Batch Researching

Recently, I was presented with a glorious gift!  A new friend is allowing me to borrow a whole box of various microfilms for Russell County!  I decided to begin with the Marriage Bonds Books.  I began by using FTM to make a list of all married individuals along with the marriage dates, if known.

I then transferred those names into an Excel file with columns for Males, Marriage Date, County and Females.  I wanted to be able to sort by chronological order of marriage date, or alphabetically by men or women.  Then, because I was missing some marriage dates, I added a column for birth dates so that I could make an estimate of marriage dates – guessing men were married around age 20.

I printed 3 versions of the list – Chronologically by marriage date, alphabetical men, and alphabetical women.  I took the lists to the library with the microfilm and began by looking for the men’s names in the indexes (which I discovered are pretty inaccurate).  I looked for permission slips, bonds and certificates for every couple on my list.  Some were easy to find.  Some were surprisingly different from the dates I had in my database.  And some were like finding Easter Eggs.  I discovered some middle names and maiden names that I didn’t have before.  I was able to find just about all of the ones I was looking for.  I also found potential records for names that I had approximate birth dates based on census records that “dropped out of site” once they moved away from home.  More clues to follow up on! The ones that I couldn’t find will be first on my list for surrounding counties. (After I look  just one more time….)

I’m now in the process of entering/correcting dates along with sources into my Family Tree Maker, Ancestry, Groups Sheets and Notes.  I don’t know what I’d do if I had trees in several internet sites to update!  As I am updating group sheets, I’m seeing additional names that didn’t show up in my original FTM report because I didn’t have a spouse listed, but I can add those names to look for potential matches.

I’m also happy that I have the beginnings of an Excel database with all of my Russell County names that I can add too.  I did end up adding a column for notes so that I could indicate if a record was a POSSIBLE match or if I came across a clue to follow up on.  I can add death dates and burial locations so that I can sort based on that information as well.  I like the idea of sorting males based on birth dates so that I’ll know when they turned 21 and should start appearing in tax lists.  When men or women are sorted alphabetically, it keeps family groups together as well so that I can look for other patterns.  When visiting cemeteries, I can sort so that all names from the same cemetery are together.

The only drawback that I can see to this “batch researching” is that I have a feeling that I’m missing clues by not taking the time to work on one specific family at a time.  I’ll have to be sure that as I put this information into each set of notes, that I’m thinking through what I’m reading and what the next step would be.  All questions or trains of thought should be writing into my Research Log as I go along.

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Scrambled Sources

I’ve been doing genealogy research for a long time and I’ve learned a lot about what NOT to do and sometimes I have an overwhelming desire to start over!  When I first started researching my family, I documented nothing.  How could I possibly forget the joy of finding that piece of information?  SURELY, I didn’t need to write that down!  Eventually, I saw how wrong that was and I did start adding sources.  But it was a simple “1880 Census” or “Death Certificate”.  Later, I started adding page numbers or ED numbers for census records etc.  But the same source might be listed 1 way for 1 fact and a totally different way for another fact.

Then there were better explanations of proper source citations so I started trying to add details to my sources as I was seeing in the examples.  In the meantime, I had updated my software several times and the source templates were different every time, so I now have the same sources listed several different ways and the perfectionist in me is very frustrated.  I truly want my research to be complete and as professional as possible.  And I feel like I’m at a cross-road of sorts because I’m ready to upgrade my software once again to Family Tree Maker 2010.

One part of me wants to transfer my tree to the new software and then wipe out ALL of the sources and re-enter them one at a time so I can “do it right”.  But that’s crazy!  I don’t have time for that!!!  This is one of those types of things where I put it off and put it off because if I can’t do it right, I won’t do it at all.  (Much like I put off learning my 2008 software because the format was soooo different from what I was used to!) 

Maybe it would be a bit of a time saver to download my GEDCOM from Ancestry for my new software and at least have those sources automatically entered for me and then go back and add the sources that are missing.  I probably have more people on my Ancestry tree than I do in my FTM database anyway and the time I could save just by not having to enter source data for every census record would be substantial.

I’ve never had the desire to have thousands of individuals in my tree.  I really want to feel like I KNOW the people I am researching.  Bottom line, that means that I usually add children’s name that aren’t my direct line and perhaps even their spouses, but I don’t usually go beyond that.  I’m not the type to click on the “Add this family to your tree” button on Ancestry and I don’t intend to start that now.  So my tree has fewer than 2000 people in it (wow, that actually seems pretty big to me now that I see that in print!) but that includes my side as well as my husband’s side.

