tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46830634889771942252024-02-19T06:49:55.504-08:00FrustratedGenealogistAn irregular blog which muses on WHY I love genealogy and HOW it frustrates me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-54595152091758311542018-02-07T13:54:00.002-08:002018-02-07T13:54:28.834-08:00Mother in the Kitchen [Stories from Tried and True Recipe book]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Let me start with some genealogical data, so that you can place my mother in her time and place. She was born in DeSoto, Missouri on 6 March 1891. Her father had a photographer's studio there. They moved to St. Louis in 1900. Her father had a job with Polar Wave — an ice manufacturing company. He serviced the ice-making machines that were on display during the St. Louis fair of 1904l<br />
<br />
Mother went to Harris Teachers college (a 2-year normal school at that time) and went on to get her bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago. This places her as Victorian-Edwarding in upbringing and as having a much higher education than did most women of her time.<br />
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<br />
Adelle in 1930.<br />
<br />
She taught elementary school (with a brief stint as a high school teacher) before she married my father in 1925. (There were divorced about 1953). I am the older of their two surviving children — both girls.<br />
<br />
Mother was an odd mixture of Victorian style domination plus repression and a person with a very modern outlook. These characteristics are important to her domestic outlook.<br />
<br />
Until the fall of 1940 we always had live-in "help." They did some of the cleaning, some of the laundry, and some of the cooking. Mother worked with the help, but she also took more time off than a full-time housekeeper would have been able to choose. As to cooking, I believe that she planned the meals, but that the help did most of the cooking.<br />
<br />
Mother did know how to cook; sometimes she showed the help how she wanted something done and sometimes she learned a kitchen technique from the help. She became good friends with the woman who lived with us from 1934 to about 1937 and corresponded with her and visited with her until Marzella died.<br />
<br />
Marzella was followed by a young girl who had come to St. Louis from Kentucky. Mother taught Edna many of mother's kitchen knowledge. Mother also helped Edna with her night-school homework. I remember many afternoons at the big table doing my homework while Edna did hers before she went off to her night-school classes. Mother was always just on hand to answer questions from either of us — but we did the work! Mother showed us how to look things up, she explained words and concepts, but she didn't do our work for us. Edna had a high-school certificate before whe left us to get married. In the1930s that made Edna a well-educated person,<br />
<br />
As to kitchen skills, mother-the-teacher thought that her daughters should know how the kitchen worked. So we helped prepare the applesauce, we cut-up the tomatoes for the chili-sauce Aunt Olive made for our two households. We washed up during the jelly making. Little tasks, but we did know our way around the kitchen.<br />
<br />
Mother wasn't particularly an innovative cook but all the foods she prepared were well made. She used to ask us what vegetable we should have for the next meals. Our choices were always peas, carrots, or peas and carrots. We never suggested green beans or tomatoes; they were probably already on the menu. Sometimes she served spinach or turnips — my sister and I never ate either.<br />
<br />
She wasn't imaginative, but she did like good food, so she often asked friends for recipes she had enjoyed. My sister has her recipe notebook, but it is still stored from moving. When it is unpacked we will scan it, and more recipes will become available for sharing.<br />
<br />
I found 5 recipes in Tried and True that were found, collected, or created by my mother. What follows is the story of each recipe, followed by the recipe itself.<br />
<br />
1) SHERRY COBBLER<br />
<br />
I don't know why this was in mother's notebook and I'm even less sure why I copied it into mine! We didn't drink alcoholic beverages. This wasn't from principals – we just didn't drink. I believe both my parents grew up in "dry" households, so it may have been childhood attitudes. At least partly it was a legal issue; I was seven or eight when Prohibition was repealed and my parents were basically law-abiding people. But they didn't drink after repeal either.<br />
<br />
I suspect mother wanted to be able to serve something to any friend who might want a drink. And I suspect I copied it to my cookbook when I married, in case I needed to know how to offer a drink. I'm not sure either one of us ever used this recipe.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Sherry Cobbler</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <i>Adelle Strickler (mother)</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Put<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tbsp. sugar<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>in each glass</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Add<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>sherry<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>until glass is half full<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>then add</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>crushed ice<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Fill up glass with</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>7-Up®</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
So there it is — mother's version of the high life!<br />
<br />
2) FRENCH DRESSING<br />
<br />
Mother's primary care doctor gave this recipe to mother about 1939 to 1941. Before it became an 'in' thing, he was weaning mother to a low-fat diet. You will notice that he suggests mineral oil in order to lower the fat. Today olive oil is a "good" fat, so I have substituted olive oil for the mineral oil.<br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>French Dressing</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <i>Dr. Rosenfeld,</i>, c. 1940</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Beat together with a Dover beater</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 can Campbell’s Tomato Soup</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 cup sugar</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: line-through;">1 tsp. salt</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 scant tsp. paprika</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3/4 cup </span><span style="font-kerning: none; text-decoration: line-through;">mineral</span><span style="font-kerning: none;"> olive oil</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 cup vinegar</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Drop<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 clove garlic (optional)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> into the mixture. Leave garlic for a few days then remove.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Quick and easy to prepare. And I don't know of a better tasting recipe for a salad dressing of this type!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">3) SPINACH RING</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">"Aunt Jo" was the aunt of a college friend. They were "suite mates" at the University of Chicago: two girls from St. Louis, one from Kansas City, and the fourth from Memphis. The remained good friends all their lives.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mother only served this vegetable dish as a party food. Since it requires some preparation and presentation I can understand that in this case. But that was her attitude for most of these recipes; they were "company" dishes.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Spinach Ring</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <i>Aunt Jo (Anita Hines’ aunt)</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Preheat oven to 300°F</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Finely chop</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 cups cooked spinach</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Add<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tsp. grated onion<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>which has been browned in</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tbsp. butter<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Season with</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>pepper</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1/2 tsp. paprika<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Mix in</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 egg yolks, well beaten</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 cups medium <b>White Sauce</b> </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 egg whites, stiffly beaten</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Place in buttered ring mold which has been dusted with</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>fine dry bread crumbs<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Place ring mold in a pan of hot water and bake in moderate (350°F) oven for 20 minutes. Remove from mold and serve with</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cauliflower</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Peas and Carrots</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">4) GOLDEN BARS</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mother found this recipe in a "woman's magazine" Christmas issues — in 1932 or 1933. I was always surprised that they published it at that time, because the ingredients were expensive in those days.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Mother baked them for family and friends every Christmas from the first year she made them. My sister continued the tradition; I also baked them until the family got too small. I had never met any one else who had ever know of them until I brought them to the local genealogy meeting in January of this year.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Golden Bars</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Adelle Strickler (Mother)</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare shallow pan</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Melt<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3/4 cup Canola Harvest<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>in a saucepan in which the batter is to be mixed. Remove melted margarine or butter from heat.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sift together</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1-1/2 cups sifted flour</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 tsp. baking powder<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Stir into the melted shortening with</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 cups brown sugar</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2 eggs, well-beaten</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 tsp. vanilla</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3/4 cup walnuts, chopped</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Spread in shallow pan (12- x 8-inch) which has been greased and lined with wax paper. Bake in moderate oven (350°F) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until surface springs back when pressed lightly</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Cool; cut into bars about 1- x 3-1/2 inches.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Makes about 25 bars</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Note that Canola Harvest is my cooking fat of choice. I believe the original called for butter.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">The next two "recipes" are more a matter of processes then they are actual recipes.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">5) SMOTHERED ROUND STEAK</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
This was the single "fancy dish" that mother served as a family meal. I don't think she considered it to be fancy. It was once a very common way of preparing an economical cut. Beef Round isn't so economic these days — most of it goes into the every popular hamburger trays, so the rest is fairly expensive. And butchers don't prepackage round as steaks. But most butchers will cut it this way if you ask for it.</div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Smothered Round Steak</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>Adelle Strickler (Mother)</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Prepare seasoned flour:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">For each serving mix</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>about 1/4 tsp. to 1 tsp. of the seasonings of your choice.*</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Pound the steak with a meat pounder. Then pound in the seasoned flour on each side of the steak.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Add<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 to 3 tbsp. unsalted butter to a skillet. Brown the steak well on each side. Add about 1/8 to 1/4 inch water to the skillet. Bring to boil and then lower to a simmer. Cover skillet and simmer until steak is fork tender.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Remove steaks to a platter</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Add<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>water to the pan juices and reduced to gravy consistency. I pour the gravy over the steaks before serving, but you can put it into a gravy boat if desired.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">* I vary my seasonings according to what I have in the rest of the meal. I may use lemon pepper, sage, thyme, savory, various mixed seasonings such as meat rubs, rosemary; or any combination of the above. You want your steak to be well flavored without needing much in the way of seasoning when served.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">Note: this recipe wasn't copied from Mother's notebook. She never wrote it down. I did, early in my housekeeping days, and then modernized it to this form, as I worked with it.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">6) VANILLA ICE CREAM SODA</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And finally, here is mother's one creation. No one needs a recipe for an ice cream soda — right? But, outside of our family, I don't hear of people using this combination of ingredients. It is my favorite form of float.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><b>Vanilla Ice Cream Soda </b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <i>Addelle Strickler (mother)</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">For each serving</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 to 3 scoops vanilla ice cream <i>OR</i> French vanilla ice cream<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Fill glass with</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>RED cream soda*</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 16px;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">
</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">* Kroger “Big K” or Vess (if you can find it. Vess come from the St. Louis area). There may be others. Red Cream soda has a much different taste than the brown type.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">There will be more recipes from mother's cookbook later, when my sister has unpacked it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Palatino; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-kerning: none;">And there will be other blogs from Tried and True in days to come.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-16355096477417059902017-07-31T14:47:00.000-07:002017-07-31T14:47:47.243-07:00Musing and Lessons from the July tasks for Genealogy Do-Over 2017I began the 2017 Genealogy Do-Over with discussions of how to handle genealogy work when chronic illness strikes. My next tasks were organizing the information I currently hold on the direct lines in my three trees and in synchronizing that data between two databases. I also initiated some plans to ensure that my jobs: consistency checks; research; reentering older research; and learning tasks would continue to advance in an orderly manner.<br />
<br />
This month these techniques have continued to work fairly well. The last two weeks in July were plagued by those allergy attacks. Some days I have slept almost all the time; on those days all I managed was a simple consistency check. On other days, I could work, but I couldn't concentrate; some jobs were just too large. On those days I would stop working on the "difficult" jobs and turn to simpler jobs. Some days I was limited to questions and answers on the internet (some of my learning tasks are solved by consulting one of the genealogy orientated groups on Facebook, for example). In this way I have managed to achieve at least one of my stated objectives on almost every working day; and I was able to turn most days into a working day.<br />
<br />
Some of my learnings have been surprising. I discovered that I was using my rotation checklist as my To-Do list. The rotation list was developed as a check list, to ensure that I keep tasks going in as even a manner as possible. It became a ToDo list because it was easier for me to reach it on my computer. I feel my To-Do list should have consist of stated goals as to where I am going and what I hope to accomplish, and that the check list should simply keep those goals proceeding in a timely manner. It has become my habit to make a running comment on what I am doing as I work with the check list. As a temporary notation, this is fine. But each day, I need to transfer the comments to the relevant research log. After all, that is why we have research logs.<br />
<br />
Since my very earliest work in genealogy, I have tried to keep research logs. I understand why they exist. But I fail to find a form that fits my personal working habits. This is another example of that problem. This morning I began an attempt to fix this situation. Today has been one of those "difficult jobs" days; I didn't get very far today. But I will continue to work with this until I manage to understand how to make this work. I have been "misusing" my checklist; but, on the affirmative side, I do have data that can be moved to the appropriate spots of my genealogy files, and I have recognized a problem and have started to work with it.<br />
<br />
When a blogged about where I was planning to go in July, I assumed that I would return to "keeping up" with the Genealogy Do-Over assignments; that didn't happen. My DoOver notebook (which contains Thomas's monthly suggestions, various teaching materials that support those suggestions, and my related blogs — and sometimes Facebook discussions from the Do-Over group there) is up-to-date and in proper order. It remains a good source for quick review of learning goals and learning plans and achievements.<br />
<br />
But I find that I haven't touched the June and July goals; I am still actively setting up my Research Toolbox, an assignment from May. (I know that a Toolbox is never static; some links will prove unhelpful and will be discarded; new links will be found and added. But something fairly comprehensive must be set up before I even have a Research Toolbox.)<br />
<br />
WHEN I achieve goals isn't important to me. But I have been attempting to keep my early month and end-of-month blogs in step with the assignments of the month. That is no longer my blogging goal. I will continue with the two blogs a month entries, recording my monthly progress; but I will no longer be concerned with keeping up. I will take all the time I need on an assignment, before I move on the the next one.<br />
<br />
My active research goals show the least advancement. I believe that this will usually be the case. The physical search of my house has been stalled because of allergies. I have emptied the four file drawers I mentioned in an earlier blog, but have not yet finished disposing of their content. My next step will be to expand the search to some recycled legal-size hanging file folder boxes and the the many "look at these later" plastic bags in hidden corners of the house. My query about a possible cradle-roll connection to the Methodist church is waiting for an answer. (I will give them a slightly longer curtesy wait, before I attempt to convince them that I am asking serious questions.)<br />
<br />
I did use an "easy access" tool which found some new documentation for my children's father. Using the hints at Ancestry led me to some documents I hadn't known about. This not only allowed me to add some information to Joe's profile, it provided some new search locations to be added to my Research Toolbox.<br />
<br />
Although I'm "stuck" in months five and six, all in all, I feel that month seven has been pretty productive.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-678878886778592072017-07-16T11:11:00.003-07:002017-07-16T11:32:51.743-07:00Halfway Through July— And I a very happy camper! I'm feeling truly productive because something positive has been happening almost every day. Nothing huge has occurred — no brick walls have fallen in and I am still mainly involved in clean-up work.<br />
<br />
There are over 3500 names in my original database; almost everyone of these names has at least one source attached (a very few are currently memory only); and most of the sources are more"valuable" than the three "springboard" sources that built the core of that database when I began serious work in genealogy almost 10 years ago. About 100 of these names have been copied into my newer, companion database. This leaves a long list of un-transferred data.<br />
<br />
Now that the framework of basic procedures is in place, transfer of information is done smoothly and with reasonable speed. The instructions on procedures are clear to my genealogy heirs; if I don't finish this task, they will be able to do so — if they wish to follow up on all these people. As to "reasonable" speed: I'm not wasting time on statistics, but my worksheet indicates that I am transferring from one to three people most days.<br />
<br />
I transfer each person "by hand" — copying each data set by direct keyboarding into the newer database. I proofread the data in each database to be sure that they agree with each other and to remove any typing mistakes. (A review of some early correspondence indicated that this was attitude from the very beginning of my work; I still feel that it has served me well.) This "hands-on" approach also frees the creative side of me to come up with new suggestions as to areas of approach. It is a slow approach, but I feel that accuracy is more important than speed.<br />
<br />
The first half of 2017 was devoted to organization: I did no research and I was not active in learning experiences. Now I am freeing up time for both these activities: life has some added sparkle to it. At this time, most of my learning is solo work. There are finer points concerning the use of both databases. I need to learn about these. And there are those areas Thomas MacEntee has us working on. So I'm reading the on-line manuals for both databases and viewing presentations about these techniques. And I'm following various discussion groups that are centered around the data bases and others that are centered around the more general techniques. I am LEARNING NEW techniques (she says, skipping around the room).<br />
<br />
As to advancing my research: in the course of working on my first self-appointed task, I am making GREAT advances — in cleaning house! Somewhere in this house I am saving a copy of my original birth certificate (long form, no longer being issued by the state), a copy of my college transcript, and a large photo-portrait of my father's parents which was created before I was born. I know where these were originally stored, but they appear to have been moved — WHERE are they now?<br />
<br />
I went to those two two-drawer files where I had originally stored these important papers. One file drawer at a time, I am emptying all the contents, piling the hanging-file folders in a stack on the guest bed beside a plastic bag of the loose materials found in that drawer. The contents of one drawer have been sorted, mostly discarded, and the few "keepers" have been filed. I am now about halfway through the second drawer.<br />
<br />
What I am finding is financial records from the 1980s: checks, bills, account statements. I have found between 5 and 10 papers worth saving, either for nostalgic value or for genealogy purpose. Not much research here, but it IS a good housekeeping move. I have two more drawers to clear in this part of the house. If I am still missing the papers, my husband and I will scour the rest of the house looking for those "check these out later" boxes and bags that procrastinators are so fond of. We shall probably have recycled tons of paper (a hundred pounds?) by the time I do find these missing materials.<br />
<br />
I work on relatively small tasks at each sitting, but there is variety in my work which makes me feel better. Tiny steps, but they add up to jobs having been struck off my ToDo lists (and they also add new ideas to those ToDo lists for later action). Some jobs are "on hold" but no area feels "stuck"; I know that I am making progress and I know what next thing to do in order to keep things moving.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-86041750195306593542017-07-04T08:59:00.002-07:002017-07-04T08:59:46.561-07:00Goals for Month 6 (and I hope, the final make-up post for 2017)<b>Evaluating Evidence</b> — "Go-Over" Style<br />
If you are reviewing your existing research, it may be difficult to evaluate evidence if you haven't cited sources. In addition some genealogy database software programs make it difficult to evaluate evidence. Determine the best method for your current data; it may actually help to use a program suc as Evidentia, Clooze, or one of the other evidence evaluation software packages.<br />
<br />
I am on fairly firm ground here, because I DO have source citations and I already use Evidentia. I do need to learn to be sensitive as to the correct time to use this skill. My research logs may point me toward the correct time; I just need to stay alert to the need for this skill.<br />
<br />
As an aside, I use Evidentia because of my tendency to become bogged down in details. This particular program helps me to extract each available detail and at the same times keeps the information organized in a manner that avoids information overload.<br />
<br />
<b>Reviewing Online Education Options</b> — "Do-Over" Style<br />
Review the "RESOURCES Free Online Educational Resources" (opens in PDF) and consider creating an Educational Plan. Start with small goals for this year and then look for webinars, videos, and other online resources that can help you to achieve your goals.<br />
<br />
Again, I have always practiced Online Education, but not in a planned manner. I am able to name many of my early mentors (and I am very grateful to them). My current goal is to study the above resource list and create my plans.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-44378055920866717182017-07-04T04:51:00.001-07:002017-07-04T04:53:07.480-07:00Month Five GoalsIn May I was so involved in the work on clearing up my direct lines that I neglected to study and write up the goals for Month 5. Now that I am allowing myself to engage in other activities, I have been going over my Do-Over notebook. I have printed up and inserted materials that I had neglected to add to the notebook, and in this way discovered this neglected task.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
To-Do List for Month 5</div>
<b>Citing Sources</b>: If you own a copy of <i>Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace</i>, read Chapters 1 and 2. Doing so will help you understand how source citations are constructed and they are important to genealogy research.<br />
<br />
Even though I have used citations from the start of my work with our genealogies, I have chosen to quote and work with the "Do-Over" assignment, rather than the "Go-Over" form. I don't have an in-depth understanding of how source citations are created. I understand the need for source citations, but I seem to be "tone-deaf" to the construction theory.<br />
<br />
The citation template that I currently use is based on the "Practical Citation" developed by Ben Sayer. When I read his article, I realized that I could follow his guidelines and create a citation that I could understand. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I recently added some fields suggested by one of the genealogy software databases I was testing. The additional fields seem to be a good idea; they are a part of my citation template — AND I do not use them, because I do not understand them.<br />
<br />
Practical Citations fill the basic needs of using source citations. They leave a record as to where you have been and what you found that can be retraced by you and be people who may be following your work. They do not cover the fine details which appear in Elizabeth Shown Mills examples and they have only one format, which is used wherever a citation appears.<br />
<br />
They will do for now, but they are not scholarly. They would not do for use in a publication such as those appearing in the NGS publications.<br />
<br />
I plan to continue to study chapters 1 and 2 from <i>Evidence Explained</i> until I have reached an understanding. Then I can gradually reformat each type of citation and use the new template to upgrade my current citations.<br />
<br />
I see this as a matter of growth rather than as a duplication of effort. Without Practical Citations, my work would be unsourced. When I learn how to understand and construct more scholarly forms, my work will have become better sourced. This way I can build on what knowledge I have and develop future skills.<br />
<br />
<b>Building a Research Toolbox</b>: If you don't already have a research toolbox, download and read the Building a Research Toolbox handout here: hjttp://www.geneabloggers. com/genrestools<br />
<br />
Once again I have chosen the Do-Over assignment as opposed to the Go-Over form. I know that I acted upon this in 2015, but I have no record of it. Did I file the download? Did I make any plans? I do know that I never wrote up a blog about it. I also know that I haven't used such a toolkit during 2016 or the first half of 2017.<br />
<br />
Therefore I am a beginner at using this skill. So I shall follow the directive above. I will download the article, add it to my Do-Over notebook, and continue to study it and work with it until I have built a toolbox that fits my style and that has become second nature to me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-85200354095055417872017-07-03T08:20:00.000-07:002017-07-03T08:20:12.177-07:00Memoir<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
I</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My sister was born in August, when I was 3 years and 48 weeks old. I knew that this was so. Why did I sometimes remember seeing a Christmas tree when Aunt Olive told me there was a new baby?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
II</div>
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One rainy springtime afternoon (probably in 1931, for this is a clear memory) I was sitting on my mother's lap in the apartment sunroom. My mother had been singing songs to me from a book called "Songs of a Child Year" — a book based on Pestalozzi's theories of early education. My mother had been asking me for my favorite songs. I soon asked for one about civic duty and a young boy being called away from home. She had often sung this song to me, so I was startled when she suddenly started crying and couldn't finish the song. She held me closely and told me that his was her problem; I had done nothing wrong. In later years she often shared this song with me — and with my sister after she became part of the family. But I did wonder sometimes why she had cried.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
III</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My mother had an uncanny way of knowing the gender of an unborn child. The only time I ever knew of her being in error was in the case of my sister —who was supposed to have been a boy; the selected name for the baby was Robert Ray.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I wasn't aware that this fact bothered me until after I had learned the answer.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
IV</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In 1942 we were staying with my grandmother in Northern Indiana — my mother, my sister, Aunt Ida and I — while my father and his brother (Aunt Ida's husband) stayed in Chicago for the second term of Summer School.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One day Aunt Ida went to the town cemetery with my 11-year-old sister. In the course of the conversation, Aunt Ida asked my sister where our baby brother was buried. Rae's "what brother?" reaction told Aunt Ida that she had erred, so she said it was mother's story to tell.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Rae came to me to find out, but I didn't know either. When we got home to St. Louis, we asked Aunt Olive (my mother's sister). And from Aunt Olive we learned that there had been a boy born Christmas eve who didn't live for even 24 hours. And we learned that mother didn't talk about it — so we never did.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
V: Coda</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So now I knew that I wasn't wrong about the Christmas tree and now I kew why my mother cried over the boy who left his family and now Rae and I knew why mother thought she'd be a boy.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Very early in my working with genealogy the state of Missouri began to place vital statistics records on line. My reporter son (who lives in Jefferson City) learned about the site. In his explorations, he discovered the existence of baby Strickler"s death certificate. Now we have the document of his story.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
VI: Musings</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
My mother was born in 1891; she grew up with Victorian/Edwardian principles guiding her social learnings. Although she became a modern woman, I believe her silence about the loss was based o those earlier teachings. I wonder if she would have been more happy if she had been able to talk about her hurt.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
And — as I was composing this blog, I wonder what my life would have been like had I been big sister to a boy, instead of the sister I fell in love with the day she came home from the hospital.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-40738653991031260452017-06-29T14:25:00.000-07:002017-06-29T14:25:07.160-07:00(Dim) LIGHT at the end of the tunnel.Well month 6 is ending. In March, April, May, and June I have been reorganizing early entries in my original database, creating "exact"* copies of each entry in my secondary database, and generally seeking to give my heirs some ordered information with which work. *"exact" as in the same information, stated as close to the same way as is possible given the obvious existence of different styles between the databases.<br />
<br />
This is the only genealogy activity I allowed myself (aside from hanging out with some of the Facebook genealogy groups I belong to). I have been working on the direct line only, I haven't allowed myself to spend time on learning — unless that was required in order to record these ancestors. I haven't allowed myself to do any research. I am "dying of withdrawal".<br />
<br />
I have reached the point where there are fewer than 12 "earliest ancestors" to be recorded. The pattern for working with this people is clearly defined for my heirs. I need to go back to the tree, generation by generation, and add the collateral lines. I need to solidify and extend the research needed to keep my tree growing.<br />
<br />
I have decided that from now on I can reasonably alternate my tasks. One day I will take up a research task which will be worked on to the next good stopping place. The next time I will pick up the next collateral line. The next time I will work on some organization task I have been leaving a trail of notes to. The next time I will finish the work on one of those early ancestors that still need to be synchronized in both databases. And I will add a learning task as I am attracted to one.<br />
<br />
And then I will repeat the cycle. Any time that any of these tasks results in a database entry, both databases will be edited for synchronization. Two databases provide different reporting abilities, different ways of reaching internet information, and so on. If you keep them in sync, you have a strong listing. If you let them differ, you are creating a mess (SWM Genealogy Philosophy 201).<br />
<br />
I feel gratified in that a necessary task has been successfully dealt with. I feel liberated — I work better when I vary my tasks as described above.<br />
<br />
And finally — in the learning department, I really need to go back over Months 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Genealogy Do-Over and make sure that I didn't lose out on a learning opportunity there. Don't be surprised if I send out a catch-up post or two.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-43177463968797016632017-06-01T15:33:00.000-07:002017-06-01T15:33:04.496-07:00Where Did Month Five Go?Unless you are looking for me in posts within the Facebook group, you have heard nothing from me in May. And, other than those posts, I have done nothing with the Do-Over/Go-Over in that month.<br />
<br />
<br />
And — I'm so happy; I'm so proud of what DID happen in May.<br />
<br />
If you are following this journey, you know that early this year I realized that I must clean house and have my genealogy materials ready for my heirs (my two older children) in order that they have reasonable records and documentation whenever they take over the genealogy job.<br />
<br />
So I set out to choose a second database to accompany my original one and I set about to organize my data, organize my sources and my source citations, and also generally clean up my electronic organization of all this work.<br />
<br />
Absolutely NO research is happening right now. Also no deep analysis of what I have already achieved. Just making sure that whatever information I have on "person (Dollarhide number 72.0)" is easily available. And that whatever known holes in that data are clearly documented also.<br />
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In general, I have gathered my information generation by generation (i.e, me and my siblings; spouse(s) and siblings; parents and siblings; and so on). But for this organization I am concentrating on the direct lines for me and for both spouses. (All are in one tree.) This gives a clear framework to which I will add the collateral lines.<br />
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Since I had never used my second database before this year, it began with just 3 people; my 10-year-companion database has over 3500. Although I could look up dates of documents to find out, I don't think anyone cares (especially me) so I don't know how many people were in the new database on May first, but it wasn't very many. At least 30 of those 64 people were added in May, and I believe that it was more likely 40 of them.<br />
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I have found my method (which is no longer being reworked from scratch — even though there are refinements). I have found intuitive-to-me ways to handle data (such as census reports and marriage dates) that belong to both partners in a marriage, so that I don't need to consult the source materials twice for each person. In the process I am revisiting FamilySearch, Ancestry, and so on to fill in missing source documentation and I am also eliminating source documentation that has been found and stored on more that one occasion in the past. Each of those 64 people have clean records, with source documents noted, and citations and storage locations attached to each person. Each of those 64 people has a person sheet (individual summary) generated from each database and filed in the appropriate files. I have proof-read and edited these individual summaries. Neither report exists with the original wording (I have always done this), and both reports are almost identical in the way the same facts are reported.<br />
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I am so thrilled! This is a happy dance nearly as joyful as breaking down a brick wall.<br />
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I haven't examined what the June goals are (although I have printed them out and added them to my notebook); but I expect that I will put those goals on hold until all members in the direct lines have reached the place where I add the notation that this is the earliest ancestor I have researched.<br />
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Then I will return to my generation, and add all the collateral generations. I expect that somewhere in that process, where my information is thin on the ground, I will feel ready to resume my active research (I'm full of ideas and to-do notes for that, but organization is the main goal and research is currently a rabbit hole full of BSOs). I don't know how fast the work on the direct line will be (naturally, most of the 3500+ people are collaterals), but as long as I can move this efficiently, I am a very happy genealogist.<br />
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Today, "Frustrated Sue" aka the "Frustrated Genealogist" is considerably less frustrated than she has been!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-13575819902248634172017-04-08T13:58:00.000-07:002017-04-08T13:58:18.979-07:00Examining Month Four<br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">So here I am with my monthly musing about the Go-Over assignments for Month 4:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt";">Assignment 1: <b>Tracking Research:</b> If you have never used a research log before, consider using the format above or creating your own. Another option is to see if your preferred genealogy database software has a way of tracking research; some have a To Do List option, others have something similar to a Research Log.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt";">I have mentioned my narrative style log several times this year in various discussion in the Facebook Do-Over group. Each time I say that I emphatically DO NOT recommend it for others. It is complicated and cumbersome; but it satisfies some internal need for me and it frees me to concentrate on research.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt";">The template for this log has been on my computer since 2015. It has continued to work well for me. I expect that, with continuing refinements, this will be the style of log that I follow for the rest of my life in genealogy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Assignment 2: <b>Conducting Research:</b> With your current research, start with yourself. Check to see that all information is accurate, based on your self interview, and make sure each point of data can be tied to at least one record. If something is missing a corresponding record — like a birth location — then mark it as "unsourced" and add it to your To Do List for further research.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "symbolmt"; font-size: 12.000000pt;">As I have discussed before, I am not doing research at this time; instead I am reorganizing my present research and making my discoveries clear so that my heirs will receive organized findings, instead of the electronic version of those cardboard boxes found in the attic. As I review my research, I do take note of any unsourced findings, and transfer those missing-source areas to the appropriate research log.</span><br />
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<li>To accomplish this organization I created three new logs, based loosely on my research log template. I have been adjusting these new logs throughout my work in March and continuing through the first week in April.</li>
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<li>This journey through reorganization has helped me to understand something about myself. I have always known that I tend to obsess over details. In my professional life as a copy editor, this trait was a strength. A copy editor's job is just that: keeping track of galleys, art, author discussions; observing deadlines; and ensuring that it all comes together. Thirty-plus years at that job has strengthened my habit of listing step-by-step processes and turning them into check lists. Thus my natural trait has been reinforced by on-the-job-training.</li>
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<li>The reorganization logs are set up so that each log has a checklist of procedures that I use to ensure that the data for each person on my tree has been properly organized. I actually add a checkmark and a date at the end of each procedure when I have accomplished a task.</li>
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<li>Below the work area on these logs is a diary area where I record what I have accomplished for each individual. At first this area was a repeat (a cut-and-paste type of repetition) of the check list. Soon I realized that such an exact repetition is unnecessary. Instead I now have a summation that states that I followed all the steps for Person xy and have completed the work by such-and-such a date.</li>
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<li>I have somewhat complicated this process by choosing to compare four database software programs. I had been somewhat unhappy with the program I've been using for 9 years, so I decided to compare it with three other programs. (I usually use a main program and an auxiliary program in order to widen my reporting options). During my first three months of working with the Genealogy Do-Over, I have eliminated one of the three programs from my list.</li>
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<li>The name of the program that I eliminated isn't important; the problem with it is that this program doesn't work well with me. I want to do things this this way; the program does them that way. There is no one true way to do things; but a user and a program should mesh, not live in conflict. That program is no longer on my check list.</li>
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<li>The one process that I thoroughly liked about the discarded program was its source template. In fact, I liked this template so much that I added the fields I hadn't been using to my own program(s), choosing my order of entry. Source work will be easier from now on and so will database synching.</li>
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<li>In March I worked on Person 1 (me) across the four databases. I also worked on developing my working procedures for the reorganization tasks, as mentioned above. This work includes developing and indexing the Dollarhide numbering system and applying the Dollarhide numbers to each person on my tree. I am also developing and Index/listing of all the sources I use and all the usages of each source, from sources with a single attachment to sources with more than 100 attachments. It took me a month, but I got it all done. I signed off on the work for Carolin [Carolyn] Sue Strickler (Dollarhide 5./0) as of 31 March 2017.</li>
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<li>Work on Joseph Walter Watson (Dollarhide 6.0) {my first husband} started 1 April 2017. I signed off on Joe on 7 April, 2017.</li>
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<li>Work on Joe took 1/4 of the time I spent on me? I think that shows that the time spend on developing the processes has paid off. It is true that I know more about me than about anyone else on the tree, so his entry will be shorter. But, when I went through Joe's database entries, I knew what my tasks were and I knew where the information was to be stored.</li>
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<li>My work during 2015 on the Do-Over assignments for Month 4 has transferred very nicely into my plans for achieving my new task. And my development work in March was successful. I am now ready to tackle Robert Francis McCormick (Dollarhide 4.0) (my current husband}.</li>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-30332561613990237062017-03-31T13:17:00.000-07:002017-03-31T13:17:14.110-07:00Month Three ReviewUsually I write out a draft and compose from that. Earlier today, I composed this blog in "thin air." After much proof-reading and correcting, with many, many saves, I hit publish. The blog vanished into thin air! I hope this wasn't an omen! Anyway, here we go again.<br />
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Early this year, I mentioned printer problems. The final solution, one new Canon to replace the former two printers, is now sitting in a new position next to my desk, and has been set up since about March 24. All the backlog of printing from months 2 and 3 are now printed out and in my Do-Over notebook (except this blog). There are a few auxiliary documents I wish to print out, but they are not of calendar importance. I can print them as I get to them.<br />
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As to the rest of the month: I lost lots of time to spring pollen; allergies sent me to bed and nothing got done. I also spent a week on the physical reorganization and electronic cataloging of the nearly 400 hundred books in my cookbook collection. Not a genealogy problem (until I get to my genealogy books) but when you own over 7000 titles, book housekeeping is a major task in the household. And a very time consuming one.<br />
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The rest of the time? I think it went well. I continued to follow up on the work I have been doing for the root person on my tree — Carolin (Carolyn) Sue Strickler {me}. As I checked entries and research logs in my primary database and worked to synchronize that data across the three other databases I am examining, I found more logs to develop, more prepare-for-the-heirs steps to be taken. So I developed them and wrote up the processes in the relevant logs.<br />
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Later today (or early tomorrow) I will examine the data on Sue; if I find that all the preparation steps have been taken and all the processes have been properly described for my heirs to follow, I will sign off the work on Sue, and continue to the next Dollarhide numbered person in my database(s). In spite of the obstacles, Month Three has been productive.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-73794739360176242442017-03-02T11:23:00.003-08:002017-03-02T11:23:47.488-08:00No Homework for Month Three!Well, almost no homework. There are some clerical jobs, but the <b>Self Interview</b> was correctly written up back in 2015. I reread my 2015 self-interview and found that I had been thorough in my writeup.<br />
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It's a good thing that I did reread this document. All of my proof points have been entered into my research log; but I found that at the bottom of many of my paragraphs, I had placed a list of words {name story, tornado story, Una story / picture on St. Mary's roof} for one example. This apparent gibberish is a string of key words that remind me of family stories and a photo connected with my birth. I had forgotten that I had included these clues. Obviously, I must locate the photo and include it with my other genealogy media. As for the stories, we must decide whether I will write them up or whether my husband will interview me in a series of digital retellings, but we will begin to get those stories on record.</div>
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<b>Family Interviews:</b> I skipped this task back in 2015. When I started doing serious genealogy, I was already the oldest living person in my family, my husband was the oldest living person in his family, and my former husband was dead, his remaining siblings the oldest members of that family and not in my reach. There was no one to interview — right?<br />
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Well no. I can do a reminiscence write up for each person, as I study that person's entry. Somewhat like the Self Interview, but on the order of "I remember Grandma Strickler's garden …," "I remember mother telling about the St. Louis World's Fair of 1904 …". These "remembrance interviews" will help me fill out proof points and will point to possible source searches. I do feel that it's too large a job to do immediately. I will do an ancestor at a time in reasonable order.<br />
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If you have been following these blogs, you will remember that at the end of February I began to created "task logs" in order to conduct my genealogy-storage overhaul. My <b>Family Interview</b> homework then, list of create an "Ancestor's Log" where I record these "remembrance interviews" with the necessary details so that my heirs can locate what I have done.<br />
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The analysis for Month 3 is now complete. There's lots of work ahead!<br />
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I mentioned clerical work. This isn't related to the Month 3 homework. All printouts are on hold. This family currently has two wireless multipurpose printers (from two different companies) which aren't working. Therefore I have a backup up of print jobs that need to be completed and added to my Genealogy Do-Over Workbook notebook and to other of my paper files.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-37465870774896674502017-02-26T17:16:00.000-08:002017-02-26T17:16:48.702-08:00The Light Bulbs Shine Over My HeadEarly in February, I wrote up my Month 2 Do-Over homework assignments in two prior blogs. What happened after that? Well, my previously mentioned iffy help gave me several bad days, so most of the month I wasn't doing "real" genealogy. Instead I was playing in the Bright Shiny Object sandbox. I was also following posts in various of my Facebook genealogy groups. At least I was doing something about genealogy!<br />
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It turns out that I was doing much more than playing with BSOs. I was working on two related organization jobs; jobs that I considered necessary, but dull routine, NOT genealogy work. In Month 12 of the Genealogy Do-Over Workbook, there is a discussion about your genealogy heirs.<br />
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Back in 2015, when I was first working with these Do-Over concepts I discussed the heir problem with my two oldest children, who agreed to work together on my materials when the time comes that I can no longer work with my trees.<br />
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That's fine –– I have my heirs so I should get on with my research. Right? This past week as I was doing those organization jobs it occurred to me how wrong that attitude is! What I now have on my computer is the electronic equivalent of the unsorted boxes some of us have been lucky enough to receive from relatives. Lucky, because they are a potential treasure trove. But almost more trouble than help. Unsorted facts don't add up; they don't allow you to do organized work; since they are unorganized, the data is incomplete –– even though by some miracle every fact you need is included.<br />
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So this is Light Bulb #1. At my age of 89-1/2, my primary job is to organize my data so that my heirs know what I have; so they can follow my research trails; and so that they can find my materials and my conclusions. Research Logs will show my research trails; I have a good start on research logs.<br />
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But how do I describe my organization? Light Bulb #2: I have started an organization log that tracks my work with sources. Normalizing sources has moved from being dull routine, to being a focused task, complete with Logs that show what has been done and with Future Action plans (ToDo lists). This project is my gift to my heirs; they can now find any source attached to a particular person in my database(s) as far back in the database(s) as my reorganization has traveled. And this information is accompanied by a log which tells what I happened as I met with problems and made decisions.<br />
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Many of my previously created sources had media attached. I had already started to reorder the storage of my genealogy media. As I located the various source-connected media files, disconnected them from the sources, and placed them in a new filing system, I realized that Media work also needs a log. So I created that one.<br />
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I am currently comparing four genealogy programs: two programs that are native to my Mac and two Windows programs that run on my Mac using Crossover. When I determine which database(s) will become my main and subsidiary programs my media log and my sources log will help show how I made my decisions.<br />
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I'm sure I will need some additional organization logs as I work to present my heirs with facts they can build on.<br />
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So I am concentrating on the new organizations as my main tasks, my "real" genealogy. Does this mean that my trees will stop growing? I hope not. Whenever a task gets stymied –– whenever you cannot answer "What do I do next?" (or feel unable to write up any future actions), a good technique is to look at something else for a while. I will still be looking to complete work on individuals, to finding the answers to the unanswered questions that I have on that person.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-58252881169275409402017-02-05T13:17:00.001-08:002017-02-05T13:17:54.927-08:00Month 2 Blog 2 Research GoalsLast night I read this assignment again. At that reading, I realized that I was "hearing" something that Thomas wasn't saying.<br />
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Ten years ago, at the start of my working with genealogy, I was at a genealogy Chat Room; Dae Powell asked what we wished to accomplish. I replied that I wanted to know everything that I could about my family and to record it in as professional manner as I could. As Thomas does here, Dae said that my goal was too large and too vague. Yet, as I read the question in 2017, my instinctive answer remains the same. I have learned lots in those ten years, so why haven't I learned what Dae and Thomas are telling me.<br />
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Because of my interpretation of the question; when someone asks my goals, I seem to hear "Why are you doing genealogy?" My answer fits THAT question very well.<br />
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Dae and Thomas are asking, "When you start to 'do' genealogy today, what do you hope to accomplish?" (Or at least this is my new interpretation of the question.)<br />
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I can answer that question also, with some built-in flexibility. I usually start to work at genealogy with a "real genealogy" goal in mind — a proof point that needs more research or a proof statement that needs to be prepared, and so on. Sometimes that session runs into a snag. I write up the research log: what I did, what the problem was, what the next steps should be, then temporarily "close the books" on this particular goal. I find that it is better for me to wait a day or so before I return to a point of frustration. I am more relaxed that way when I try again. After closing the troubled task, I turn to something else.<br />
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This is where the flexibility factor comes into play. If I have used up most of my allotted genealogy time or if I have used most of my available energy, the "something else" is one of those activities a genealogist turns to when denied genealogy. Working in a rush, or working when you are sure to make mistakes is a waste. You can return to genealogy later. But if I still have time, but my energy level is slipping, I turn to one of my "BSO" goals. Finally, if the snag occurs with usable amounts of time and energy remaining, I select a different proof point, or turn to some essential organizing/reorganizing task, or … .<br />
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By following this pattern (especially the flexibility part), I have accomplished more genealogy work in the last seven days than I was able to achieve in illness-laden 2016.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-45187769900793191072017-02-02T13:49:00.002-08:002017-02-02T13:53:13.905-08:00Month 2 Blog 1 Establishing Base Practices and GuidelinesI believe I have a blog. This started out as a writeup of my thought processes, but by the time I had finished, I decided that I should share this in my Genealogy Do-Over Blog entries.<br />
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I tend to read very quickly with no loss of comprehension; this is a job skill developed by proofreaders and copy editors. But occasionally my mind disengages; I see the words but fail to register the sense of the paragraph.<br />
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This disengagement has been happening to me as I start Month 2 of my Genealogy Go-Over. As soon as I realized this, I set out to remedy the problem. After some thought, I decided to reread Thomas MacEntee's Golden Rules of Genealogy and to "argue" with them on paper.<br />
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By "argue" I am not intending to say the Thomas is wrong. Instead, I wish to record where Thomas' statements may be "wrong" for me. Entries where a statement he has made disturbs me. When I find such an entry, it will be my task to define the difference and to understand what effect that difference might have on the way I work at genealogy.<br />
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<b>1.</b> There is No Easy Button in Genealogy.<br />
I do agree with this. I guess I'm surprised that it was listed. This has been part of my very first attempts at genealogy (or even when at 16 I disproved a family legend — and kept the facts to myself; why should I make my mother and my aunts unhappy?) I think this is so intrinsic to me, that I don't <u>need</u> the reminder. I agree with Thomas; I would certainly tell this to a beginner.<br />
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<b>2.</b> Research from a place of "I Don't Know."<br />
This also seems to be intrinsic to me. Note the 16-year-old demolishment of a family legend. (Also note that as I began serious work on genealogy, I worked much harder at attempting to prove or to disprove this legend.)<br />
In my very first efforts, 10 years ago, I didn't always know how to let go of preconceptions, but the problems caused by NOT letting go quickly taught me my error. I use "sources" such as family stories, printed genealogies and "mug" books, hints and "shaky leaves" as what I call spring-board sources, hints at possible research areas. Nothing gets entered into my "official" computer-based genealogy database(s) until I have enough documentation to establish working research; everything entered in the "official tree(s) is flagged "In Progress" until I have formed a proof statement.<br />
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<b>3.</b> Track Your Work and Cite Your Sources.<br />
I began this way; I have kept to this pattern; and I continue to learn about ways to improve my working habits in this area.<br />
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<b>4.</b> Ask for help.<br />
Another step I have "always" taken. I was lucky in finding mentors like Dae Powell, Pat Richley-Erickson, Gina Philibert-Ortega, and Thomas MacEntee during my early years (names listed in in the order in which I met them.)<br />
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<b>5. </b>You Can't Edit a Blank Page.<br />
This hasn't been a problem for me. Mind you, I can procrastinate with the best of you (and I admit to postponing research on some of my genealogical uncertainties); but I work on my research OR I work on improving my methods on a daily basis.<br />
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<b>6.</b> Work and Think Like Your Ancestors.<br />
I suppose I also do this. My plan may be too vague (to be addressed later in Month 2), but I work on data, accepting facts the way they are presented (after verification), I try new approaches, and I network regularly.<br />
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<b>7.</b> You Do Not Own Your Ancestors.<br />
Right on! I have learned much from cousins. I have shared with those who asked. I have met very few genealogists who weren't generous. (When I do meet someone who won't share, I ignore them and go elsewhere. I don't have time or energy to waste in fruitless fussing with loners.)<br />
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<b>8.</b> Be Nice. The Genealogy Community is a Small Place.<br />
Of course!<br />
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<b>9.</b> Give and be abundant.<br />
Again, of course!<br />
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So there you are. Thomas has worded his Golden Rules as if they were tailor-made for me. I didn't find a single quibble. Now I see why I have been skimming over this information. It appears to be mine on an intuitive level. What isn't from my instincts comes from early learning, some on jobs I did BEFORE I tried "doing" genealogy, and the rest from teachers like the MoSGA president who taught a beginning genealogy class in our school system's adult education program, and the fourth cousin who shared source information so I could see how to build and attach sources, to "today" when someone in the Facebook group posts just the right question or just the right answer, to give me a new jump start.<br />
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My remaining problem is: Am I being "smug" and careless, because this is mine at a deeper level than verbalization? It feels to me like putting these ideas in my own words is like describing how to walk or how to breath. But it is very easy to be complacent and stay in one's comfort zone, instead of working to advance. So please chastise me if I am not working hard enough.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-50015436006202678852017-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:002017-01-29T10:12:39.792-08:00Month 1 — Musings and ConclusionsWe are coming to the end of Month One of my 2017 Genealogy Go-Over. As I have remarked before, my work this year is a continuation of the work I did through the four quarters of 2015. The homework Assignment 1 for Month 1 concerning organization was simple for me — because the file structure and the included files established in 2015 are working well for me.<br />
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But Assignment 2 "Preparing for Research"? I've been thinking about this all month without getting anywhere! (There have been interruptions — aren't there always interruptions?) I got a new laptop in December; the keyboard has new features I've never seen before. The computer comes with the most recent operating system, and osSierra has BIG changes, so there is a large learning curve. (I AM learning, but it eats up time.)<br />
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So here I am, at the end of the month: "I don't have the answer!" "What will I do?!" "I have to make up my mind!"<br />
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WHOA. Thomas MacEntee keeps telling up to have fun when we're doing genealogy. He also says that everyone is an an individual and we are to tailor our studies to fit our respective individualities — and the panic recedes.<br />
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Earlier this January, I started a three-part discussion on how aging and its attendant illnesses and lowered energy levels affect "doing" Genealogy. I received lots of insight from my fellow "Do-Over-ers" and "Go-Over-ers." What I learned during that discussion is a factor in my input for the rest of this blog.<br />
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I'm still not sure I'm doing what Thomas expected, but as I said above — this is Sue (with her own quirks) and not someone else (with different quirks). I am mentioning this in order to encourage readers to add suggestions by commenting on the blog or on the Genealogy Do-Over Group Page on Facebook.<br />
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The assignment says "Make a list of your current research habits… ." This is what I wrote:<br />
"I begin a research session by opening my 'ToDoList' database and my 'ResearchLog' document(s); I then pick a task for this session. (I prioritize very lightly — the reasoning behind this is discussed below.) I work on the selected task, write up the ResearchLog on that session's activities, and record the next steps to be taken. I don't have a special time of day or week for research." (The reasons for not having a scheduled time is also discussed below.)<br />
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After considering the above statement, I am pretty well satisfied. I could acquire more records if I were more disciplined in my work. But my aim is for improving quality not quantity; this pattern gives me a pattern for improving the quality of my work. And why don't I apply more discipline in setting up my work times? There are two factors behind this attitude: my age and my former employment.<br />
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Please understand that I loved my job. But I spent 30 years working to meet a constantly shrinking time frame alternating with periods of finger-tapping waiting for materials to work with. Scheduling!<br />
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The front end held the waiting times. A text-book series was in the works but the various manuscripts were slow to arrive. This wasn't some ploy on the authors' parts to annoy their editors. If you write, you know that writing is a process of refinement and the process takes as long as it takes. The shortened time frames came from marketing. "I know we said March, but there's a large adoption coming up in February, can you move up the publishing date?"<br />
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We always made the deadline, without sacrificing the quality of the books, but frequently at the expense of 16-hour workdays. When I became fully retired, I chose a more relaxed life style. I'm happier now that I don't have dreaded deadlines ahead of me.<br />
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As to my aging: I'm 89; the next age is 90. I'm becoming a <u>very</u> senior Senior Citizen. I get sick more easily and more often. My sleep patterns are erratic — I'll sleep for 20 hours, then I can't get to sleep. So I must choose my research times to match my strength and my alertness, rather than to match the clock.<br />
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And finally, I have decided that if I am not alert enough to do "real" genealogy, I will spend some time on some support tasks which interest me: explore hints and/or shaky leaves, prepare some indexes that <u>I</u> want to have, and so on. I've lined up several activities of this type. The discipline I will apply to these activities is to spread them out; to do one type, then the next, etc., — falling into shallow rabbit holes instead of deep ones.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-32697057567733652562017-01-02T12:11:00.000-08:002017-01-02T12:21:45.801-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsNKCorHgvI0zzoF7oLspieMaq9XyT8mViw_fECH92QdsQrxGXGnE0WesoTojFBTn5v2rgbDlgcNB9AgLR6tJlYBKouwXxyhhrBhrGSp_D8noY_SgPikRmvBHhPz9R8962LvUXYzV6Bk/s1600/red-do-over-button+-+small.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsNKCorHgvI0zzoF7oLspieMaq9XyT8mViw_fECH92QdsQrxGXGnE0WesoTojFBTn5v2rgbDlgcNB9AgLR6tJlYBKouwXxyhhrBhrGSp_D8noY_SgPikRmvBHhPz9R8962LvUXYzV6Bk/s320/red-do-over-button+-+small.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Genealogy (Do-Over) Go-Over 2017 — Blog 1 January Goals<br />
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I was an active participant in the Genealogy Do-Over during all four quarters of 2015 (the first year). I had expected to continue working with the group in 2016, but ill-health interfered with me throughout the year. About the only thing I accomplished in 2016 was to purchase and to download my electronic copy of the Genealogy Do-Over Workbook.<br />
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Last month I began thinking about following the group again during 2017. I felt I could safely review my 2015 experiences without getting ahead of myself. I found the workbook in my files, studied the introduction and the entry for Month One. I am engaging in a Go-Over rather than a complete Do-Over, which is basically what I have been doing since I started these activities two years ago.<br />
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Month One has two activities. The remainder of this blog addressed the first of these as noted in the workbook: "Work on organizing files, both digital and paper. Then locate essential documents that prove a relationship, and either set them aside or provide an Index … sort of like a Top 20 or Top 50 list."<br />
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I reviewed the steps I had taken in 2015 and found them to be basically sound. I could locate my data; my planning and my research records are easily found and understood. I anticipate changes (refinements) as I use these documents. If these changes don't develop, I will know that I have stopped growing. But since these changes will probably be refinements, rather than major changes in plans, they will become part of my ongoing genealogy activities, rather than something I need to address in Month One.<br />
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I will mention this blog to the Do-Over group on Facebook. I would like to have your feedback — either on Facebook or directly to the blog. Do I sound like I have made a reasonable and considered assessment? Or do I sound smug. (I am quite serious about the smugness. My mother NEVER needed to change and grow, she had decided about life and everything else should bow before her decisions — including the weather! I began fighting this, as soon as I recognized this trait in her; but early example is the hardest life lesson to change!)<br />
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I am hoping I have met the goals in Activity One. I am going to need all the time I can find for Activity Two.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-51868917979305957702016-01-13T16:58:00.000-08:002016-01-13T16:58:25.525-08:00Clutter and My "Philosophy" of Organization<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As the name of this blog implies, I tend to focus on Genealogy, but just now I am concerned with organization throughout the entire household. In the first weeks of 2016, I have found discussions of organization <i>outside</i> the genealogy community as well as within it, so I will be doing some immediate blogs on household organization with occasional followups as I work my way throughout our house.</div>
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Clutter — What IS Clutter?</div>
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"A place for everything and everything in its place"; this New England saying provides a definition of clutter — because clutter is a mess of things that A) have no place or B) are never kept in their places.</div>
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Therefore, to remove clutter you need to find a place for everything AND you <i>also</i> need to discover why things don't get returned to their places. This statement is the essential base of my "Philosophy" of Organization — the background to all my thoughts, plans, and achievements in organization.</div>
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There was an important difference between organization and neatness. While neatness is admirable it isn't always possible nor desirable. The picture above is (in my opinion) a picture of organization, not a picture of clutter. It is NOT neat, but it is organized and it has stayed organized for 2-1/2 weeks.</div>
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I'm 88 years old — my husband is 71 (yes I robbed the cradle); when people reach those ages, they require lots of medicine. This picture shows the extension leaf of our dining table. It shows the toaster; a tray of medical supples arranged as hers, ours, and his; other medical supples; plus our snacks, hers and his. "Hers" are near my side of the table and "His" (closest in this photo) are near my husband's side. All of these items are frequently reached for; from daily to weekly use. If the storage place were less accessible, the items would not be returned to their places. In fact, that is why most of the items are in this spot. I added the medicine containers we use to load our "daily dosages," a weekly job that kept needing to be cleaned up after. Every item in this picture is used and is promptly returned its place.</div>
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As an added bonus, the tray and the remaining items may be quickly moved to temporary storage whenever the entire table is required for serving company, then returned to the table when we return to our daily living patterns.</div>
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I've given the background. In a day or so, I will introduce you to the five tenets of this 'philosophy of organization."</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-66880902331688923352015-04-04T04:41:00.000-07:002015-04-04T04:41:04.272-07:00Confession Time (or why this blog is overdue)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have a hobby; it is addictive and time-consuming, full of many details. Sometimes it can take days to get all the details in place or to correct mistakes.</div>
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No! NOT genealogy — I’m talking about my other hobby — counted embroideries. Twice a year, stitchers from Nebraska and Iowa (with stray members from other places such as Missouri) meet at the Northeastern Nebraska 4H Camp for 3 to 4 days of stitching. Health reasons had caused me to miss the last three of those meetings. I said I would get to the meeting this March even if I went on a stretcher.</div>
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The stretcher was avoided, I went and had a great time meeting friends of more than 10 years standing, and making new friends. No stretcher was needed, but the trip did use more energy than I had expected, so I needed time to rebuild me energies. <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">My computer accompanied me to the stitch-in, as it has each time I have attended (I have stitching programs as well as genealogy programs), so I was able to check in with the Genealogy Do-Over, but there was little energy for true participation in the Do-Over.</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I could continue blogging for a bit about the stitchery, but this is a genealogy-centered blog.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">So, in spite of some weak participation in the final weeks of the Do-Over, Round 1, here are my experiences during Weeks 11 and 12 (and an observation about Week 13).</span></div>
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<b>Week 11 - Goal 1: Reviewing Social Media.</b></div>
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My first reaction to "Reviewing Social Media" was that I do a lot of genealogy research and genealogy study through Facebook: Genealogy Do-Over, The Organized Genealogist, Technology for Genealogy, Evernote Genealogists, and so on; as well as groups such as Jefferson County MO Genealogy, North Carolina Genealogy, and Dutch Genealogy where I can ask questions about specific family areas and events.</div>
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I was content with this attitude until March 18 (the day before the start of the stitch-in). Dawn Williams-Kogutwiewicz posted in her “Dawning Genealogy” blog about Week 18. I was SO WRONG in my assumptions. Dawn investigated sources in a manner I hadn’t thought of — and she reminded me of a source I once depended on, but that I hadn’t used recently. I have a lot of work to do about Social Networking. Thank you, Dawn!! (I did post an immediate thank you; this type of shared research cannot be praised too often, so I am repeating the thank you.)</div>
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<b>Week 11 - Goal 2: Building a Research Network.</b></div>
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My first reading of this concept doesn’t resonate with me. This is one of the few areas that Thomas has presented that I need to ponder a while before I can make it my own. More on that to come in my next blog concerning Week 13 — Reviewing the Journey.</div>
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<b>Week 12 -Goal 1: Sharing Research.</b></div>
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I agree with Thomas’ ideas on the topic; I seem to be living up to his standards fairly well. I have met with my share of “no responses” but my usual result when sharing is an interesting exchange of information where both sides benefit. I need to improve my follow-up skills in these exchanges with fellow researchers.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;">[</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Note to Self:</span><span style="font-size: 12px;"> Be SURE to include shared research exchanges in the research logs. Research logs make note of where you’ve been and what you’ve found — when your second cousin five times removed sends you information about the emigrant journey from the Netherlands to St. Louis and Illinois, the exchange should be included in the research log; the relationship between you and the other searcher should be clarified (the five times removed is a guess) and other pertinent information should be included. Reviewing the research log will serve to remind you when further contact is required.]</span></div>
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<b>Week 12 - Goal 2: Reviewing Travel Options.</b></div>
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I need to study this more thoroughly at sometime in the future. Most trips being planned at this time are very local (places in Columbia, Jefferson City, and either St. Louis or Kansas City); my immediate need is to compare Thomas’ suggestions about planning for onsite work. The rest of these techniques can be studied as other types of trips occur.</div>
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<b>Week 13 - Goal 1: Securing Research Data</b></div>
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I am a believer in redundant backups. We are adding an additional backup to our local and cloud storage, by taking advantage of the sale on a fire-resistant safe that Thomas directed us to. The safe has arrived; we are now planning where we will keep it, how we will store backups for both our computers, and what else will be placed in the safe.</div>
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The final assignment for Week 13 is Reviewing the Journey. This will be the subject of my next blog. I am not sure how soon I will be able to post this final blog devoted specifically the the Genealogy Do-Over; but I will begin to work on it right away.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-91499115176556474142015-03-13T20:41:00.001-07:002015-03-13T20:41:44.666-07:00Week 10: Exciting? no; Productive? YES!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I am still coping with the annoying medicine, so I have been very slow in everything I do this week. Cheer-up folks (including me): tomorrow is the last dose, so I will probably never refer to the medicine again (unless I decide to report on its final effectiveness).</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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This week has been so overtly uneventful, that I was tempted to skip my report. When I started blogging about the Do Over, I thought I would be recording a weekly diary of my work. As we come close to the end of the official course, that continues to seem like a good idea. So I did talk myself into this week’s issue.</div>
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<b>Goal 1: Reviewing DNA Testings:</b> Both Bob and I have had DNA tests made and have spent some time in trying to understand the reports. Bob has had Y-DNA, mtDNA, and Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder test (we don’t have the results of that one yet). Being female, I have had only the mtDNA and the Family Finder. I really didn’t do anything about this part of my activities this week, but reports continue to come in, so I have constant reminders. I will pursue this. (And probably be active in the Facebook Do-Over group asking questions.)</div>
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<b>Goal 2: Organizing Digital Files:</b> I’m one of the people here who discussed this issue well before Week 1. At that point in time I set up a new-to-me narrative-style research log which is combined with a research plan. I also refined two databases which I had originally prepared for my previous work. They now track my current Do-Over research. One of these databases acts as an index to entries in my basic software program and also in my log; the other is my ToDo List. The narrative-style log is still rather cumbersome, but it is working well enough; I almost never forget to use it — and when I do forget, something reminds me and I can go back and fix the “forget" before I lose track of the activity. I am sure that the more I work with this, the more efficient the log will become. But during these 10 weeks I have achieved a system that tracks where I have been and what I have found and is combined with plans for were to look next; and all of this information is organized by a list of proof points. This is more organization than I had previously achieved in seven years of doing genealogy.</div>
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As to the rest of the digital files, they are slowly being searched for, relabeled, and stored in Dropbox. As each file is found, it is being saved twice — once in Dropbox, and once on a backup hard disk through the Apple Time Machine program. And if the file is anywhere on my computer, it is being backed up by Time Machine, even if I haven’t located the file at this time. This task isn’t completed, but I am on track here, clearing up at least one document a week and usually more than one.</div>
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<b>What I Achieved This Week:</b> My newly building database in my core software program is very small as of today: only 23 people. As I have mentioned earlier I am tracing the pedigrees of three home people: me, my first husband (who is the father of my children), and my present husband (who has been a member of the family more actively and for a longer period of time that my first husband). So the 23 people are the three “home people," their parents, and the grandparents of the home people. No siblings have been added as yet, and no great-grandparents of the home people. (Although some of those not-entered names show up on census reports; those names appear in my Evidentia files because why enter only partial data from a source? And one or two extra families {collateral research and/or cluster research} have also been added to Evidentia or mentioned in my To Do lists as possible lines.)</div>
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I am slowly, one-person-at-a-time, preparing the narrative research logs for each of those 23 people. And as I work with each name, I also try to provide some research (with citations) on what is to me Proof Point one for each person on my tree — “What is the birth date of (<i>name of person being researched</i>)? Without reasonable proof of the birth data, the researcher will never be sure if the Sue or the Robert or the Joe {surnames} are truly the persons you are trying to research. And when the surnames of those three home people are Strickler, Watson, and McCormick respectively, you can see that even when I personally know on what day those birthdays are/were celebrated, I am going to run into many similar names. (You can also see that I have become more anonymous with each marriage!)</div>
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Stacy Weaver posted on the Genealogy Do-Over page a form that lists resources which may provide answer sources for many of the proof points we need to research. As I looked over the list in connection with one of the mothers in the three lines, I realized that I had never finished the search for her baptismal records. Oh, LOOK, the next church to ask is an active church! O-o-h, look, the church is on Facebook! A query on Facebook gave me contact information; an email got me a response within the week. Answers with information for 5 different people. Only one of these is one of the 23, but I know I need this information. So the data is entered in the dropbox files (with the double backup in place) and pointed to by the Index and To-Do databases. All in place ready to be used when I get to those names. None of these 5 people is the mother for whom I was searching? A negative answer is still an answer. I know of another church, and yes, that church is also on the internet and on Facebook, and I have contact information.</div>
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Week 10 ends with improved organization, several census records entered into Evidentia where they will become part of future proof statements regarding the birth of some of those 23 people (and of other family members who will be added when I get to them). And I have another place to contact for more information.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-87576532972587299522015-03-07T09:14:00.001-08:002015-03-07T09:14:46.348-08:00What is the opposite of BSOs? DULL PEBBLES<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">And that may be as interesting as my Week 9 review gets.</span></div>
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Last week I mentioned medication with side effects. During week nine the medication made me sleep — long naps and frequent ones. When I wasn’t sleeping I have felt too doped up to accomplish anything; reading blogs, studying archived webinars or hangouts, and so on — they all feel like too much trouble. This is a very dangerous state of mind for doing genealogy. In this condition you will overlook facts and relationships; you will enter data inaccurately and misspell names. In fact, you may create more trouble for yourself then you would ever wish to face!</div>
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So I how did I handle this? I went to work on some of my dull pebbles.</div>
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First let’s review Thomas’ goals for week 9.</div>
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<b>Goal 1: Conducting Cluster Research</b> In the Facebook Do-Over group I posted about a habit of mine that saves data in anticipation of the need for community research. As often as I remember to do this, I save to my files not only the census page (or pages) that show my target family, but also the page appearing immediately before my target page and also the page appearing immediately following it. This gives me an already prepared list of friends, associates, and neighbors, ready for use should I need to extend my research in that geographic area at a time period in or very close to that census year. This is a useful habit; one I hope to become more diligent in and one in which I shall extend my earlier searches to include.</div>
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As I was preparing this blog I realized that I am already engaged in a type of cluster study: military records. My mother’s grandfather is a brick wall. We have almost no information about him; family legend has been proved to be mostly wrong. However the information that he was a soldier in the regular army appears to be correct. At least we know that he received lands in Missouri for service in the “Florida Wars.”</div>
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I have found entries for one or more enlisted soldiers named William T. Dorrance from Connecticut in the “U. S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914.” (These records can be found at Ancestry. com.) In order to follow these records in some type of chronology, I am transferring the entries into a database, starting in 1828 and working my way through to the late 1850s when he appears in Missouri. I am including all entries, not only those which could be my ancestor, because context may turn out to be important. This set of information will probably lead me to similar information concerning the records of the various army units where my target Dorrance enlistees have served.</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">This is a long-term project, sometimes hard on the eyes and on the brain. I try to get one set of double-page entries done each week, but am often not alert enough to work with this data. I hope that when I have worked through all these records, I will have accumulated enough information to find out WHICH William T. Dorrance from Connecticut is my ancestor.</span></div>
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No progress was made on my cluster research this week, but I have reviewed Thomas’ goal and have proved to myself that I understand the goal and have begun to apply it to my genealogical studies.</div>
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<b>Goal 2: Organizing Research Materials — Documents and Photos</b> I have a fairly effective notebook filing system on-hand for document storage. I shall need to recheck the documents currently stored in the notebooks, in order to be sure that they clearly differentiate between old research and research being done under the procedures I’ve been learning in the Do-Over. This task was beyond my abilities during week 9, but I have managed to place my re-organization ideas on my To-Do list.</div>
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Organizing our photos is a part of my on-going activities. Physical storage of the older ones will depend upon and follow the electronic storage.</div>
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<b>Other Activities:</b> This brings us to the dull pebbles. It is clear that I spent week 9 fearing to do any serious genealogy work. It may also be clear that I hate to let an entire week go by without getting something done.</div>
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A family which emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania and then spread out throughout the United States shows up in my tree. My paternal grandmother’s mother is on that line, as are some collateral connections.</div>
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During my very early research I found a complicated tree for this family posted on a now defunct web-site and also on a tree at Roots Web. More recently a member of the family produced a book about the family (I purchased an e-book version from Lulu. com). These are “springboard sources:” neither give source citations for its data. The book author makes this very clear and gives his reasons for not providing sources. He also gives indications of conflicting data and occasions when he finds the data to be unlikely.</div>
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During that early research period I created an auxiliary database containing 3,859 people, entered from both sources. This gives me a picture I can consult when my research bumps into the family. From this auxiliary database, I can assess interconnections and get help in differentiating one David (or Henry or Peter) from another. In preparing this database, I made heavy use of the notes section to list the doubts expressed by the book author and also my own doubts and concerns about the data.</div>
