Month Five Goals

In 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.

To-Do List for Month 5

Citing Sources: If you own a copy of Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, read Chapters 1 and 2. Doing so will help you understand how source citations are constructed and they are important to genealogy research.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I plan to continue to study chapters 1 and 2 from Evidence Explained 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.

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.

Building a Research Toolbox: If you don't already  have a research toolbox, download and read the Building a Research Toolbox handout here: hjttp://www.geneabloggers. com/genrestools

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.

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.

Memoir

I

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?

II

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.

III

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.

I wasn't  aware that this fact bothered me until after I had learned the answer.

IV

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.

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.

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.

V: Coda

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.

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.

VI: Musings

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.

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.

(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.

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".

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Where 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.


And — I'm so happy; I'm so proud of what DID happen in May.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I am so thrilled! This is a happy dance nearly as joyful as breaking down a brick wall.

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.

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.

Today, "Frustrated Sue" aka the "Frustrated Genealogist" is considerably less frustrated than she has been!

Examining Month Four

• So here I am with my monthly musing about the Go-Over assignments for Month 4:
  
  Assignment 1: Tracking Research: 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.
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Assignment 2: Conducting Research: 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.
  
  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.
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• Work on Joseph Walter Watson (Dollarhide 6.0) {my first husband} started 1 April 2017. I signed off on Joe on 7 April, 2017.
• 
  
• 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.
• 
  
• 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}.

Month Three Review

Usually 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

No Homework for Month Three!

Well, almost no homework. There are some clerical jobs, but the Self Interview was correctly written up back in 2015. I reread my 2015 self-interview and found that I had been thorough in my writeup.

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.

Family Interviews: 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?

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.

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 Family Interview 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.

The analysis for Month 3 is now complete. There's lots of work ahead!

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.