CLICK HERE TO WIN!
On Genealogy—Lessons in Finding Your Past:
Documentation, Proof, and Keeping It All Straight
by Joan M. Kay
This is a "do as I say, not as I do" post, folks.
For you could see by taking a browse through my family group records, a great many of my facts have not been documented clearly. Or well. Or at all. I've very often been lazy as a summer pond when I'm researching.
But no longer.
I used to tell my husband proudly and while tapping my head, "I've got it all up here." I soon learned, when I once wanted to tell a fellow researcher about a mystery woman I'd found living in Rockingham County, Virginia, circa 1760, and had not written down the citation for the property tax list I found her on, that my head can not hold everything, or even a lot of things. It's also not a good way to build a database of, oh, a few thousand family members. (And, yes, your research will eventually grow to include at least that many people. And they all come with documents, some with file-folder-bursting amounts.)
So we need to get the facts straight. And documented.
The Family Group Sheet
Family Group Sheet or Record, download available at Ancestry.com
The Family Group Sheet is where you will record vital information on your families and individuals: names and variation, birthdates and places, marriages, death dates and places, etc. It is a standard in genealogy. You will often hear from someone, willing to swap information or share their research, mention the "Sheet." As in, "I have a Sheet on Margaret McLaughlin. I'll send it to you." So to get with the In crowd, get a good Sheet, use it religiously.
You will need one for each set of parents in your tree if you're not using a genealogy computer program. (I swear by the Legacy program, though some genealogists don't like to use any software at all.) If you use Legacy, or some other program, you still need plenty of blank Family Group Sheet copies for your research trips. Once you return home, this will make it simple for you to enter the information you've found into your database.
Document
Source Summary, download available at Ancestry.com.I like this form, though your citation information will take up a few lines for each document, because you will want to record more than is asked for on this sheet.
In general, for each fact you find, you want to note: author of document (example, Auditor of Public Accounts); name or title of document ("Personal Property Tax Books, Bath County [Virginia], 1791-1816"); call number or microfilm canister number (LVA Reel 31); page or image number (XX); repository (Library of Virginia, Richmond); and researchers's annotation (optional and always bracketed[ ]) ["Record in good condition, readable, except for missing year 18XX).] For:
Auditor of Public Accounts. "Personal Property Tax Books Bath County [Virginia], 1791-1816." LVA Reel 31. Image XX. Library of Virginia, Richmond. [Record in good condition, readable, except for missing year 18XX.]
Your intention here is to tell other researchers (and yourself down the road) exactly where to find the information you have compiled. Just ask yourself while taking notes, Could another researcher easily find this specific document from what I have written here?
Keep the Source Summary for your family group in a file marked only for that particular family group, along with an up-to-date Family Group Sheet.
Oh, and by the way, buy these file folders in bulk. You're going to need them for the next Lesson.
More Guest Writer HERE
Think About It.
FLAG PERSPECTIVE
"There is 'all the difference in the world' between defending the right to desecrate the flag and defending flag desecration itself."
- Cato Daily Dispatch
~~~~~~~~~~~
More Democratic Economics
~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s Machiavellian
"There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful
of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the
creation of a new order of things..... "
-- Niccolo Machiavelli
~~~~~~~~~~~
More Notable/Quotables HERE
Diary of an AOL User
Being an AOL user myself, I felt complete freedom to post this funny poke at the greal AOL users across the fruited plain.
· July 18 - I just tried to connect to America Online. I've heard it is the best online service I can get. They even included a free disk! I'd better hold onto it in case they don't ever send me anther one! I can't connect. I don't know what is wrong.
·
· July 19 - Some guy at the tech support center says my computer needs a modem. I don't see why. He's just trying to cheat me. How dumb does he think I am?
·
· July 22 - I bought the modem. I couldn't figure out where it goes. It wouldn't fit in the monitor or the printer. I'm confused.
·
· July 23 - I finally got the modem in and hooked up. that nine year old next door did it for me. But it still don't work. I cant get online.
·
· July 25 - That nine year old kid next door hooked me up to America Online for me. He's so smart. I told the kid he was a prodigy. But he says that's just another service. What a modest kid. He's so smart and he does these services for people. Anyway he's smarter then the jerks who sold me the modem. They didn't even tell me about communications software. Bet they didn't know. And why do they put two telephone jack holes in the back of a modem when you only need one? And why do they have one labeled phone when you are not suppose to hook it to the phone jack on the wall? I thought the dial tone sounded funny! Boy, are modem makers dumb! But the kid figured it out by the sound.