Admittedly, I haven’t opened my FTM 2010 yet, so my idea may not even work, but that certainly seems like a better way to go than the “start from scratch” method.  And it’s not like doing it that way would wipe out my FTM 2009 database.  Plus, I’m working with each family to create my research logs a little at a time, so that would be a good time to confirm sources and fill in blanks, right?  Perhaps the new software has a “fix the sources” button kind of like the “Resolve Place Names” button in the 2009 version?  If not, maybe that’s a suggestion for the next upgrade!!

Thoughts?  I’m certainly open to suggestions!

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Test driving the log

Yesterday was my first opportunity to use the research log I had created for Joseph Scott and I loved it!  It kept me on task and helped me to keep track of what I was looking at.  I quickly found a couple of mistakes between my database information and notes I keep in the folder.  I could have spent quite a bit of time searching for records that didn’t exist.  And it’s great to have all of my thoughts in one place.  I used to spend alot of time thinking “I’ve looked at this before, but was it for THIS surname?” and I can see that the log will save me time there.  It’s great to know that the document will continue to be updated and to grow because it’s an Excel file and is easily updated.  I was able to write information all over the log sheet (both successful AND unsuccessful searches) and then when I updated my log back at home, I was able to think about other sources to search and additional questions to follow up on.

I’ve added a “wish list” of documents to the end of my log because sometimes, I have information on a date or location, but not a scan of an original document.  That’s not immediately evident to me just by looking at my group sheet.  And while I’m waiting on the machine to scan a microfilm image, I can also be looking up film numbers for Family History Center films.  As I create these logs for each individual or family, I can keep a master list of films so that when I do get them, I can be sure to specifically look for every family name possible.  If the FHL doesn’t have a microfilm of a record, I can research online to find out where the records are kept.  I’ve done this in the past, but usually on scraps of paper or post-it notes.  And it’s not uncommon to find a note with a film number and title, but with no name to show who I was planning to look up.  All of my scribbled notes make sense to me at the time, but sometimes not when I get home!  The log is a bit of a reminder to be thorough in my thoughts since it could be weeks before I get back to it again.

Because my research time during the school year, is so sporadic, I am looking forward to picking up a folder with the printed research log inside so that I know exactly where I left off and what I’d like to look for next!  I won’t feel like I have to wait to research only when I have big chunks of time.  And I’m also enjoying creating additional logs because it forces me to examine a family thoroughly and often gives me questions for another related family that I hadn’t considered before.  So I began with Joseph Scott and am now moving on to his parents and his wife’s parents.  Research logs will be my new “take along” project when I know I will have little or no internet access.  I’ll just grab a folder and my laptop and I’ll be ready to work!

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Research Log – Version 1

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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Hindsight is 20/20

Several days ago, I was “blog surfing” and I came across The One-Minute Writer.  I love the whole idea of taking 1 minute every day to write SOMETHING about your life.  I wish it were a little more genealogy specific, to give me some good thought jumpers to advance my research, but on the day that I happened to visit, the prompt of the day was “Since ‘hindsight is 20/20′, I now know that…”

Since reading that, I’ve been thinking alot about what I’d change in my genealogy research.  And by having that in the back of my mind, I’ve become just a bit frustrated with the way I’ve done my research in the past!  If I could go back to my original days of genealogy research, there are a couple of things I’d make sure to do (and I don’t think these will be a surprise to anyone!)

1)  I would make sure that I was using footnotes in EVERYTHING to indicate where my information was coming from.  And I don’t just mean to footnote basic date and location information, but things like where I got the middle name from.  Which source told me year only, or month and year only and which source gave me the full date?  Or why do I have more than 1 location for birth, etc.  If I have no specific “source”, then where did I get the idea from? I have all kinds of little notes to myself on my group sheets that say, “Where did THIS come from?” Quite a bit of my original information came from asking my mother or grandparents for information.  I didn’t put any source footnotes at all, but if I could go back, at the very least I’d add a footnote that said, “Grandma told me so!”  Now I don’t know if she’s the one who told me, or if a fellow researcher told me, or if it’s just an educated guess that hasn’t been proven yet. And I’d footnote EVERY source, not just the 1 or 2 basic, or “best” sources.  That way, I’d know where to go back to if I had more questions.  I’d also indicate where I found the source…Allen County Library, Ancestry, Salt Lake City, Online database, etc.

