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A Seminar With Cyndi Ingle

3/22/2014

2 Comments

 
Today, at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis, Indiana, I attended an all-day seminar given by Cyndi Ingle.  For those who aren't familiar with Cyndi, she is the creator of Cyndi's List, which is a website containing the MOST comprehensive listing of ALL genealogy-related websites - research sites, database sites, methods and organization sites, history sites, blogs - everything.  She is quite famous within the genealogy community, so I was glad that she came to Indy and that I had the opportunity to hear her speak.  The seminar was entitled, "Genealogy Online: Productive, Organized and Successful."

Each attendee was given a nice booklet containing all of Cyndi's presentation notes, which I really appreciated, because it meant I could relax and pay more attention to exactly what she was saying, instead of worrying about taking notes to try to remember it all.  (I was also able to do some live tweeting, too, which I enjoyed!) 
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Seminar Booklet
Of course, Cyndi took us through her website, explained HOW it was organized and highlighted some of the main categories of links found there.  She gave us some great tips about how to develop a research plan, and she was even kind enough to provide us with links to templates to help us make a research plan of our own.  She talked a lot about using Evernote in genealogy research, which I wasn't necessarily expecting, but I'm glad she did.  I do have an Evernote account; however, I do not use it regularly in my research and my Evernote notes and notebooks are not as organized as I would like them to be.  Cyndi showed us Evernote's full capabilities as far as aiding in genealogy research and organization.  And there's an entire section on her website listing links that are helpful in learning and using Evernote for family history research.

Here are a few main points of her talk that really stuck with me:

- Even when you go through an entire database and find NOTHING helpful in learning about a particular ancestor, it is still a step forward as far as your research process goes.  (So many of us get discouraged when this happens, but now we are free to "check off" that record set and move onto the next potential source of information.)

- Take research notes along every step of the way.  Cyndi referred to it as 'having an ongoing dialogue with yourself.'  This is so important when you have to leave your research alone for a period of time.  We need to know exactly what we were working on and where we left off in the search, especially so we don't backtrack and search the same database or record set AGAIN to no avail.

- Genealogy research is a circular process; there is no end.  She showed us this GREAT graphic from the FamilySearch.org Research Process Wiki, which really helped me better visualize what a successful research process looks like.

- Speaking of visualization, she reminded us to try to visualize our research as much as possible. Using timelines and maps of migration and immigration patterns can all be extremely helpful when we are trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

If you ever get the chance to hear Cyndi speak live, please be sure that you do!  She is an engaging speaker and you can tell that she really loves what she does.  After her seminar today, I am so much more motivated to put more of my research in Evernote, and to be more meticulous in making research plans and keeping better research notes.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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Tuesday's Tip: Binder Organization

1/13/2014

46 Comments

 
A little while back, a friend of mine asked me HOW I organize all of my genealogy-related findings.  I thought about it and realized that this might make a good blog post, especially for those new to family history research, or for those whose current system of organization is just not working for his/her research style.

If you ARE new to genealogy, it is important to realize that there is no right or wrong way in order to organize your digital and paper genealogy files.  Everyone does so a little (or a lot) differently and it really comes down to a matter of preferences, as long as your style is functional to you.

Between my and my husband's families, I have around 20 different binders in which I store paper copies of most of the documents I find.  They are organized by surname; some of my binders contain information only on one surname, others contain more than one surname.  I label all of the binders on the front with a simple cover page.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
At the beginning of each binder, I try to include a basic family tree for quick reference.  For binders with more than one surname, I use plastic dividers with tabs, so I can easily find the family I am looking for. 
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
My binders are organized in chronological order, with the oldest records at the front and the newest at the back.  Each document gets one clear plastic binder sheet - a photocopy of the document itself goes on one side and any source information goes on the other side.  Using the clear plastic holders for every document does obviously add to the cost of my organization system, BUT it makes searching through the binders SO much faster, and I dare say it has eliminated many paper cuts I would have otherwise suffered from.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Side 1: Copy of original document
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Side 2: Source information
At the bottom of every copy of every original document, I write by hand the date and person of interest in the document.  This simple step helps me immensely when I am paging through the binder looking for one specific document.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
I label every 'original' document by hand for quick reference.
For documents that may consist of more than one or two sheets of paper (immigrant ship lists, wills), I use these handy plastic binder pockets.  It would be fine if I simply put all the pages within a plain clear plastic binder sheet, but these pockets make it so much easier to take the sheets in and out.
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Immigrant Ship List in Plastic Binder Pocket.
So, what types of documents do I keep in my binders?  ANYTHING related to my or my husband direct ancestors AND their siblings, sometimes referred to as collateral ancestors.  I have done a little research on, say, nieces and nephews of direct ancestors, but, for now, most of those files I only keep digitally on my computer hard drive and cloud drive.  I have a system of separating direct ancestor documents from sibling documents in my binders: 
Genealogy Binder Organization // The Spiraling Chains by Emily Kowalski Schroeder
Separating Siblings from Direct Ancestors
I use big (sometimes really BIG) binder clips to "section-off" the documents/sources related to siblings of direct ancestors.  I stick a Post-It note on the front of each section that states HOW these people are related to the direct ancestors.  I always, always, always write a woman's maiden name on all documents/sources pertaining to female ancestors.  Also, on each document/source, I write, by hand, how this person is related to the direct ancestor:
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I write the relationship between sibling and direct ancestor on bottom of each document/source page.
Other resources that I have been gradually adding to my binders are reference map printouts. Several of my husband's ancestral families stayed in the same counties for many generations, but maybe moved to a different township here and there.  So, I've printed out simple county maps with the townships delineated and put them in my binders, so that I don't have to keep Googling the maps on the computer.
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Mercer County, Ohio Townships and Main Towns.
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
46 Comments

New Year's Resolution #1: Binder Organization Complete!

1/9/2013

1 Comment

 
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The first item on my 2013 list of genealogy-related New Year's resolutions was to get the binders off of the floor space around my computer desk.  And it's done!  It is amazing how much better the space looks now.  

I purchased these "magazine stands" from this website. Delivery took less than a week and they were easy to put together - I did both in under an hour.  I love that they are just the perfect height so that I can place an open binder on top when I am doing research - previously, I had usually just kept it in my lap while mulled through search engines or updated trees on Ancestry.com.  Standard-size binders fit JUST RIGHT, and the shelves, though thin, DO hold their weight well because they are slightly angled upward.  I'm such a dork, but I don't know if I've ever been this excited over a piece of furniture. 
1 Comment

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

    Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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