Preservation

Why we should all be concerned about preservation?

Yesterday (Tuesday 10th March) there was a fatal road traffic collision on the road that I use everyday to get to and from my place of work. Although, I was not an eyewitness, I saw the immediate aftermath from the other carriageway, whilst on my way to work and was shaken and saddened to think that someone was going to be hearing bad news later that day. 

Experiences such as these can bring home the uncertainties of life.

We all like to believe we will live in to old age but even the youngest of us should be aware that we only have a limited time in which to do things.

Geoff Rasmussen who hosts the Legacy Family Tree Webinars usually finishes with the saying "Life is short, do genealogy first". Would that we could all do this. 

If there is one resolution we should all have made this year it is this, I will endeavour to get my genealogy organized so that anyone can pick up where I left off.

Those who have taken up the challenge of Thomas MacEntee and embarked on the Genealogy Do Over are to be commended as are those who have not been in a position to need to take up the challenge. Many (including me) will have started with good intentions and other commitments have somehow got in the way.

Have we set ourselves unrealistic goals? Maybe

We all need to work at our own pace and the most important thing we can do is to leave something that our families will value rather than a jumbled mass of documents and unlabeled old photographs.

How do I know that what I have will be of use to others?

We have records and photographs that we have inherited (unless we are very unlucky) and those that we have found or created in our lifetime. 

We need to make it clear how these are important to our family and each of us will have our own way of doing this.

Computers and the associated technology can help us in storing and collecting our sources of information but we need to consider how easy it will be for others to access these in the future. 

So keeping up to date or finding ways to future-proof our sources is important however we store the information.

Family history programs can help us pull together the information we have found and display it in a format which shows our connections to our ancestors but they may not be supported indefinitely.

Whilst we may want to become paperless we must all consider how we back up what we have. 

Disasters can occur and we may lose what we have collected if we only have one copy or everything is in one place.

• Label things clearly
• Back things up
• Think about who will need access to your information

What legacy do you want to leave?
How are you going to pass your work on to the future generations?
Who gets your records? 

Can't I just leave my records to the relevant archive?

When Did You Last Visit an Archive ?

Much is made of the reduction of hours or closure of an archive and with a worldwide recession there has been great pressure on public services to reduce the cost of their services. On the back of this the paymasters will be looking at the footfall for these places.

National Archives will usually be safe as they have such large collections of interest to various researchers. However smaller regional or city/town repositories may not appeal to such a wide audience and the staffing costs will be an area where they will see reducing costs as a possibility.

So if you thought you could leave your work to the local archive you may have to think again.
Unless you have something unique which can stand the test of time such as a printed book you may find that much of the results of your hard work will become unusable or inaccessible.

Move with the technology and present your findings to the younger generations in your family. 
Consider how you store those unique items.
Make sure that somebody knows what you want to happen to your research.

There's more than one way to skin a cat....

... and there is more than one way to "do genealogy".

Many family historians are hung up on "doing the right thing" but, just as there is more one way to skin a cat, there is no one right way to do genealogy. This applies to all stages of whichever research process we use and the tools we use to facilitate and record our research. It depends on why we are doing the research in the first place, is it just for fun, is it as part of a collaborative exercise with family or society members or is it to prepare a detailed report to fulfil a client contract? Constantly in my thoughts is the statistic shared by Curt Witcher at Rootstech 2015 that between 82%-90% of people who do family history do not belong to a Society but go it alone. While some of these folk will devour online genealogical educational opportunities and purchase many geneabooks and guides many of them will probably work happily in isolation. They will be doing family history research their way.

As for the Research Process I stick with the Australian one I have used for years, it can be applied to all things from making a peanut butter sandwich, to learning to ride a bicycle to genealogy research. I notice that Michael John Neill also advocates another oldie: Polya's Four Step Process which also appeals to me. I would suspect that most family historians don't follow a particular published process while others may follow one specifically developed for genealogical research.

I see at least one query each week in the online forums I inhabit that asks for suggestions on which is the best genealogy program to use. Most of the answers are suggestions on which particular program to use or avoid but do not address the issue of what unique features the programs suggested offer to fit the requester's individual needs. Of course beginners often don't know what they want out of a program, in this case I think they should avoid the software evengelists' suggestions and turn to a few trusted friends or members of their family history society for advice. Another excellent resource is Gensoftreviews, one could probably choose with confidence any of the programs that appear in this site's Annual Gold Award List. The pruned down free packages or 30 day trials from various vendors  also give one an opportunity to try before you buy.

