Monday, January 1, 2018

Measuring 2018 Goals

During the last few years of my career in teaching, I was required to write SMART Goals. Even though I did not excel at writing those goals, I think about the acronym (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) when considering genealogy goals. Although I haven't written my 2018 genealogy goals in true SMART goal fashion, I have broken a broad goal of 'researching my family history' into smaller more specific tasks. With these smaller goals, I will be able to check them off within the next year (hopefully).

Although I'm always working on my broad 'research my family history goal', I hope to be better at being able to 'measure' my progress in 2018. Thus, I need to establish my 'baseline' or beginning stats for 2018.

RootsMagic
  • 11,269 People
  • 3,744 Families
  • 29,407 Events
  • 3,215 Sources
  • 39,752 Citations
Ancestry
  • 11,257 People
  • 2,095 Photos
  • 99 Stories
  • 1,753 Records
  • 1,105 People with Hints
  • 8,151 Total Hints
  • 6,541 Record Hints
  • 662 Photo Hints
  • 79 Story Hints
Exhibits Folder
  • 62.8 GB
  • 21,757 Files
  • 844 Folders
Ancestry Tree Media Folder
  • 234 Files
DNA - Ancestry
  • 98 Shared Matches (current unresolved issue with mom's side of tree and matches)
  • 404 Starred Matches
  • 1000+ 4th cousins or closer
  • 906 Pages of matches
  • 17 Circles (but only 16 listed when viewing all)
    • James Barr Ralston
    • Nancy Jane McCormick
    • Richard Foster
    • Rachel Browning
    • David Franklin Ralston
    • Jason Hammond
    • Rachel Hale
    • Horatio Hammond
    • William G. Harding
    • Albert Hutchinson
    • Richmond Fisk Hammond
    • Julia Harding
    • William Harding
    • Dr. Edward Ostrander
    • Zebulon Foster
    • Caroline Ostrander
Blog Entries

2017 - What Did I Accomplish?

While thinking about my goals for 2018, I started thinking about what I've accomplished during 2017. Since I didn't record statistics from my tree, I can't 'brag' about the number of ancestors added. However, I have learned a lot during 2017.

In January, I learned all about Bullet Journaling thanks to a Wacky Wednesday hangout sponsored by DearMyrtle. Even though I had tried various planners during my career, I failed to consistently use a planner. I wasn't even good at checking Google calendar, let alone getting everything into an online calendar. However, I did create and use a bullet journal for 2017 and have started one for 2018!

During the spring of 2017, I applied to become a beta tester for RootsMagic's tree share feature. Around the middle of May, I was accepted as a beta tester and spent the next month working with uploading segments of my tree to Ancestry and playing with the various features to help RootsMagic find and fix errors. When the software update was released, I uploaded my tree from RootsMagic to Ancestry. During the summer, most of my 'genealogy work' involved working thru the TreeShare issues and figuring out my workflow. Unfortunately, this involved uploading my RM data several times (and creating multiple Ancestry trees). By late August, I had a TreeShare working between my RootsMagic data and Ancestry. Unfortunately, it took me another couple of months to discover that my tree, Heartland Genealogy, wasn't being indexed and then to figure out why Ancestry wasn't indexing my tree.

In late May, I also participated in a Visual Phasing course by Blaine Bettinger. Although I'm no expert at visual phasing, it is a tool that will hopefully help me incorporate DNA results as a genealogy source.

Another tool that I've added to my 'genealogy toolbox' during 2017 was the app, iScanner (Android version). For the past couple of years, I've played around with several scanning apps but am now exclusively using iScanner. This app allows me to draw the 'box' around the photo or page. Since I can 'add' images to a scan, I can create a 'set' of images for a source. The app allows me to export those images as individual jpegs or as a single pdf file. By scanning a title page as the first image, I can easily identify the content and create a source citation for the scans. The iScanner app has proven very useful while researching at libraries and archives. I did have to purchase the full app to take advantage of all of these features -- but it was worth it.