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Recently I have discovered two flaws in this previous organization. 1) The notes pages aren’t visible to me as I consult the database; and 2) it is difficult to connect database information with the proper book page. Taking care of these flaws is not very important, but it is a useful help in organization. In periods of lowered efficiency it also has the advantage of not creating problems with important research. So this week I have been adding a flag labeled “Conflict, Alternate, or Dubious Data” to anyone on the tree among the 825 individuals which have entries on the notes page to that effect. (Some entries are additional information about the individual, not notes about problems.) I have also been adding information in the details field which follows the book citation. I have added the e-page number of the pages on which the nearly 4000 names appear. Any errors I make in these entries will create only minor problems (flags and page numbers are easily deleted) and my use of this springboard reference will more efficient in the future.</div>
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I wasn’t able to advance toward my true genealogy goals this week. But, instead of losing an entire week to doing nothing, I was able to clean up a side issue. Not managing to go forward, but better than doing nothing. Not bright shiny objects, merely re-arranging dull pebbles.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-44140531964494046622015-02-28T16:54:00.000-08:002015-02-28T16:54:43.444-08:00Week 8 — Rambles Through an Unexciting Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I am taking a medication that seems to be helping a persistant infection, but has a side effect of making me feel dragged down and listless; this makes genealogy difficult. When feeling like that, mistakes are all too easy to make and much too easy to overlook. In the past, when I feel this way, I have tended to put aside both genealogy and this blog; but I don’t want to “fall behind” during this 13-week do-over period.</span></div>
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Week 8’s topics contained two goals.</div>
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<b>Goal 1: Conducting Collateral Research.</b> This happens to be familiar territory for me. I have always assembled as complete a picture of the household in which a direct line ancestor lived. Parents, siblings, and the spouses of those children are the fabric of my direct ancestors' lives. As a child visiting my grandmother in Wabash County, Indiana, I went with my father on visits to various first and second cousins. Those visits, playing with fourth cousins (they’re also fifth cousins), and watching the village blacksmith shoe horses and mend wagon tires (his trees were sycamores rather than chestnuts) are among my fondest memories of my father’s hometown. When I began working with genealogy, I had a strong bias toward seeing individuals within a setting of greater family, and I began researching the siblings in each generation. For me, Goal 1 was just Thomas saying “Keep up the good work — and cite your sources!”</div>
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<b>Goal 2: Reviewing Offline Education.</b> The list that Thomas posted mentioned eight entries. I have always used Cyndi's list (although I’m not sure that I use it to best advantage). We will be going to the NGS conference in St Charles this year. Not specifically listed by Thomas are local and state genealogy societies. We belong to the Genealogy Society of Central Missouri, The St. Louis Genealogy Society, and MoSGA (Missouri State Genealogy Association). All three of these have regularly presentations. Both GSCM and MoSGA have programs here in Columbia and are more easy for us to attend than the programs of the St. Louis Genealogy Society.</div>
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Attendance at large conventions such as Roots Tech, FGS, and NGS are probably mostly beyond my physical strength these days. At St. Charles (NGS), I plan to attend only selected sessions. I can make that choice at other conferences also, but the further away from home, the longer the conference session, and the larger the conference track, the more difficult such a decision will be for me. I think that the “big" conferences like Roots Tech won't bring in enough positive value to outweigh the health issues (there’s no value in attending a presentation only to sleep through it because you are exhausted). I will see how I fare physically at NGS this May and make further plans after that experience.</div>
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Similarly, learning programs like Samford (IGHR), GRIP, and SLIG are probably beyond my physical grasp. I am envious of those who can attend, but believe that I should take my education in smaller bites. I WILL be keeping my eyes open for educational opportunities which are on a smaller scale and also closer to home.</div>
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As with Goal 1, I feel that Goal 2 is saying to me “keep up with the good work.”</div>
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So what DID I do this week? Well, I went back to my narrative-style research logs, to see if I could improve on them; keep them more focused while remaining cohesive. Looking through the proof points for my marriages, I realized that I had forgotten about doing a research log for my first husband. The MARRIAGE to my first husband is a valid research item in the research log for MY entries; proving his birth belongs in HIS folder, which didn’t exist! Oops! New habits may be difficult to form, but they are beginning to develop.</div>
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I had done some entry into my basic software program showing the birth of my first husband, along with three sources which had been found and documented on my Family Tree at FamilySearch. So I prepared and filled in that portion of a Research Log for my first husband, and documented the research done to this point. Not as efficient as it would have been had I done this at the time I was examining and re-entering the information, but doing this within the week of entry is a big improvement over attempting to reconstruct my research months or even years after the work was done. I have also entered all the “facts" located on these three sources and catalogued those claims in Evidentia. The Evidentia work has also been entered into the log, with the dates of the work included. And finally, I made some future research suggestions which are also documented in my To Do List and my research log.</div>
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Next steps are to complete the Research plans/Research log records for my first husband as completely as these planning stages will allow and then move on to do the same planing and research activities for my current husband.</div>
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I then need to duplicate the preparation of Research plans/Research logs records for all three direct lines my research is following.</div>
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The information stored in my primary genealogy software is actually research on three direct lines: <i>my</i> families, the families of my <i>first husband</i> (who is the father of my children), and the families of my <i>current husband</i> (their stepfather, but more of a family member than their birth father chose to be). I am doing genealogy for my own curiosity, but also for the interest of my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.</div>
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I have three base entry points, me and the two men who married me, with male and female parental lines branching out from each of them. They are kept in the same database for convenience of consultation and entry (and for easy access to overlapping sources) but are easily differentiated because of the Dollarhide numbering system which has been assigned to each person on the combined tree. I have a word-processor index of the main-line numbers for each family; there are comfortable “holes" in this list where I can manage the collateral lines for each of the three basic families. This index was created prior to my joining the Do-Over, but is continuing to work well as I redo the research for my new, improved Do-Over tree.</div>
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All this means that my Do-Over tree grows slowly, but with research that is more complete and more carefully documented. My two older children have agreed to work together as my genealogy heirs. Therefore my current task should focus on handing them good research rather than highly populated, inaccurate trees. The paper files as well as the electronic files need to be in good order. Sources, attached citations, evidence evaluation all need to be prepared so that my heirs can understand my work. The older messy work remains in separate files, clearly labeled as incomplete and less to be trusted than the Do-Over files. I see no need for them to retrace my false trails. They can continue to pick them up and evaluate them in the same manner that I am doing. Whatever is completed when I turn my work over to them will be well-done and well documented. The older, poorer work will be better labeled and better organized than the unlabeled boxes many of us were blessed (and cursed) with when older members left the genealogy job to us.</div>
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Thank you, Thomas.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-46700854766153735902015-02-21T17:01:00.001-08:002015-02-21T17:01:27.232-08:00Week 7: Down a Dark Rabbit Hole?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">Thomas gave us another two goals this week: a)Review Genealogy Software</span></div>
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B) Look into the Best Practices for Digitizing Photos and Documents</div>
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We will look quickly at Goal B first because I turn much of this over to my husband. Bob shares genealogy with me, but he dislikes the family research part; that is my job. Bob does photo work, he researches historical background, and he shares location searches with me. Naturally, I asked him to read the Photo Goals section. He studied that section and reports that our current practices are on target. So thanks to Bob’s expertise, the McCormick family tree doesn’t need any do-over in this regard. We will continue in the manner in which we have started.</div>
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I have reported before that I have an extracurricular goal of organizing all of our photographs and digitization. One would think that this week would advance that goal. “One” would be wrong. This and all other extracurricular activities have been on hold for the entire week.</div>
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Which brings us to</div>
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A) Reviewing Genealogy Software (Goal One)</div>
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I think Thomas was testing our resolve here. The GenSoftReviews site is the BIGGEST rabbit hole I have ever encountered, just full of BSOs (or perhaps it’s a Hobbit Hole containing one of the world’s biggest mathoms?)</div>
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I have spent all week there. I’ve tried out one or two software programs that I hadn’t known about and found them of interest. But mostly I spent hours trying to get a sense of organization for all this information.</div>
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This is a dynamic site; the number of total programs changes from visit to visit. Some new software is added (and I believe that some is dropped).</div>
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It took me awhile to notice that there are some areas at the top of the list that control the selection and sort of the programs that you see. You can select one or more of the areas in the row of buttons beginning with all licenses. This is how I have handled my sort. (You can also use the search area to call up the review for a specific software that you know of.)</div>
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Once I had mastered this I was able to prepare a spreadsheet showing 302 full-featured programs. I was able to sort my programs in Ascending Order and then to export that information into a PDF document which I am unable to embed into this blog. A ping file is too large to load or else it is too small to read; I cannot find a middle ground for this. My Google drive is out-of-order so I can't load a document through that. At this time I don't know any other way to show you the document. I will try to load this pdf file into another blog.</div>
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In my spreadsheet I also show whether an entry is free, costs money, or is unsupported. And there are some notes indicating nationality of the providers of the programs and so on. These notes also indicate whether the program has the ability to build a website.</div>
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I plan to continue to work with this, sorting for Utility and Auxiliary Programs in the same format. I am doing this for my own interest.. In Facebook conversations at least two people (one of them is me) asked about creating timelines. One or both of these additional sorts will provide some answers to those questions. So, if I can load documents AS a blog, I will post these files also. But again (and in advance) I advise readers to do their own researches. What GenSoftReviews says today will change before the end of next week.</div>
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It was a very enjoyable hobbit museum (mathom), but I will endeavor to stay away long enough to continue my do-over.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-83348100838291278302015-02-15T20:08:00.002-08:002015-02-15T20:08:47.584-08:00My Boring Adventures in Week 6 of the Genealogy Do-Over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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End of Week 6 and I’m late with my blog. This has been a strange week; so strange that it feels as though there is nothing to report. Partly this is because I reported on my two most important achievements on the Genealogy Do-Over page as soon as they happened.</div>
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Goal one for week 6 was Evaluating Evidence. Because one of my personal goals is to become more skillful in using Evidentia, I used that program to analyze the information I had gathered for the first two proof points I had set for my personal entry (presence) in my Genealogy Software. I feel (as I have done from first using Evidentia) that entering information from a source into the Evidentia Claims forms encourages me to notice every pertinent piece of information that that document contains. It is easy to assign the information to each person mentioned in that document and to keep the information on hold for people who are not currently the persons of interest in my genealogical research. I expect that one particular record in the 1930 census and one particular record in the 1940 census will not need to be visited by me again. It’s all saved to Evidentia.</div>
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The 1940 census had an entry for my father that I didn’t understand. I searched the internet for an explanation. I found a government explanation of that census which not only explained that entry, but also gave me the information that the respondent to that census is no longer anonymous! (BUT I failed to make note of this site, so my research log is missing some vital information! Two pluses and one BIG minus!).</div>
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Goal two for week 6 was to look into online education for Genealogists. I have saved Thomas’ list for further careful scrutiny. I am already familiar with DearMYRTLE’s hangouts, with various webinars (and with the weekly webinar listing), and — of course — with this Genealogy Do-Over.</div>
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I’m no longer young; if I’m to get the most out of this learning period, I must (mostly) limit my learning to one area at a time. This week’s study overlapped the activities at RootsTech. I did look into some of the recorded live-stream sessions and I did learn from them. But I did limit myself.</div>