·
· July 26 - What's the internet? I thought I was on America Online. Not this internet thing. I'm confused.
·
· July 27 - The nine year old kid next door showed me how to use this America Online stuff. I told him he must be a genius. He says that he is compared to me. Maybe he's not so modest after all.
·
· July 28 - I tried to use chat today. I tried to talk into my computer but nothing happened. Maybe I need to buy a microphone.
·
· July 29 - I found this thing called usenet. I got out of it because I'm connected to America Online not usenet.
· July 30 - These people in this usenet thing keep using capital letters. How do they do that? I never figured out how to type capital letters. Maybe they have a different type of keyboard.
·
· JULY 31 - I CALLED THE COMPUTER MAKER I BOUGHT IT FROM TO COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT HAVING A CAPITOL LETTER KEY. THE TECH SUPPORT GUY SAID IT WAS THIS CAPS LOCK KEY. WHY DIDN'T THEY SPELL IT OUT? I TOLD HIM I GOT A CHEAP KEYBOARD AND WANTED A BETTER ONE. AND ONE OF MY SHIFT KEYS ISNT THE SAME SIZE AS THE OTHER. HE SAID THATS A STANDARD. I TOLD HIM I DIDN'T WANT A STANDARD KEYBOARD BUT ANOTHER BRAND. I MUST HAVE HAD AN IMPORTANT COMPLAINT BECAUSE I HEARD HIM TELL THE OTHER SUPPORT GUYS TO LISTEN IN ON OUR CONVERSATION.
·
· AUGUST 1 - I FOUND THIS THING CALLED THE USENET ORACLE. IT SAYS THAT IT CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS I ASK IT. I SENT IT 44 SEPARATE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE INTERNET. I HOPE IT RESPONDS SOON.
·
· AUGUST 2 - I FOUND A GROUP CALLED REC.HUMOR. I DECIDED TO POST THIS JOKE ABOUT THE CHICKEN THAT CROSSED THE ROAD. TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE! HA! HA! I WASNT SURE I POSTED IT RIGHT SO I POSTED IT 56 MORE TIMES.
·
· AUGUST 3 - I KEEP HEARING ABOUT THE WORLD WIDE WEB. I DON'T NOW SPIDERS GREW THAT LARGE.
·
· AUGUST 4 - THE ORACLE RESPONDED TO MY QUESTIONS TODAY. GEEZ IT WAS RUDE. I WAS SO ANGRY THAT I POSTED AN ANGRY MESSAGE ABOUT IT TO REC.HUMOR.ORACLE. I WASNT SURE IF I POSTED RIGHT SO I POSTED IT 22 MORE TIMES.
·
· AUGUST 5 - SOMEONE TOLD ME TO READ THE FAQ. GEEZ THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO USE PROFANITY.
·
· AUGUST 6 - SOMEONE ELSE TOLD ME TO STOP SHOUTING IN ALL MY MESSAGES. WHAT A STUPID JERK. I'M NOT SHOUTING! IM NOT EVEN TALKING! JUST TYPING! HOW CAN THEY LET THESE RUDE JERKS GO ON THE INTERNET?
·
· August 7 - Why have a Caps Lock key if you're not suppose to use it? It's probably an extra feature that costs more money.
·
· August 8 - I just read this post called make money fast. I'm so exited. I'm going to make lots of money. I followed his instructions and posted it to every newsgroup I could find.
·
· August 9 - I just made my signature file. Its only 6 pages long. I will have to work on it some more.
·
· August 10 - I just looked at a group called alt.aol.sucks. I read a few posts and I really believe that aol should be wiped off the face of the earth. I wonder what an aol is.
·
· August 11 - I was asking where to find some information about something. Some guy told me to check out ftp.netcom.com. I've looked and looked but I can't find that group.
·
· August 12 - I sent a post to every usenet group on the Internet asking where the ftp.netcom.com is. Hopefully someone will help. I cant ask the kid next door. His parents said that when he comes back from my house he's laughing so hard he can't eat or sleep or do his homework. So they wont let him come over anymore. I do have a great sense of humor. I don't know why the rec.humor group didn't like my chicken joke. Maybe they only like dirty stuff. Some people sent me posts about my 56 posts of the joke and they used bad words.
·
· August 13 - I sent another post to every usenet group on the Internet asking where the ftp.netcom.com is. I had forgot yesterday to include my new signature file which is only 8 pages long. I know everyone will want to read my favorite poem so I included it. I'm also going to add that short story I like.
·
· August 14 - Some guy suspended my account because of what I was doing. I told him I don't have an account at his bank. He's so dumb.
More Fish Giggles HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment