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Back in the Saddle

September 28th, 2010 by Elizabeth

You know how sometimes you think “oh, I need to do such-and-such…oh, I’ll do that tomorrow”? Say hello to the state of my little blog.

Not really neglected. I think about it every day and with each passing day the pressure to write an even better post to ‘get back into it’ builds. So, in order to deflate that, I’m going to write a crappy post and get it over with. Like taking a bandaid off really fast. Your mom will tell you it won’t hurt as much, but really it does, doesn’t it? In fact, it hurts so much and you are so stunned at your mother’s betrayal that you just sit there with your mouth agape for a moment before the OWWWWWW! finally comes out.

So, now that the bandaid is off, what the heck have I been up to? Well:

Recovering from summer. During the summer months, our family gets into a more natural rhythm for our biorhythms. Which belong to someone living in India. Not a pretty sight to try and adjust back to the ‘real world’.
Getting the kids back into the school groove and not hating it. This really takes a whole lot longer than you would think it should. See previously mentioned biorhythms. Not saying we’re there yet, but working on it.
Wondering where the heck did all these commitments come from again? And that school committee is meeting at 6-freaking-45 AM? Like, in the MORNING? (I’m not making that one up).
I Finally signed up for that CERT class I’ve been meaning to take for a while. Now, not only when we get snowed in this year will I have my genealogy to work on (thanks to generator), we’ll have food to eat (thanks to our 3-day kit).
Figuring what I want to be when I grow up.

Yea, saved the biggest for last. Been doing a lot of thinking/planning, or trying to. It’s not as easy coming up with a viable business plan that incorporates genealogy researcher, publisher, web site crafter as I thought. Still sounds like it should all work together though, so I press on.

So here’s my question to you pros out there who are well into your chosen career, especially if it’s genealogy:
How did you get started and get that first client?

Inquiring minds are awaiting your thoughts.

Categories : brickwall, publishing

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Genealogy ‘dark ages’ coming?

July 30th, 2010 by Elizabeth

BYU is hosting their conference on Family History and Genealogy in Salt Lake City this week. On Wednesday, Curt Witcher, manager of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, spoke of what he believes are the coming ‘dark ages’ of genealogy. The jist of his talk is that while we’re busy digitizing every old record in sight and technology is speeding along, we are either losing or not creating those types of records today for the future generations. (Link to story in the Mormon Times is here.)

Thanks to Marian Pierre-Louis, who has several blogs and can also be found on twitter @marianpl, for pointing out this article on Facebook and, in not so many words, challenging all genealogy bloggers to voice their thoughts. Mr. Witcher does make excellent points. Libraries are cutting back on hours (and staff). Choices are being made to discard some records by libraries as well as government at all levels. And really, when was the last time you wrote a letter or kept a journal on paper?

However, I don’t think the dark ages are necessarily around the corner. Granted, today we are not creating some of the records that are currently used in researching genealogy and, more broadly, family histories. But I don’t think genealogical research of the future will look like anything we would recognize today. Who would’ve imagined even 25-years ago that you could sit from home in the middle of the night and look at census records or newspapers from across the country and years? Only a visionary few.

Decades from now, I think our ancestors will be looking at our tweets and Facebook pages; tweets for sure will be in a big honkin’ database at the Library of Congress, we know this. They’ll be examining whose ‘walls’ we wrote on, what we said to them, and wondering how we are connected to those people. And–oh!–the pictures. They’ll search our digital newspapers and blogs for mentions of us. And I do believe that vital records will most likely be better preserved (accessible might be another question) as every person, business, and government agency is more aware of protecting some records than ever before, digitizing them, and storing in multiple locations.

Records, as we know, have always been damaged or discarded, much to the dismay modern genealogists. Or, the records weren’t even created in the first place. I only know of one of my ancestors who may have kept a diary, but for all we know it is lost. I do have some letters, but my ancestors were farmers and apparently not the pack-rat I am. Or maybe they just didn’t like each other enough to write.

So, back to Mr. Witcher’s point. I don’t think we’re headed for the genealogy dark ages, but he is right in that it’s up to each one of us to carry history forward. While we are digging around in the past, we shouldn’t forget to preserve the present.

Perhaps one way to remember to do that is every time you can’t find a piece of desired information for an ancestor, record that fact/anticdote/story/etc. for yourself and/or family and file it away. This can be done either on paper or electronically. And, just as important, make sure you have someone or somewhere for all those papers or files to go when you are no longer around to be their caretaker. Too many records are lost because there isn’t someone in a given generation who cares about them.

So, save your descendants from sitting in front of their version of a computer at 1:00am (or 2:00) silently cursing their ancestor’s lack of ability to leave a paper trail. Be the ancestor you wish you had.