As an aside to this one, I have to admit that I have put off adding footnotes to things because I’ve been so hung up on “what is the correct format”.  Finally, in the last month, I’ve started adding footnotes that are meaningful to ME.  I know that the ultimate goal is to have all information formatted so that others could confirm my research or that my descendants could follow up on what I’ve done, but I have to start somewhere.  And because I’m usually a “do it perfectly or don’t do it at all” type of person, I actually consider this a forward step for me!  As I figure out the correct formatting, I improve my footnotes.  It’s easy enough for me to have the correct format for a book – I use WorldCat to figure those out by finding the book and then clicking on the “Cite/Export” button and then choose the “Chicago” option.  I copy and paste that and then add a page number and where I found the book.  It’s those records that are microfilms of originals that I’m reading online, etc that really stop me in my tracks!

2)  In my footnotes for family group sheets, I’d worry more about writing out some of my reasoning and not just a source.  It’s one thing to attach a footnote for a WWI draft card, but to indicate WHY I think it’s the correct draft card would save me a TON of time and frustration over retracing my steps!  For example, I have a proven address for 1 child on a family group sheet.  I confirmed a sibling because he listed that name and address as the person who would always know his whereabouts.  If I don’t indicate that in my footnotes somewhere, I’ll always be wondering if I have the correct guy on my groupsheet. Or how did I find the name of the church that family attended?  My footnotes could include that I did a Google search on the name of the priest on the marriage certificate and found that his church was a short distance from my family’s location.

3)  Originally, I only cared about direct ancestors.  I did zero research on siblings or other children of direct ancestors.  So now, I’m spending alot of time filling in easy to find information that I could have been entering long ago (and finding lots of additional clues in the process!)  Even if I don’t find additional information on my direct ancestor because of gathering information on a sibling, it is not unusual to find a new SOURCE to look for information for my direct ancestor because something “clicked” on a new source for a sibling.  Also, I might find a new spelling variation for a name that I hadn’t considered before.

4)  I need to think this through a little more (because I AM going to start doing this), but I’d have a 2nd set of notes for each family I’m researching.  I already have notes for each family that are written like a timeline.  For every piece of information I find, I include the date, the event (like birth, census, city directory, etc.) along with pertinent details.  Next to that, I include a thumbnail image of my source (see my blog entry) so I can quickly tell if it’s an original or from a compiled source, etc.  I try to keep iformation for every member of the immediate family, so these notes can become pages and pages long.  Eventually, I’d like to turn these notes into a “story” and less of a list.  These would be the notes I’d give to family members who are interested in what I’ve found.  But I think I’d like to keep a 2nd set of notes – or an additional “chapter” in the same notes, that are just thoughts, questions, reasoning, ideas of things to look for, specific sources to look up on my next trip to the library, etc. that only I would see.  I could also copy and paste background information into this set of notes that might come in handy someday in the future.  Historic information on a certain location or hours of operation for a repository, ect. It just seems that if I try to mix those things in with my “timeline notes”, it would be easy to miss something and it would ruin he flow of my story.  Maybe I should pick 1 family and try a set of these types of notes to see if it’s worth my time.  Just seems like whenever I’m researching – especially online research – questions keep popping into my head.  “Did I look for that already?”  “Maybe I should check out such and such county.”  ”Here’s a new spelling I haven’t tried yet.”   Right now, I use the “Post-It Note Method” which isn’t very effective.  Or I write little notes on the back of group sheets or photocopies that didn’t turn out and then later, I wonder what those notes mean.  Did I ever look that up?  This would be more than a research log – more like a research “diary”.   

Dear Diary,  Was my ancestor’s home in the affected by the Chicago fire?  Look for maps.  Did his address change soon after?  Check Chicago Directories.

Maybe I should spend less time thinking about this and “Just Do It!”

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Preserving Ancestor’s Photo Negatives

In my continuing effort to preserve my Grandmother’s negatives, I’ve learned a few things that I thought might be helpful to other genealogists.

When I was first given the negatives, my goal was to find a way to see what was on the negatives in order to see which would be the most useful to have printed.  Because the negatives were not 35mm film, I was having a hard time thinking of an “easy” way to see the negatives.    I could hold the negatives up to the window and because a good portion of the negatives were of photos I’ve seen in family photo albums, I could tell who the subject of those photos were.  I was most interested in the older, black and white negatives.  Some of those negatives were from before my grandparents had children and I was pretty certain that some were of photos that my family has never seen before.

