Okay, I am aware of the irony here. I am using the newer technologies to attack that same technology. But, I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the over-reliance on technology. It is time we stepped back and gave some serious thought to what we are doing.
So, here is my rant on technology...
Several weeks ago, while reading postings on a list serv the question was presented: how do you reference, or write a footnote for information from Facebook? The author of the post was updating her family history and a recent wedding was announced on a Facebook page. My initial response to the post was to think about simply writing a letter requesting a copy of the marriage certificate or at least a wedding announcement. After some further thought a number of questions slowly formed in my brain: Have we gone too far? Are we so reliant upon technology and the promise of instant gratification that we can’t be bothered to write a letter or pursue more in-depth documentation? What is happening to our research skills that we rely upon instant messaging, e-mail, and blogs, text messaging and scanned image databases to provide us with the information we are seeking? With the growing capacity of information storage on computers, we seem to be moving closer to a paper-less society. Is that a good thing?
Another example of the shortcomings of researchers is the expectation that all information is stored on the internet. How many of us have encountered beginning genealogists who have searched one of the several on-line databases of the United States census and failed to find their ancestors? The most common response from these novice researchers seems to be, “I guess they just can’t be found.” This reflects the failure of all genealogists who don’t explain the serious limitations to on-line information. We need to do a better job of understanding and teaching the short comings of the on-line resources. We need to de-emphasize the value of computers and get back to the books and original documents as research tools.
We need to realize and emphasize the short comings of technology.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The Value of Seminars
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of visiting Savannah, GA, as part of a weekend genealogy seminar. The information was great. More important than the information, I came away from the seminar rejuvenated, ready to do more in my family history research.
This is the great benefit to attending and participating in seminars and annual meetings. It seems as those every time I attend a local or national meeting, the energy in the classrooms and during the breaks between sessions generates a rebirth of interest. Not only do I come away with new ideas, but I am always anxious to put those new ideas into practice. I wonder if this isn't the case for most people attending these meetings.
So, for anyone that has the time and inclination, I urge you to take part in local, regional, or national genealogy meetings and seminars. They can have a wonderful effect. And there are an abundance of meetings to attend.
The National Genealogical Society is meeting in May in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies annual meeting is in September, in Little Rock.
local organizations generally meet on a quarterly or monthly basis:
The Georgia Genealogical Society meets quarterly, and they have an variety of topics for Genealogical and Family History research.
A regional course that has an interesting format and is incredibly valuable are the Family History Expos that are staged throughout the west. Holly Hansen and this group put together an interesting and informative series of programs. They are held throughout the west and each weekend offers different lectures. I have been to a couple of these, in Ogden, UT, and Mesa, AZ, and I a looking forward to attending more. This is a great way to learn Genealogy and Family History research techniques.
So, take in the available seminars. Not only are these relaxing weekends away from the office, they provide a wealth of information and they also serve to rejuvenate the researching spirit.
This is the great benefit to attending and participating in seminars and annual meetings. It seems as those every time I attend a local or national meeting, the energy in the classrooms and during the breaks between sessions generates a rebirth of interest. Not only do I come away with new ideas, but I am always anxious to put those new ideas into practice. I wonder if this isn't the case for most people attending these meetings.
So, for anyone that has the time and inclination, I urge you to take part in local, regional, or national genealogy meetings and seminars. They can have a wonderful effect. And there are an abundance of meetings to attend.
The National Genealogical Society is meeting in May in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Federation of Genealogical Societies annual meeting is in September, in Little Rock.
local organizations generally meet on a quarterly or monthly basis:
The Georgia Genealogical Society meets quarterly, and they have an variety of topics for Genealogical and Family History research.
A regional course that has an interesting format and is incredibly valuable are the Family History Expos that are staged throughout the west. Holly Hansen and this group put together an interesting and informative series of programs. They are held throughout the west and each weekend offers different lectures. I have been to a couple of these, in Ogden, UT, and Mesa, AZ, and I a looking forward to attending more. This is a great way to learn Genealogy and Family History research techniques.
So, take in the available seminars. Not only are these relaxing weekends away from the office, they provide a wealth of information and they also serve to rejuvenate the researching spirit.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Researching Outside of the Box
In a recent seminar about researching Irish ancestors, David Rencher made an interesting point. Because many Irish records were destroyed in 1922, researchers have been forced to think outside of the box and use creative methods to develop clues to find ancestors. This same idea can be applied to any research in any location that presents a challenge.