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Categories : computers, connecting, data backup, facebook, genealogical heir, memories, publishing, record keeper, research, writing

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Family History Expo Colorado–Day 1

June 25th, 2010 by Elizabeth

Mom & I didn’t get the earliest start this morning so we missed the Keynote, but I heard it was good. For those who are just joining the posts on the Expo, I’m bringing my Mom along as a bit of a distraction for her and, while she finds family history interesting—especially the stories that result from the research, she hasn’t ever done any herself. So, with that in mind, we dived right in.

Naming Patterns of American Families, Arlene Eakle

I have to admit, I felt kind of like I’d walked into the middle of a talk. Arlene is an engaging speaker and even in my not-quite-enough-tea-in-me-to-be-awake state I was picking out nuggets of information. But she kept referring back to the syllabus and since I, and most of the folks in the room, had the CD version, it was a bit like trying to follow a map that was still half folded. I’m hoping that when I have time to dig into it, some will make more sense.

Mom enjoyed it, but said she got lost pretty quick.

Nugget: That there is much more variation in naming patterns, both for given names and surnames, between cultures then I thought there was and I need to learn more about them for my Irish (or are they Scottish?) ancestors especially. And I hope I don’t come across Welsh ancestors because those naming patterns sound heinous!

Family History Books: Editing, Design & Publishing, Nancy & Biff Barnes

(@STTBooks)

My first choice for this time period was on organizing, but it got cancelled, so I popped into this one next door. Now, in interest of full disclosure, my non-genealogy professional hat is publishing, so I always like to see what others are doing in that area. And Nancy and Biff gave a very nice presentation and I hope to get by their booth tomorrow and see more of their offerings.

They had very sound advice about getting started (set a date for yourself to finish), making a plan (I’d call that an outline), and getting it done even if you’re not a writer (tape yourself telling the story and transcribe).

Mom thought it was sorta interesting but mostly that the room was cold. She did gasp at the cost of some of the software mentioned (Illustrator & Photoshop) and I later let her know that it can be procured for a less then the street price quoted.

Nugget(s): Writing a family history is for preservation and sharing of information. Tell the stories and share the pictures. And don’t forget to write YOUR stories; you are an ancestor too. Lastly, if you can only hire an editor for one part, make it the content editor.

Twitter: It’ Not Just “What I Had For Breakfast” Anymore, Thomas MacEntee

(@tmacentee, @geneabloggers)

Well, I took a wee break in the middle of the day but managed to get to Thomas’s talk to wrap up the day. Mom was still wiped and sat this one out (it’s computers you know). I think lots of folks were taking it easy as we had a small class but that made for a very informal feel and there was a good amount of time for questions.

Thomas did a good job talking about what Twitter is, and isn’t. And I liked the way he incorporated example tweets into his slides. He also jumped from the slides to the Twitter web interface and Tweetdeck (his app viewer of choice and mine too) to show real-time examples of tweets.

Nugget(s): Reinforced my feelings about using Twitter as another tool to connect with genealogy folks and that’s really all it is: a new tool for doing what we’ve always done. Hoping to have that info on tweeting to a list from Thomas, but the more I think about it they really are an organizing tool for incoming information more than for outgoing. Still means I need to clean mine up though. Looking forward to checking out the links he has in the syllabus.

For more info on this presentation from Thomas himself, check out his presentation summary.

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Categories : Naming Patterns, conference, fhexpo, publishing, twitter

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Who What Why

February 17th, 2010 by Elizabeth

Oh yea, just what the world needs, another genealogy-focused website. Yea, I thought the same thing too. But here I am jumping in with both feet anyway, just to see where it goes.

Who

So, who the heck am I? I’m the wearer of many hats and master juggler of the to-do list. I’m a mom, wife, geek, life-long student, should-have-been-librarian, family Keeper Of The Records, and ex-Borg with penchants for genealogy, technology, photography, publishing, lovable labs, and dark chocolate.

You’re still reading? OK…I started researching my family’s history longer ago then I can remember, but do have the application I filled out for my great-grandfather’s Civil War military papers. I was 13. I was a geek even then.

What

My goal with this site is to pass along my hard-learned lessons and any tips or tricks I might have; but probably to get more from you, the world at large. In the meantime I’ll be engaging in the push and pull dance that is combining my passions of genealogical research, publishing, photography, and technology.

Why

Well, there are the usual reasons. Everyone else has a site. To connect with my extended family–known and temporarily unknown. To give back to the genealogical community. To maybe, someday, make some money doing the things I’m wildly excited about. And that brings us to the real reason I suppose. After a life spent drifting along in the shallow current and letting it take me where it would, I’ve decided to take a risk (meaning no ‘real’ job as the parental units would point out) and jump into the rapids where you really need to fight for the direction you want to go and commit to it.

Ready to jump with me?

Categories : Uncategorized