After researching negative scanners and finding none that would scan the format of negatives I was looking at, I decided to try scanning the negatives without any attachment.  I figured that at the very least, the negatives would be larger on my screen and easier to see.  Then, my daughter showed me how to invert the colors on the negatives to see the actual picture.  I was thrilled!  But some of the photos were too scratched to get a good image from.

My grandmother - scanned negative

I could tell that this image was my grandmother as a teenage, and I was incredibly disappointed that this photo did not turn out.  Later that evening, I was sorting the negatives into photo album pages to try to get them organized so that I could quit shuffling them around and damaging them further.  To see the images, I was holding them up to my computer screen with a blank page in Microsoft Word.  I was telling my son about my problems with the negatives and how I thought they’d scan better if I could get light from BEHIND the negative instead of front as the scanner was doing.  I asked him if he thought it would work for me to use my digital camera to take a picture of the negative taped to my computer screen and we decided to give it a try.  What a difference!

Vesper - digital image of the negative

I did a test run of a couple of negatives and then noticed that some of the photos had a pattern imbedded in them.  They almost looked like the photos were taken through a window screen.  I realized that the pattern was the texture of my computer screen!  I gave up for the night, but couldn’t stop thinking about how I could fix this.  I thought I could put a sheet of white paper behind the negative before taking the photo, but I could not find any white paper that was truly white.   The mottled appearance of the paper (only visible when held up to light) made the negatives look dirty and spotted.  So I decided to gently tape the negatives to my window, which worked great for getting rid of the texture, but there was a color variation in the images that I figured out was my camera seeing sky above trees above grass through the negative.  Not something I could notice when looking at the negative on my camera display, but certainly noticeable in the inverted image.  After some trial and error, I ended up stretching a white sheet in front of my window to take care of the background issues.  I used the macro lens on my camera with no flash and was quite happy with the results!  My lens was approximately 2 inches from the negative.

Final version - a little touchup with Photoshop

Here are some other things I learned:

• The sun cannot shine into the window.  It causes some areas of the negative to appear lighter – like the flash was too bright - because the light is not evenly distributed.
• The sheet cannot be rippling at all.  It causes differences in the color that make the negative look dirty.
• One side of the negative is shiny and other other is not.  If the shiny side was facing me, I could see the reflection of the camera and my hands in the image.  The only drawback to this was the all of the images were reversed.  An easy fix in Photoshop.
• I attempted to take photos of the negative through the clear photo album pages I have the negatives stored in to avoid touching them, but again, I had issues with reflections.  I went back to taping the negatives to the window.  I allowed the smallest amount of tape possible to touch the tiniest edge of the negative.
• An overcast day worked best – but I still could not have the sunlight coming into the window.   Instead the light “bounced” off the sheet and was evenly diffused.

So originally, my goal was simply to identify which negatives to have developed and I ended up with over 100 great digital images that are ready to print from my own photo printer!  Many negatives were not scanned because I could tell they would not be useful in the lines I am researching (alot of my uncle’s buddies in  the Navy), but I can always go back and get them later if needed.  And I did not even try to work with the color negatives.  Perhaps this winter when everything outside is already white!

With my digital negatives, I can zoom in on faces or crop the photo to be any convenient size, insert them into notes or family tree charts – all for free!  The bonus is that the negatives are digitally and physically preserved with the digital copies stored in various places.  My family will all be getting a CD burned with all of the final images – which I hope will bring out lots of forgotten family stories and mementos to be shared at the next family reunion.  I plan to include a list of items that THEY may not think is helpful to my research, but that I’d love to see!

And to think, this all started with my Uncle telling me, “I really don’t have that much for your genealogy project”!

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My negative dilemma solved!

Before...

After!

I’ve known for a long time that if I have a “techie” computer question, I can always ask my kids.  Especially my 2nd son who is in college studying graphic design and seems to have ALL of the latest computer goodies and programs out there.  So after spending a couple of hours looking through negatives today and separating black and white negatives (older) from color negatives, I took a shot and asked my son if he knew of a program that would take my scanned negative and turn it into a digital image.  He said he couldn’t think of any. 

