memory and I often repeat research that I’ve already done.  So when I decide to spend money to rent a microfilm or two from the FHL, I feel a tiny bit of panic.  Have I ordered this before?  If so, where are those scans?  Did I look for a specific person? Did I do a quick scan for all of the people in my tree that fit the time period?  Have I found more information on a family since I looked at the film?

When I read how “real” genealogists do their research (I consider myself to be a really serious hobbyist ; ) I read alot about research logs.  Write down the date, the book or film and what you found or didn’t find.  Which sounds like a great idea.  But who in the world can remember WHEN they researched something?  This has never worked for me, so consequently, I don’t have a research log – I have several types of research logs.  Is this the most efficient way of recording my research?  I’m not sure yet, but it’s WAY better than what I did a couple of years ago.

I have a research log for each person I’m researching, which I absolutely love. But I also have a log sheet for individual books.  Title, author, call number, citation, date researched and what I looked for and found.  Now when I grab a book off the library shelf, I can look to see what I’ve already looked for and if I made copies or not.  As of this morning, I also have a log sheet for microfilm.

My book and microfilm logs are designed in Excel to fit in my research planner, so each log fits on a half sheet of paper.  I hole punch them and keep them in my planner.  I’m spending a couple of hours at the library this morning as 4 films that I ordered arrived yesterday, so I’m going to give this a test run and then I’ll post the file tomorrow when I think I’ve “perfected” it.

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Creating a Research Log

I was using my Research Log this morning and I was thinking about how helpful it is to me for keeping track of what I’ve already searched.  I thought I might re-post this blog from 2009 to see if it could help anyone else.  Happy Researching! ~Lisa

Last week-end, I had a 3 hour car ride to contemplate what my “ideal” research log would look like.  I had printed out my notes for Joseph Scott (1832-1914, Russell County, Kentucky) and purposely did not bring along anything else so that I would be totally focused on the one family.  For 3 hours, I read and re-read the notes jotting down questions and making sure all my little scraps of paper and post-it notes were included.  I decided to create a 1 page document with Joseph’s basic vital information along with a timeline of locations for his family.  After that, I began making a list of questions I have along with a list of sources I could search to find the answers.  I also included sources I had already searched.

Of course, I used Excel to create the log so that it will be easy to update and easy to adapt to other ancestors.  I had already created a database of sources available at the Allen County Library for the counties I research in, so those sources were easy to add to the log.  I’m in the process of searching the Kentucky Archives catalog and the FHL catalog for additional sources that I don’t have access to at the library.  I’ll also add web sites that could help my research.  My ultimate goal for the log is to have a record that I can add to my ancestor’s folder so that when I grab the folder to take to the library, the log will be waiting.  I’ll know what I’ve already researched and what I want to look-up on my next trip.  I need to be able to update it quickly, especially if I read an interesting article or twitter tweet that gives me a new idea of a source to search.  But more than anything, I need to FEEL organized and confident that I have thoroughly analyzed my notes and that I don’t need to take the time to analyze them again.  That, more than anything, keeps me from working on my research.  I don’t usually work on my research unless I have a full day – which I seldom have during the school year.  So if I can take smaller chunks of time to do the analyzing – and creating the log – then I’ll be more likely to jump into my research when opportunities do present themselves.

So here my the first version of my research log.  While I don’t want this log template to become a huge project, I am trying to think if there are other things I need to add to be as effective as possible.  It just occurred to me that I should include a list of people that I know are also searching Joseph along with email and snail mail addresses.

Please feel free to comment if you think something else would be helpful!

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Keeping Track of the Clues

A couple of years ago, I posted several articles about using Excel to help with genealogy research.  I created my own version of Family Group Sheets and this week, I’ve begun making modifications to those to help me keep track of clues that I’m finding while I’m trying to determine if a certain family connects to mine. The time frame for this family is late 1700′s to early 1800′s so I’m not able to find potential birth dates based on census records or anything like that, so little clues from wills, deeds and court records can help me put the pieces together.

But I need to be able to keep these clues in an organized fashion – not on post it notes on my bulletin board or even in a notebook because sooner or later, I’ll lose track of those.  So I’m using hidden rows in my Excel Group Sheet. The beauty of hidden rows is that I can print a regular group sheet

or I can print an expanded version showing the clues that I’ve been gathering. A Group sheet fits on one side of a sheet of paper, but these rows can be whatever size I need to add every little clue that I find and I won’t have to worry about it ruining the look of my group sheet.  I can transcribe parts of documents or write out my thought processes to help me match potential ancestors with information I already have.

To include hidden rows in your Excel file:

1) Right click on the number of the row below the location you’d like to insert a row.  Select “insert”.

2)  I prefer for the row to be one cell with centered, red, italic print.  You can select all of these options by highlighting the cells, right clicking and clicking on the options you’d like.

3)  My group sheet has some areas for notes, but I usually add a hidden row under each child’s name and any other place which I might want to add information such as birth/death/marriage dates or parents’ names.  To hide a row, right click on the number at the beginning of the row you’d like to hide.  Select “hide” and the line will disappear.  Notice that the number also disappears, which can be a reminder that you have a hidden row.  If rows are hidden, they do not appear on your print out.

4)  To make the row visible again, highlight the rows above and below, right click and select “unhide”.  Once rows are unhidden, they will show up on your print out.

5)  If you have more than one hidden row, you can reveal them all by highlighting the entire group sheet or a group of rows, right clicking and selecting “unhide”.

Using hidden rows keeps me organized.  Knowing that I can add as much information as I want without messing up the look of my traditional group sheet makes it more likely that I will add the information to my sheet.  I won’t have to worry about missing the clue that ties everything together.

Would you like a copy of the Group Sheet in Excel?  Just click here!

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