As an example, in the counties of Georgia where courthouses have been burned, alternate resources can be found with a little imagination. Tax records might replace deeds. Wills have multiple copies, if the courthouse record is gone, search the lawyers. Archival collections generally contain a huge number of copied records. A case in Atlanta, a Fulton County Justice of the Peace kept his copies of legal notices and court orders. Those have all been donated to the Atlanta History Center. A huge collection of records that document the daily legal system of North Fulton County sits waiting to be utilized by genealogists and other historians. A large number of names of individuals living around North Fulton County are available for anyone willing to search.
A more common example is with the 1890 census. Since a majority of these records were destroyed long ago, new methods to search the decade of the 90s needs to be found. Again, tax records and court records need to be explored. In addition, for metropolitan areas, city directories can be used. Farm directories and almanacs may also serve the purpose in place of the federal census.
So you see, although David Rencher was making a point specific to Ireland, the same ideas have a universal application. As genealogists and researchers we need to think outside of the box, move beyond the conventional resources and find our ancestors in other, more accessible records and documents. They are out there, we simply need to use imagination to find these hidden treasures.
As an example, in the counties of Georgia where courthouses have been burned, alternate resources can be found with a little imagination. Tax records might replace deeds. Wills have multiple copies, if the courthouse record is gone, search the lawyers. Archival collections generally contain a huge number of copied records. A case in Atlanta, a Fulton County Justice of the Peace kept his copies of legal notices and court orders. Those have all been donated to the Atlanta History Center. A huge collection of records that document the daily legal system of North Fulton County sits waiting to be utilized by genealogists and other historians. A large number of names of individuals living around North Fulton County are available for anyone willing to search.
A more common example is with the 1890 census. Since a majority of these records were destroyed long ago, new methods to search the decade of the 90s needs to be found. Again, tax records and court records need to be explored. In addition, for metropolitan areas, city directories can be used. Farm directories and almanacs may also serve the purpose in place of the federal census.
So you see, although David Rencher was making a point specific to Ireland, the same ideas have a universal application. As genealogists and researchers we need to think outside of the box, move beyond the conventional resources and find our ancestors in other, more accessible records and documents. They are out there, we simply need to use imagination to find these hidden treasures.
Monday, March 2, 2009
There Is No Such Thing as a Boring Life
In a recent conversation with a professional historian, she confessed that she really hadn't fully explored her family history. "After all," she said, "they were a bunch of boring farmers in the Midwest." After thinking about our conversation for several days it strikes me that this lady's ideas about history are unfortunate. She seems to hold onto the concept of monumental events as the only worthy history.
I have the urge to stand on the rooftops and declare how detrimental this concept is to the larger field of history. If you will excuse my flashback to Christmas, the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" makes an important point. Every life is exciting and worth recording for posterity. And every life has an unforeseen impact on the world. Only after we sit back, document and interpret that life do we truly appreciate the impact.
In the case of my family, my father was a railroad worker; my grandfather worked for the railroads; my great-grandfather worked for the railroads. For three generations my family helped move people and business across the country. For three generations my family was part of the most influential and powerful segment of the United States economy. If you talk to retired railroad workers you will find out this was one of the most exciting and romantic jobs in America until the 1960s.
By the same token, my friend's "boring farmers" helped feed the world. In economic crisis in the 19th century, and during two world wars and post war periods, these "boring farmers" provided life giving sustenance to the world.
So, you see, there is not such thing as a boring life. In family history it is our job to revel in the daily adventures of our ancestors and document their contributions to the world. There is no such thing as a "boring farmer," and as family historians it is part of our job to make that clear.
I have the urge to stand on the rooftops and declare how detrimental this concept is to the larger field of history. If you will excuse my flashback to Christmas, the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" makes an important point. Every life is exciting and worth recording for posterity. And every life has an unforeseen impact on the world. Only after we sit back, document and interpret that life do we truly appreciate the impact.
In the case of my family, my father was a railroad worker; my grandfather worked for the railroads; my great-grandfather worked for the railroads. For three generations my family helped move people and business across the country. For three generations my family was part of the most influential and powerful segment of the United States economy. If you talk to retired railroad workers you will find out this was one of the most exciting and romantic jobs in America until the 1960s.
By the same token, my friend's "boring farmers" helped feed the world. In economic crisis in the 19th century, and during two world wars and post war periods, these "boring farmers" provided life giving sustenance to the world.
So, you see, there is not such thing as a boring life. In family history it is our job to revel in the daily adventures of our ancestors and document their contributions to the world. There is no such thing as a "boring farmer," and as family historians it is part of our job to make that clear.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Family Histories Need To Be Written
"Your friends don't tell you to record everything that you remember about the dead person because you will indeed forget many things over time"--Bliss Broyard, pg 315 of One Drop
How often do we sit, after the death of a loved one and think about writing their biography? We want to capture the memories before they completely fade away. Yet, we allow the memories to fade. We never get around to writing about the live that has passed. And, this is probably the greatest tragedy of family history research, we don't write it down. Now granted, the process of recording the life of someone who has just died is incredibly painful. I have been trying to do exactly this in the past two years since my Dad died. I have only managed 20 pages. So, I know it is incredibly stressful and difficult, but to keep going I keep telling myself, "Dad deserves more," (excuse the cliche).
This is one of the few times I need to make the distinction between family history and genealogy. I am not referring to basic genealogy--recording the name and vital statistics of each of our ancestors. I am referring to family history--the collecting of stories that define the character and personality of each individual ancestor. The stories that help us understand the lives of the people we love. This is what we need to write down and save for future generations--the biographies of all of our ancestors.
As I have said, recording and writing the memories, or memoirs, or biographies, of our ancestors is never easy. Recording the lives of those closest to us is perhaps the most difficult. But in the end, after the struggle to put pen to paper is over, the product is probably one of the most rewards treasures we will ever create.
As a stray note: while you are thinking about writing biographies, you might write your own memories. Why not create that autobiography? In generations to come, how would you want to be remembered? What wisdom and advice do you want to pass on? Writing your autobiography may help, may provide a practice run, for writing future biographies.
There is an old saying, something like: "one man's death diminishes us all." In other words, we are all important in this world. We all have some worth, some contributions to make, or leave, before we die. So consider, sharing your worth, sharing your live, and at the same time, share the lives of those before us.
How often do we sit, after the death of a loved one and think about writing their biography? We want to capture the memories before they completely fade away. Yet, we allow the memories to fade. We never get around to writing about the live that has passed. And, this is probably the greatest tragedy of family history research, we don't write it down. Now granted, the process of recording the life of someone who has just died is incredibly painful. I have been trying to do exactly this in the past two years since my Dad died. I have only managed 20 pages. So, I know it is incredibly stressful and difficult, but to keep going I keep telling myself, "Dad deserves more," (excuse the cliche).
This is one of the few times I need to make the distinction between family history and genealogy. I am not referring to basic genealogy--recording the name and vital statistics of each of our ancestors. I am referring to family history--the collecting of stories that define the character and personality of each individual ancestor. The stories that help us understand the lives of the people we love. This is what we need to write down and save for future generations--the biographies of all of our ancestors.
As I have said, recording and writing the memories, or memoirs, or biographies, of our ancestors is never easy. Recording the lives of those closest to us is perhaps the most difficult. But in the end, after the struggle to put pen to paper is over, the product is probably one of the most rewards treasures we will ever create.
As a stray note: while you are thinking about writing biographies, you might write your own memories. Why not create that autobiography? In generations to come, how would you want to be remembered? What wisdom and advice do you want to pass on? Writing your autobiography may help, may provide a practice run, for writing future biographies.
There is an old saying, something like: "one man's death diminishes us all." In other words, we are all important in this world. We all have some worth, some contributions to make, or leave, before we die. So consider, sharing your worth, sharing your live, and at the same time, share the lives of those before us.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hi, I'm Back
Okay, so it has been almost a year since I last posted a blog. And, I am resolving to do better. The challenge I have, like everyone else in the world, is that there simply isn't enough time in the day to do everything on my agenda. But, I promise to do more with this blog.