That’s when my 13 year old daughter piped up, “you mean like this?” and took my laptop.  30 seconds later, I had a great digital image!  I think this may be my great-grandmother, Mintie Scott Smith.  I was overwhelmed!  She used an online site called Picnik.com.  She said she uses it alot to add interesting effects to photos before she puts them on her Facebook page.  With one click of the “invert” button, she turned my negative into a photo!  So that got me to wondering if there was a similar button on my Adobe Photoshop program and there is!

At this very moment, she is scanning all of the black and white negatives that I had pulled out earlier today.  There are a couple of hundred photos that are black and white.  Based on a couple of test runs, I can see that some of the negatives are too scratched to be converted, but I’m hopeful that the majority of them will be good.  She says that it should also work with color negatives, so I’ll be anxious to give that a try!

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Short and Sweet

Well, this teacher is looking at the end of final exam week at school and she can’t WAIT for summer and it’s opportunity for full time genealogy research!

In anticipation of this, I’ve spent some time in the evenings updating my files and notes for each family that I research.  While I’m far from finished, I’ve already added information to my tree just by updating with information that I forgot that I had!  I definately need to come up with a better way of keeping track of what I’ve gathered.  Over and over, I’ve read about the use of research logs, but I just can’t get enthused about them, mainly because I can’t see the usefulness of having a log based on the date that I research.  For me to find something in my log, I’d have to know the date that I was researching and I don’t have that good of a memory!  There are gaps of months, or even years, between doing serious research on a specific line.  (Last summer was all about my husband’s line, but this summer will be all about my mother’s line!)

I’ve thought of the way I’d like to design my own research log – using Excel, of course.  I’d like to have an Excel page for each source that I look at.  The top of the page would have the title of the source and then the correct source citation that I could copy and paste into my documentation.  Where was the source located?  What did I look for?  What was there?  What was NOT there?  Did I make a paper copy or a digital copy?  Where did I store my copy?  Was this source identical to another source?  Do I want to come back to the source or was it useless?

My biggest obstacle to this project is the sheer volume of sources that I’ve looked at.  And I know that the best way to do this is just to start.  Little by little, it will be completed.  I’m also still very much a novice in the area of citation.  The sheer size of “Evidence Explained” scares me to death!

Another obstacle is knowing my own research habits.  I’m a “jumper”.  I start looking for one thing, but when I find information, it usually leads to other questions, which I gallop off in search of!  I cringe at the idea of taking time to write down every thought and conclusion.  My time is usually limited and I don’t want to do “simple bookkeeping” when I could be researching!  I’m very undisciplined this way – rather like the teenagers that I teach!

So I call on voices from the past to give myself a little kick in the backside.  My high school band teacher told us, “Practice makes perfect”.  I know that’s true for citations as well.  My mother said, “Slow and steady wins the race”.  I know that’s true for my “simple bookkeeping”.  And Nike told us, “Just do it”.  I need to stop waiting for the perfect time, the perfect format, or whatever, and just do it!  Starting next week!

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Discovering New Information with Excel

About 2 years ago, I was thrilled, but overwhelmed with the information available in a book I had ordered online.  It was published by the local historical society and it contained an abstract of all of the church records available at the church founded by my husband’s ancestors in Kankakee County, Illinois.  Before purchasing the book, I had found a list online of all of the voting members of the church in 1878 and I knew that several of his ancestors were members.  What I never imagined with the wealth of information available on those ancestors in the church records!  (Confession:  My shyness has kept me from every going to a church to ask what type of records they keep!)

As I flipped through the  500+ page book, I could see that if I didn’t come up with a system quickly, I’d be losing out on valuable information.  In addition, the book stated that the records of the early church were all written in German, so even if I had been able to get my hands on the actual records, I would not have been able to understand most of it.  The book was a translation of the records, so it was a double bonus!

I set up an Excel file to begin entering information.  I created a column for Record type (birth, marriage, death, baptism, confirmation, etc.) Year, Name of record subject, Father, Mother, Spouse, Page #, Witnesses and Comments.  I created identical pages for each surname I was researching so that I could quickly click between surnames as I went through the book.

To begin, I used the index and began going through the book entering the information as I went.  No single record contained ALL of the information, but I knew I’d be able to sort columns to decide which records belong to the same person.  Looking at the information from all of the records for a person gave me much more information that a single record could.