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In addition to the specific goals of the week, I have been reporting on various connected activities —<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> all those related goals that I have developed as I worked with Thomas' weekly goals. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I report them here to record my progress — a sort of "carrot on the stick" to keep me working on these less exciting but very productive goals.</span></div>
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The first of these activities was reported on the Genealogy Do-Over, the day I had this “adventure.” Because there are readers of this blog who never see the posts on the Facebook page, I have copied that report to this blog. This copied report will also freeze this experience in a more nearly permanent medium than Facebook. So — on to my adventures in searching Newspapers:</div>
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February 11, 2015. Columbia, Missouri, where I live, is home to the State Historical Society of Missouri, a document archive of great importance to Missouri research; it features reels and reels of microfilm images from historic newspapers throughout the state. Life gets in the way and we seldom go to this repository. But today we had a successful foray (with what are so-far negative results).</div>
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My husband and I each took a reel from one of the newspapers for the same week (which we thought was the appropriate week). In reality, much of our time at the library was spent in learning how to handle the state-of-the-art microfilm readers. (These readers will scan your selected newspaper item to a printer or to a thumb drive.) We needed to learn at what size we should scan in order to locate the pertinent information; we needed to learn how to use the thumb drive on these particular machines; we even needed to learn how to shut down when we were through. We did manage to scan ten days of newspaper coverage from two separate papers. Bob worked on the morning paper, and I worked on the evening one. These were not the days which carried the information we were looking for.</div>
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I did not attempt to take along a research log of any type. Instead, using sheets from a small notebook, I wrote down specific research goals (year, target day, event, and appropriate papers). On each sheet we recorded the reel number of the film we researched plus the results of this search. (Small notebook pages fit the workspace at the library better than a printout of a spreadsheet form.) I can now transfer this information to my research log.</div>
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And this is where the BSOs come in. You can guess the temptation to stop scanning the pages because the newspaper is showing ads for women's expensive dress shoes at $5 to $6 a pair, for a tenderloin roast at 44¢ a pound. Or to learn that a business building which seemed to have been there forever was turned into a business office only two years before I was born. I learned to keep going. I think someday I'm going to go there and just read and capture the BSOs to use as local color. (When my proof points for this time have been documented, and I'm writing the family story. They wouldn't be BSO's then, they would be background color!)</div>
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If you have a similar library near you, I highly recommend that you go there for researching newspaper articles. But BEWARE the Bright Shiny Objects.!</div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">I have continued to chip away at the immense, vastly disorganized folder on my computer called "Genealogyƒ." It isn’t much, but I have re-filed or discarded 43 items, going from 2,354 items at the end of last week to 2,311 at the end of this week. As I said at the start of this task, it may take me more than a year, but, by documenting these small gains, I can encourage myself to continue chipping away.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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At this point, I would like to stop and remind my readers that reorganization such as this task is not always a simple task, nor a straight forward task.This folder got into this mess because I didn’t take time to evaluate the filed item as to its purpose in my collection of genealogical information. Instead, I just shoved it into this folder under some-sort of name and into some-sort of subfolder. If I repeat this process, my new organization will also fail as organization. So among these 43 items are some items that sat in front of me for 6 to 24 hours while I considered why I had saved it, why I wished to keep it, and where I would look for it when I wished to restudy the information. I’m trying to take this slowly and to get it right this time.</div>
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In spite of my earlier reported failure to make a needed entry into my research log, my revised research logs are working well. Last week, I mentioned the enormously useful information Stacy Weaver gave us when she shared her Ancestor Profile form. I haven’t integrated her insights into my logs at this point. It may take a long time to make this “my own.” I have found a way to keep this information at my fingertips as I work on my log. And, again, thank you Stacy. Working with your ideas is sharpening my focus.</div>
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And finally, <i>Evidence Explained</i>; I have continued to work on truly assimilating the ideas discussed in Chapter 1. I am happy to report that in the first area of Chapter 1, there are now only two more numbered items to go. Again, I have no time goal; haste makes waste. It doesn’t matter how long it takes me to understand a numbered item. As long as I study a minimum of one item each week, I will make progress. here. </div>
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So, thus ends my story of week 6. A strange week, but a fruitful one, taken all-in-all.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-9316293916376985682015-02-06T18:36:00.000-08:002015-02-06T18:36:22.796-08:00So How Did Week Five Go?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s Friday at the end of Genealogy Do-Over Week 5 — Time for my weekly report on my Do-Over journey. Although I did a lot of work and I made a lot of progress, this is one of those weeks when I feel that I failed to accomplish anything. I must remind myself "BEWARE of this feeling," it does not agree with the facts. This is a feeling from the "before Do-Over days” when “my tree didn’t expand” was equal to standing still. This do-over job is similar to remodeling a house. We need to spend lots of time tearing things down and rebuilding habits before the progress is visible, but each step we take is a step along the path.</div>
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<b>Assignment One</b></div>
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We had two assignments for the fifth week. The first one – Build a Research Toolbox – will be one of my long-term projects. I have started it by transferring each of Thomas’ entries into a 22-page word processor document, verifying each link during the transfer. This word processor document is a “work from” file; it is NOT my toolbox.</div>
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To build my toolbox, I will review the discussions at the Facebook group and decide upon what format the Toolbox should use. At this time I’m leaning toward a bookmarks folder for my Safari browser, but I’m still undecided. I will also need to search the Facebook group for the mention of a “dead links” cleaner before I begin actual work on my personal toolbox.</div>
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In my personal toolbox, I will be discarding some of the links that Thomas has suggested because those particular links aren’t relevant to my own research. I shall use others of those links as templates for constructing a list of sites relevant to my searches in specific states. And some sites that I find very useful haven’t been mentioned by Thomas. So I will gradually add and subtract sites from Thomas' list until my list come close to matching my personal needs. I expect that this refining process will continue as long as I remain active doing genealogical research.</div>
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<b>Assignment Two</b></div>
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The second assignment was “Citing Sources.” Discussion in the Facebook group mentioned Ben Sayers’ Practical Citations; Thomas MacEntee posted a link to Ben’s site. The Practical Citations citation format has served me well. By using it I have been able to create citations that allow me to retrace my findings; I have enough detail to allow me to extract citation details at need. I am also able to turn these citation details into a more formal detail style when the need arises.</div>
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So, I didn’t need to work on Assignment Two? WRONG. Thomas suggested that we become familiar with Chapters 1 and 2 of <i>Evidence Explained</i>. I have owned this book since the electronic copy of the first edition appeared and I have frequently examined these chapters. The assignment caused me to realize that I haven’t mastered any of the points the chapters contain. Now I have another ongoing task: Look at and and really study each of the numbered chapter segments until I can write the point of the segment in one to three sentences. These are not points to memorize, merely condensation of the author’s viewpoint restated in my own wording. In this way I can be sure that I understand that point.</div>
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If I find that a point has raised a question, I will explore other sources until I find an answer to the question. For example, Section <b>1.2</b> talks about thorough research and I instantly asked myself “How do I know I have done enough looking?” I stared at my books, noticed <i>Mastering Genealogical Proof</i> by Thomas Jones. It has two pages that refer to this point, so I have noted that down in my outline as a sentence following my short summary.</div>
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As part of my learning process, I write the first “own words” interpretation on my waste-paper scratch pad. When I am happy with my interpretation I transfer the note to a small notebook When the notebook outline of Chapter 1 is complete, I will copy the result to a word processing program and store it my computer. Why all this writing? Because I am one of the learners in this world for whom writing it out does help me to retain my knowledge.</div>
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Assignment Two is another on-going task. Right now I’m “stuck" on <b>1.4</b>. As I read this I say “of course” and am ready to move on. I’m afraid that attitude means that I’m not paying attention, that the concept isn’t truly mine yet. Perhaps that idea is truly already a part of me. If I can’t state it, I may be overlooking the need to act on it. In either case, I need to find my words before I move on.</div>
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<b>Other Activities</b> (Connected with or inspired by the Do-Over)</div>
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In earlier blogs I have mentioned organizational tasks that the do-over has caused me to notice.</div>
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<b>Photos</b>: There are just twenty-three more photos to process before Bob and I can work together on the first three years of our stored digital photos. This will be 123 of the 2,505 photos now stored in iPhoto on my computer. We don’t yet know if Bob has the same photos that I do; whether or not our computers have the exact same photos isn’t exactly important but knowing what we have and where it’s stored IS important.</div>
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<b>The “Junk-Drawer” Genealogy Folder</b>: I mentioned that this started out as 3.38 GB of 2,361 items of stored information. I have reduced this 3.1 GB for 2,354 items. A bigger change in the storage space than in the number of items. But I am only looking at one item at a time, and only visiting the problem once or twice a day. I’m just chipping away at this, because other projects are more important. But chipping away does get results.</div>
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<b>Narrative-Style Research Log</b>: I am sad to report that this isn’t working as well as I hoped. I need to go back for additional design. What I have developed works very well if I visit it to learn what I have accomplished for a person, but it is too complicated a tool to use as a guide to my research. I need a “working log,” something that I can follow more clearly before I put all the finished pieces into the "finished log" form that I am now using.</div>
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Also, this past week Stacy Weaver shared her Ancestor Profile with the Facebook group. There are so many good ideas in her form. I am especially interested in the places to look portion of that form. I think I need to see how I can add such a search guide to my Research Log. Thank you again for your input, Stacy. (And did my reader’s notice how those research guides tie into my question about section <b>1.2</b> of Chapter 1 of <i>Evidence Explained</i>?)</div>
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So the Research log needs more work. But this is an improvement. The current log, including its drawbacks comes closer to a research log than any of the many attempts I’ve made since I started true research eight years ago.</div>
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Not a glamorous week, but a productive one.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683063488977194225.post-49221569652503900052015-01-29T16:34:00.000-08:002015-01-29T16:34:00.169-08:00New Rally Cry/ Week Four of the Genealogy Do-Over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Progress Report/ Week 4 of the Genealogy Do-Over</div>
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My how the Do-Over spreads to your entire life! I seem to have taken a small vacation from Genealogy this week, but there was there was no escape from the Do-Over!</div>
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First, I thought I would finish a small reorganization of my genealogy filing system. OF COURSE it wasn’t small! And before I had “finished" the apparent task, it pointed me to a forgotten high-level folder in my Documents folder (first level in that folder): 3.38GB of storage for 2,361 items. It may take me all year to straighten this one out.-I may have been deliberately overlooking this mess? (Note: Apply the new rally cry from the Do-Over community “One Step at a Time!”) The upside of this detour is that I found the digital copy of an important will which no Spotlight search had uncovered. That document is now safely labeled and stored in the new genealogy filing system.</div>
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Second, I entered one name in my new Do-Over family tree; recording work on the next proof point in my research plan. I have a picture of him — where is it? Can’t be found.</div>
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So now I’m indexing the 2,504 images on my computer, correlating this list with the images on my husband’s computer, and working with him to plan for better image story accessible to both of us, with redundant backup, and not using so much of the hard drive on either computer. Apple is planning to present a new approach to images in 2015, so we may need to delay the final portion of this plan.</div>
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On my computer, 70 images, 2434 to go! (Note: Reaffirm the rally cry, “One Step at a Time!)</div>
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Did I advance much in actual genealogy work? NO. Did I advance at all; Did I change and grow? YES. </div>
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Repeat after me “One Step at a Time!'</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.com1