Keeping track of one's research is another question that pops up regularly. The evangelists come out in force to answer these questions by suggesting their way as the only way but there are many ways. I would suggest that if you are confident with a means of recording (be it pencil and paper or on a computer) then use that or if you are up to a challenge then select and learn a piece of software that will do the job for you.

My genealogy software program is rather sophisticated so I am able to keep my research notes, research log and to-do items within the program. Before I switched to this program I used Excel or Google Sheets (if sharing with others) for these tasks, as I love spreadsheets I still use them for all sorts of geneatasks.

I am an Evernote junkie and use this tool for many personal tasks and a few geneajobs like managing my blogs and details of my genimates. It is an excellent tool for keeping track of your research and making it available on any device you may use but it takes a  while to become a comfortable and confident user. There are groups on Facebook and Google+ that can assist you with this.

If you find that you can organise efficiently and effectively with pencil and paper and are happy with that method then keep doing it your way. My advice is to find a method that works for you and use it consistently.Whatever works for you should be the bottom line.

Taming the paper and digital mountains of files we have created while researching is another hot issue. Do you have a huge Piling System that is crying out to be organised? If you can find whatever it is you need within a couple of minutes then that system works for you but what about those that take over once you turn up your toes? Will they be able to negotiate and make sense of your folders and files?

If you keep digital copies of your photos and documents in your genealogy software program and have them linked to appropriate individuals then others should be able to find and retrieve them. I haven't done this yet but my program copes admirably with this. I use a very simple system of Surname (and other) Folders for both my digital and physical files. This works for me but may not be sophisticated enough for other users (note to self - update four year old post - my filing system is dynamic). I ascribe to the KISS Principle (Keep it Simple Sweetheart - I prefer Sweetheart to Stupid ). I would suggest that whatever system you use is easy to adapt as your needs and experience grow.

Storing those valuable original documents safely should be a priority. Make sure they are digitised and that your digital files are backed up in several places.

And then there is sharing. I am an advocate of Geneablogging for sharing ancestor stories and putting out Cousin Bait. To this end I also have a personal website where I share the details of my ancestors, both of these have brought me valuable cousin connections. I have concerns with printed family histories because they are not dynamic like online publications. Recently Mr GeniAus used my research to compile a written history for his brother's significant birthday. The delight and interest of my brother-in-law and family as they perused the publication demonstrated the value of providing  family members with a printed version of their family history. However you do it please record your family stories in a format that will survive and be accessible for future generations.

So what I have been banging on about for the past few paragraphs is that there is no one correct way to "do family history". I hope that, as members of a collaborative and supportive community, we respect the efforts of our fellow researchers no matter which way they approach their research.

As individuals we should approach our study of family history in a way that suits our personalities and purposes.

Hook. Line. Sinker. Reel ‘em in!

I’ll come clean right off, I am addicted to my techy toys.  I do have an ongoing love/hate relationship with them, no matter - - I.  AM.  ADDICTED.

Traveling the way we do, living the life of a nomad for months on end, my addiction to my techy toys continues, and (hopefully) enhances our life style.  My techy tool chest contains, my lap top, my internet connection device (an air card), my digital camera(s), iPhone, iPad, scanners (flat bed and sheet scanner too), printer, I even have a projector for the computer.

Since the iPad came into my life, I use the lap top as some would use a desk top, meaning it rarely gets used out of the stick built home or the RV (Tana).  The iPad is my go to town, in the truck, rolling again, toy of choice. I use it to stay in touch, email, social media, I can surf the web.  I have a war chest of apps that are specific to our nomadic life, there are apps for everything (of course there are, as we all giggle).  Campgrounds, national parks, weather, and navigation.  I use my iPad every time we leave home or the campground.  I depend on my navigation app.  Really depend on it!

Ah, but, we are a genealogy/researching blog, so, how does this relate?

Easy, and it is called FAMILIES.  The app for iToys and Android.  There are different versions, no, they do not cross platforms, if you change from the iToy to the Android system, you will need to repurchase for your new device.  There it is, up in the right hand top corner - - Families, the app.