In 2016, I learned how to link a person in RootsMagic to the FamilySearch Family Tree. I've slowly been learning to use all of the resources available on FamilySearch and am very thankful for their efforts to digitize the microfilm. As I research from home, I keep a 'to-do' list for resources only available at Family History Libraries or affiliate libraries. I am thankful that the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library and the Midwest Genealogy Center are nearby affiliate libraries.

During 2017, I also started attending several study groups sponsored by various regional genealogical societies:
Besides traveling to attend the study groups, I also am thankful for a variety of ways I can connect with other researchers from home.
As I sit in my nice warm office while it is still below zero outside, I'm very thankful for all of my genealogy 'friends' who have helped me develop new skills on this journey!

Sunday, December 31, 2017

2018 Genealogy Goals

This week's 'Saturday Night Genealogy Fun' challenge was to create at least one genealogy goal for 2018. Thanks to DearMyrtle's Wacky Wednesday on Bullet Journaling, one of my goals for 2017 was to learn to use a Bullet Journal. I can truly say that I've accomplished that goal since I've been planning my 'journal' for 2018.

In the process of that planning, I've written several goals in my genealogy journal. Knowing that I need specific goals that I can check off (i.e. SMART goals), I have broken them down into smaller steps. Below are some of  my broader goals:
  • Get my tree indexed on Ancestry!
  • Reduce number of shaky leaves on Ancestry
  • Use RootsMagic's link to FamilySearch to add sources for my direct line ancestors
  • Connect with cousins on Facebook by sharing family photos
  • Blog about my ancestors 
  • SCAN -- I still have some photo albums to scan
  • Clean up files (sadly I have duplicates of some photos and others that need re-scanned)
  • DNA -- update my spreadsheet of matches
  • Finish doing visual phasing with my brother's DNA results and then hopefully add a cousin or two 
  • Attend a genealogy conference 
  • Participate in genealogy study groups and round-tables
Perhaps I need to add a goal of tracking my progress!

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

RootsMagic Source List Bloat

My list of sources has a LOT of duplicates. The vast majority of these duplicated sources are coming from Ancestry.


Tuesday, October 31, 2017

My DNA Story

Ancestry recently made some changes to their Ethnicity display. I first became aware of this change during a webinar. I was reminded of this change this morning when I read "Ancestry Updates DNA Ethnicity Presentation" on The Genes Blog.

Thus, I decided to check out my Ethnicity screen.


The 'new' part of the presentation is the time line. As I began clicking thru the time line, it showed the migration from Europe to the United States.


I still need to learn about these maps and how they can help me with my paper research!




Learning to Use RootsMagic Research Log

My first 'research logs' were paper based and I was fairly consistent about keeping those records. However, when I started using software to manage my family tree, my diligence in recording what sources I had used began to slip. My software of the time, The Master Genealogist, had the ability to maintain a research log but I incorporated that tool into my research process.

Recently, webinars and blogs that I follow have emphasized the need to maintain an accurate log of sources used. Knowing that I was lacking in this area, I decided to try the tools within RootsMagic to see if I could improve my research process.

I first tried this logging process while on a trip to the Midwest Genealogy Library. I transferred data from my TODO spreadsheet into tasks on RootsMagic.


During my visit to the library, I was able to mark the task completed and transfer it to the Research Log. With the Research Log window open, I then entered the bibliographic information and transcribed data directly into the log.

At the end of the transcription, I noted where the images were stored.


I recently started using the IOS app, iScanner. This app allows me to group all images from a source into one folder. I can export the images as a .pdf file or as individual .jpeg files.

By using the Research Log in this way, it is harder for me to loose track of research notes. Once ready to input the data into RootsMagic, I can just copy/paste the transcription info and attach the .pdf file or individual media files.

Oct 31, 2017 -- This issue has been confirmed by RootsMagic support. Contrary to my theory, they found that the note stuck to the FIRST event. Until the update comes out, the suggest was to transfer these notes one event at a time.