Australian Genealogy Journeys

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Genealogy Do-Over - March 2018

I am taking part in the Genealogy Do-Over this year.

The Genealogy Do-Over tasks for March are:

Conducting Self-Interview
Conducting Family Interviews

1. Conducting Self-Interview

I decided to use Evernote to record my self-interview. I wrote down my own knowledge of the dates and places of events in my own life.

For example, I recorded:

Birthdate and place
Catholic Sacrament dates and places (Baptism, First Confession, First Communion, Confirmation)
Education - dates and places
Residences - dates and places
Hospitalisations - dates and places
Hobbies

2. Conducting Family Interviews

I created a Family Group Sheet template in Evernote, and then created one for my immediate family. I filled in the information from my own knowledge.

My next step is to interview my Mum and check if her knowledge of dates and places for our family correlates with my own.
Then I need to create a Family Group Sheet for each of my siblings' families.
I have also asked my Mum to fill in Family Group Sheet for her parents and siblings.

Here is an example of a Family Group Sheet from the US National Archives.

The full list of Genealogy Do-Over topics for 2018 is on Thomas MacEntee's Abundant Genealogy web site.

Friday, March 2, 2018

Genealogy Do-Over - February 2018

I am taking part in the Genealogy Do-Over this year. March has arrived without me having posted my February update!

The Genealogy Do-Over tasks for February were:

Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines
Setting Research Goals

1. Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines

I read and reflected upon the base practices and guidelines of other genealogy researchers last month. For example Thomas MacEntee's The Genealogy Do-Over: My Golden Rules of Genealogy, Alona Tester's 27 Golden Rules of Genealogy, and on the FamilySearch Wiki - Principles of Family History Research and Genealogical Standards and Guidelines (National_Institute).

I have decided to prioritise the following Base Practices and Guidelines for my own genealogy research:

Plan my research
Follow a research process
Work from the known to the unknown
Learn about the history and geography of the areas where my ancestors lived
Slow down. One objective at a time, one person at a time, one family at a time.
Keep a research log
Record Sources, cite correctly, give credit
Try to see the original document (or images of the original document)
Record every detail from every record
Track everything - what found and what not found, correspondence etc.
Analyse sources, resolve any conflicts
Be consistent in the way I record my data.
Back-up my data
Share my research
Keep learning

I also worked last month on customising my own genealogy research process/workflow using examples from other genealogists. The sections of my genealogy workflow are:

Preparing
Planning
Researching
Analysing
Resolving
Concluding
Saving
Sharing

2. Setting Research Goals

My initial research goals will be very simple:

Who were my maternal grandparents?
Who were my paternal grandparents?

The full list of Genealogy Do-Over topics for 2018 is on Thomas MacEntee's Abundant Genealogy web site.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Genealogy Do-Over - January 2018

I have decided to take part in the Genealogy Do-Over this year.
I have a new (second-hand) computer, so this feels like the perfect time to start afresh with my genealogy research.

The Genealogy Do-Over tasks for January are:

Setting Previous Research Aside
Preparing to Research

1. Setting Previous Research Aside

My existing genealogy digital files are stored:

on my old laptop computer
on an external hard-drive
Evernote
some files on Dropbox
some files on Google Drive
Ancestry.com private trees (working family trees for each branch of my family)
Wikitree.com

As suggested for this months Genealogy Do-Over, I am going to place all my digital genealogy files in a 'Hold' area, and as they are needed I will make a task on my to-do list to consult them.

My existing genealogy physical files include photocopies of archival documents and certificates, photographs (some originals and some copies), as well as research notes from my mother's family history research in the 1980s-90s. These are stored in binders categorised by surname. Similarly to the digital files, I will create to-do tasks to consult these records as they are needed.

2. Preparing to research

In the past, my research habits have been very haphazard.

I jump from one branch of my family tree to another
I have no plan for what records I will search, and when and why I will search them.
I often follow any 'bright and shiny objects' (BSOs)- newly digitised collections, new DNA matches.
I have not kept an adequate research log.
I have not achieved the vague goals I want to achieve ('Write the Fullerton history' has been a goal for over a decade now)
I have neglected using complete and accurate source citations.
I have felt overwhelmed and unorganised.
I have felt tired - staying up too late searching and not achieving anything worthwhile.
I have neglected genealogy correspondence - some emails have been left unanswered for far too long.

This year I hope to FINALLY make progress with writing a history of the Fullerton family. For this, I need to plan and create concise, focused and achievable research goals.

The changes to my research habits that I need to make include:

Create concise, focused and achievable research goals
Use a research log
Use a to-do list
Use complete and accurate source citations.
Instead of following BSOs, take note of them and look at them at another time if they don't relate to the research goals for that day.

As the Genealogy Do-Over progresses this year, I hope to learn more ways to improve my genealogy research habits.

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Hello World

This is the first post on my renewed Australian Genealogy Journeys blog.

As in my previous blog, I am hoping to share ideas, news, discoveries, successes and failures as I research my Australian family history. I will also blog about my genetic genealogy discoveries.

In addition to this blog I will also be blogging about my Fullerton Family History on a separate blog, with a particular focus on my searches for Fullard, Follard, Folliard and variants in county Kildare Ireland and surrounding counties.

Thank you for following.

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