Families is an app developed to work with the computer data base Legacy.  Now, for transparency, there are quite a few genealogy/family history apps that will take your data from Legacy (or RootsMagic and/or other data bases you may use).  I have tried some of them.  The data base transferred and was useable in several of the apps I tried.  However, for me, and this is HUGE for me, many of the other apps did not treat multimedia well.  Many times I only had access to one image per person in my data base.  Some people in my data base have a lot more than one image.  I love to tell stories and a person’s life story by images.  Yep, I am addicted to images too.

Families allows me to have the majority of my images and multimedia files available on my iPad.  There are a few, very few, files that have not transferred, I believe these are due to the size of those files.  I have a list to review, and I will, eventually (so much to do, so little time, how wonderful is that?)

Families will allow you to input on your iPad and then transfer back to Legacy on your computer.  I don’t do that, I only do input on my computer. I made a rule for myself many years ago to do input only on one device or one computer, no matter how many devices held copies of my data base..  I’ll fess up, keeping them in sync is not my strong point.  Yes, I know about Dropbox and other great cloud capabilities.  I just personally feel safer with this rule in place and following it always.  It is what works for me.

So, how do I use Families?

Families is great for spur of the moment research, like when I am miles from home and realize I am very near the cemetery where ggggguncle John is buried and I have no photo of his headstone, or I just want to pay a visit. I can use the data base to help refresh my memory on the specifics.  I try to have maps of cemeteries attached to the data base. Oh, has this been a boon.  I don’t know why, but, so many of the rural cemeteries, I seem to lose connectivity - wink wink.  I don’t need an internet connection to show me where the cemetery is, IF I have a map attached as multimedia.

I use Families for spur of the moment library research.  Say I find myself in a small town where ancestors lived and died and I desire their obituaries, Families has the information.  I can walk into a library, pull up my family tree on the app and reference what data I do have on the family, checking and rechecking as I pull microfilm, find obituaries and make copies (sometimes I even make those copies WITH the iPad).

Yes I do research this way. Our nomadic life style has a way of providing some wonderful surprising opportunities for research. We broke down in Seaside Oregon last year.  During our unplanned extended stay there I was able to visit the local cemetery, photograph a number of headstones and go to the local library and find 6 obituaries.  Research on the fly, err, roll.

Below an obituary, Walter Stuart, I found and captured with the iPad while we were broken down in Seaside Oregon last summer.

However, the most useful purpose for Families for me is the ability to pull up the data base and the thousands of images I have attached. You want cousin bate. This. Is. It. You want a way to quietly HOOK the next generation. This. Is. It. Pull up gggrampas multimedia events and show them photos of gggrampa as a baby. Hook. Line. Sinker. This. Is. It.  My hubs, aka Man, knows I have the data bases and images on the iToys and he will lead a family discussion right back to Families and the iToys.  Many times we have been enjoying a discussion with cousins or grandchildren and we find ourselves pulling out the iToys and “showing” images.  The iPad size is perfect. Pass it around. The images look soooo good.

Hook.  The family, father and parents, mother and parents, child.  A glimpse of the multimedia, one photo of each.

Line. Looking at the individual, the facts and a image icon row.

Sinker. Open the image line row and here are SOME of the photos for Lorena.  I have more for her than will fit on the screen (what a shame, eh??)

Reel em in!  This. Is. It. Just one of the photos in Lorena's multimedia collection.  Even those with very little interest in "research" LOVE photos!  Everyone LOVES photos!

The last time I showed off Families to extended family I had the undivided attention of some young teens.  They were fascinated by the photos I showed them of their mom and grandmother.  They were equally as fascinated by the notes I could share with them, stories, if you will, of their heritage.

Yep, I set the hook, line and sinker and I reeled them in.  It was so much fun!

How do you use your techy toys and apps?  Do you reel em in?  Tell us how you do - -




* The required disclaimers:  I am a patron of both Legacy and Families.  I paid for my copies.  Neither has asked me to review their products.  I will receive nothing in return for my review.  I did recently win a copy of Legacy 8 and the downloadable PDF book file from a Legacy Webinar.  I ran a contest on Reflections and gave the free copy away, as I had already paid for my upgrade to Legacy 8.

** This post came about as an offshoot of several social media discussions I have participated in.

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