After entering all of the information, I sorted the Name column (being careful to choose the ‘expand the sort’ option so that all rows stayed together) so that each individual would either end up grouped together or close together.  This also helped me to see if there was more than 1 person with the same name to be aware of in other research, such as census records. (My images do not include all columns to make them easier to read.)

I could further sort these specific names by date to see if that revealed information to help differentiate people with the same name.  Finding the death of 1 individual with continuing records after that date helped to sort men with the same name.  Often, this simple sort gave me a lot of information that I wasn’t expecting including middle names, various spellings and multiple spouses. 

I could also perform a sort of the names in the Father column.  Based on this, I am able to write a sort of family group sheet.  Often, I would find a child that I didn’t know about and I discovered that often, if a child died, the next child was given that same name in honor of them.  That solved some puzzles I’d listed in my notes. 

2 wives named Katherine

I can also do a custom sort forcing the program to list names in alphabetical order and each identical name in chronological order.  This could give me an approximate timeline for when a spouse died and when a second marriage occurred. Another thing that this sort gave me was maiden names for spouses and multiple spouses. 

I did a similar sort for the Mother column.  When I sorted by female names, I discovered German names for husbands that I never would have known about otherwise.  Why research Ehranreich Betz when my ancestor’s name was Alexander Betz?  I can also manually move rows that match the individual I’m focusing on so that all of the information is together.

Alexander/Ehranreich Betz

Although this has nothing to do with Excel, I was also very pleased with some of the information I gleaned from the witness or comments section of the records.  For example, I had a date of death and a tombstone for an ancestor only to discover through the comments section that this person had committed suicide and was not actually buried in the cemetery, but on a nearby farm.  This explained why I had not been able to find a will and led me to search for the newspaper story about his death, which I never would have thought to look for if I had been content to know the date of death of “place of burial” only.

I also have the great joy of researching the surname “Smith” on my side as well as my husband’s side and I use these processes in Excel in the same way.  The only difference is that I keep records from multiple books, microfilms and web sites citing the sources in a separate column.  I love being able to manipulate the data like this and know that I won’t mess anything up – it all goes back to my original format as long as I don’t save the manipulated file when I’m finished!

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Group Sheets using Excel

I LOVE excel for my genealogy work.  I use it for all kinds of databases I have compiled because it is useful for sorting information in different columns to reveal patterns and missing information.  I use Excel to make my own 5 Gen charts and family group sheets.  I designed my own family group sheets using Excel for several reasons.

Family Group Sheet created in Excel

1. I HATE my handwriting.  I love being able to keep my group sheets readable and professional looking.  And often, the spaces in pre-printed forms are too small for me to write my information in.  So when I take my binder of group sheets to the library, I write notes all over them and later make changes to my Excel file then reprint.  Often, as I’m typing things into the Excel file, more questions come to mind that I didn’t think of at the library.  (Why does that always seem to happen?)  I include these questions in my bottom “Notes” section to allow me to continue my train of thought.
2. I was able to include fields that the forms I had been using didn’t include or take out fields that I never use.  For example, my forms have a space for cemetery name and location, more spaces for children, space for notes for the husband and wife and then an additional notes box at the bottom for general family notes or a “to-do” list.  I do not have spaces for christenings or sealing dates since those don’t apply to my family.
3. I can use color and formatting to help keep track of my research.  For example:

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  • Questions or comments to myself are in red.  Un-confirmed information from another researcher can be in green.  Contact information for that researcher would also be in green in the “Notes” section at the bottom.
  • Boxes that will never have information can be shaded or colored.  For example: a child who dies at birth will not have marriage information.     
  • The name of my direct ancestor can be in bold.  This helps me in families that have multiple uses of the same name.    
  • You can’t see it in the image, but I use the footer to indicate the life span of the husband and the counties that I have found records in. 
        

The only thing I DON’T like about group sheets using Excel is that I can’t use the reference tools that I can with Word.  (At least not in my current version.  Maybe it’s been updated?)  In Word, I click a reference button and it automatically selects my footnote number and then jumps to the footnote location for me to enter my citation.  If I find new information closer to the top of my group sheet, it automatically rearranges my footnotes and updates all of the numbers.  In Excel, I can enter my own superscripts for footnotes, but they don’t change automatically if I add something new.  And I have just enough OCD tendencies that I can’t stand to see my numbers out of order.  (Must be the math teacher in me…)

So I recently started converting my charts to Word files to take advantage of the reference options there.  The conversion is slow, but so far, I like it.

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