Something that I have been thinking about lately is the lack of family histories in the world. I am told that genealogy is the single most popular hobby in the world today. In the United States, alone, more than 75 percent of adults have expressed interest in their family history. It seems that we should be writing more. It is a straight forward process: Tell me about your family. Yes, I understand it is so much easier, and less time consuming, if you simply repeat the stories passed from generation to generation. The oral history is great, but we need to write it down.
A good friend once suggested to me that anything worth saving is worth writing down. The old cliche, "talk is cheap," applies here. Repeating stories does not guarantee the stories will be remembered. So, we need to write them down. The blogs, the web pages, the Internet resources are all ephemeral. If you want to make it last, WRITE IT DOWN.
Okay, enough of my soapbox rantings for today. And, I promise to visit again soon.
Something that I have been thinking about lately is the lack of family histories in the world. I am told that genealogy is the single most popular hobby in the world today. In the United States, alone, more than 75 percent of adults have expressed interest in their family history. It seems that we should be writing more. It is a straight forward process: Tell me about your family. Yes, I understand it is so much easier, and less time consuming, if you simply repeat the stories passed from generation to generation. The oral history is great, but we need to write it down.
A good friend once suggested to me that anything worth saving is worth writing down. The old cliche, "talk is cheap," applies here. Repeating stories does not guarantee the stories will be remembered. So, we need to write them down. The blogs, the web pages, the Internet resources are all ephemeral. If you want to make it last, WRITE IT DOWN.
Okay, enough of my soapbox rantings for today. And, I promise to visit again soon.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
In Praise of School Yearbooks!
They do not provide proof of lineage or ancestral detail. Yet, as resources for family history and Genealogy, school annuals, or yearbooks are invaluable.
Imagine finding a photograph of your grandfather, star quarterback of his high school team, with the soft leather helmet and no face guard. The image can tell us a great deal about his personality. Or, imagine your grandmother as a cheerleader at the same high school photographed with the bobbed hair, the requisite pom-poms and ovesized megaphones. For a multitude of people these images are easy to conjure. In fact, they require no imagination at all. They are readily available in high school yearbooks and student annuals throughout the country.
Often ignored, these resources can provide us with an abundance of information about our ancestors and our family history. Who knew that Grandpa Jack enjoyed football so much? He never told us he played quarterback, as well as the safety position. And, no one mentioned that Gandma Jane was a cheerleader as well as senior class treasurer. Yet, here in the yearbooks there may be more information that adds color and understanding to our family history.
These details, an abundance of information about our ancestors, and our collateral lines, can be found in these annuals and yearbooks. The challenge is finding them. So, where do you find the yearbooks and school history of your ancestors. The easy location is the local historical society or archives. If that doesn't work, try the schools themselves, or the school districts. A number of school districts throughout the country have created archives and special collections to document their own history. So, search these out, they can provide a wealth of new and fresh information about our families.
As a final reminder, remember, up until recently, colleges and universities also published yearbooks, be sure to search for these as well. They may provide a different focus on the personality or our families and our ancestors.
Imagine finding a photograph of your grandfather, star quarterback of his high school team, with the soft leather helmet and no face guard. The image can tell us a great deal about his personality. Or, imagine your grandmother as a cheerleader at the same high school photographed with the bobbed hair, the requisite pom-poms and ovesized megaphones. For a multitude of people these images are easy to conjure. In fact, they require no imagination at all. They are readily available in high school yearbooks and student annuals throughout the country.
Often ignored, these resources can provide us with an abundance of information about our ancestors and our family history. Who knew that Grandpa Jack enjoyed football so much? He never told us he played quarterback, as well as the safety position. And, no one mentioned that Gandma Jane was a cheerleader as well as senior class treasurer. Yet, here in the yearbooks there may be more information that adds color and understanding to our family history.
These details, an abundance of information about our ancestors, and our collateral lines, can be found in these annuals and yearbooks. The challenge is finding them. So, where do you find the yearbooks and school history of your ancestors. The easy location is the local historical society or archives. If that doesn't work, try the schools themselves, or the school districts. A number of school districts throughout the country have created archives and special collections to document their own history. So, search these out, they can provide a wealth of new and fresh information about our families.
As a final reminder, remember, up until recently, colleges and universities also published yearbooks, be sure to search for these as well. They may provide a different focus on the personality or our families and our ancestors.
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