With some research coaxing & tech, clues can reveal facts.
It's not always about facts. And It's not always about 'only online' or 'only offline'. Really, it's not. Usually after visiting with a relative {and 'visiting with' is code for 'interviewing' in my book and the visiting could be Skyping or a letter written longhand.}, genealogy and family history research can be about what was remembered, said, and ~ at times ~ what was felt. For instance, when I first started researching, it was what I remembered my Dad telling me about his Dad, Big Paw Paw. Things he remembered his Dad telling him. Things he remembered 'feeling' at the time. Things he remembered knowing, or observing, at the time. All far from being facts. And closer to being clues. And all very, very important to finding the facts about Big Paw Paw and his origins. His name was Joseph Marshall. He was born 17 Jun 1896 and raised in Galveston, Texas. He died in 1968 in San Antonio, Texas. He was a fisherman at one time in Galveston I think he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. And I think because of that I was raised a Methodist. He owned a lumberyard. He had a mistress. I found out about her after his death. Those recollections of his that he shared with me have led me to countless visits to the courthouse {The Bexar County Courthouse knows me almost as well as they knew my Big Paw Paw. *snort*}; have led me to the original spelling of my maiden name; have led me to property disputes; have led me to family disputes; have led me to the first German Catholic church in Texas where Big Paw Paw and his siblings had been baptized; have led me to a lot where the family farm once was on Galveston Island before it was lost during the Storm of 1900; have led me to Gorszewice, Posen, Prussia; have led me to cousins {some of which still live in the Galveston area and they found me through my personal family history blog}; have led me to 3 wives of his before my grandmother, their divorces, and their resulting stories; have led me to the fact that my grandmother had been one of his previous mistresses; and have led me to his will with a cliffhanger that involved his last mistress who's still alive. {And by then I really wasn't surprised by the drama he'd left behind.} Really? My Dad's recollections had me all over the place online and offline seeking Big Paw Paw's story...my Dad's story...my story...my children's story. So, yeah. The facts are important. And technology can be key in some instances. But so are the rumors, innuendo, and remembrances. And it does take both online and offline work to dig up all those buried details that start as clues, but ~ with a little research coaxing ~ can reveal facts. ~Caroline
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Kenneth R. Marks [TheAncestorHunt.com] and I have started a Scanning Facebook Group called Sunday ScanDay just for beginner and intermediate hobbyists who 'meet' virtually every Sunday at 3pm CT [4pm ET / 2pm MT / 1PM PT] for 1 hour in order to scan photos, documents, etc. A kind of a scanning support group, if you will. Because scanning tends to be a boring task, it tends to get pushed down on the to-do list, and many times it never gets done. So the Sunday ScanDay group was formed to give folks who are scanning something a little more to do while getting some scanning done. What do we 'talk' about while scanning? Anything and everything. This group is closed and meant to serve beginner and intermediate hobbyists. Bring your scanning questions without wondering if it's a 'stupid' question because there are no 'stupid' questions in this group of beginners and hobbyists. Want to talk about something else off-topic? Great! Talk about football [or another sport]. Talk about whatever you want. We're a social bunch. And? Each week you're welcome to share [upload] your favorite photo, document, or heirloom with the group in the group's photo album, or give a shout out to the group to let fellow group members know how many things you were able to scan that week. When we're not scanning on Sundays, feel free to ask questions about scanning at any time. Again, there are no 'stupid' questions in this group. Sunday ScanDay is a scanning support group and is labeled as a Safe Zone. We are all working together to get our 'stuff' scanned, and to have some fun while doing it. Also, if there's a need, we'll setup another official scanning day and time for those who work on the weekends and can't join the group on Sundays. [Sunday ScanDay on Mondays, perhaps.] We all know it's always easier to do something with others supporting you and doing it with you. While you don't have to 'show up' every Sunday, at least you know we'll be here when you can join us. Once-a-week for one hour with other folks who are scanning. Easy peasy. Professionals, please note: This group is intended to serve beginners and intermediate hobbyists. If you are a genealogy professional, this group is not intended to serve you. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. Come join us in the Sunday ScanDay Facebook Group today! The first scanning session [Okay, get-together] is Sunday, 25 Nov 2012, at 3PM CT [4pm ET / 2pm MT / 1PM PT] for 1 hour. ~Caroline
My Big Paw Paw had lots of secrets...
I really, really had to trim this list down. There's a lot of great technological tools out there that we, as family history researchers, can certainly use in some pretty helpful ways to help us find our ancestors. Which makes me think... I wonder what our ancestors would think about us clamoring to use all this new found techy stuff to find out more about them? Certainly some would be surprised. Most would probably be puzzled. They might think, "What's so special about me that you'd spend gobs of time and money to find out all my secrets?" And then some of us who have been researching for even a short while might snort or perhaps even laugh out loud [or both if you're like me] as we think of all the stories and secrets we've uncovered in this crazy journey we've been on and that we are still on. And, if we could, we'd reply back to them, perhaps underneath our breath, "Oh, trust me my dear ancestor, you and your secrets are well worth it." Speaking of secrets, today's 7 Gen-Tech Links are brought to you by my Big Paw Paw, who happened to have a lot of secrets.
Happy Researching!
~Caroline
Who spilled my coffee beans?!?
There's online storage and then there's online storage. Confusing? Not really. I remember when I used to work for my Dad we used to back up every day's business activities on the IBM AS400 - for all the departments [Accounting/Sales/Service/Parts]. We had a nice backup system to tape. And we had a daily set of tapes that were rotated, a monthly backup tape after the books were closed for end of month, and then a yearly backup tape for end of year after the books were closed for the previous year. Nowadays most businesses of what the size of my father's business had been would probably contract with a 3rd party online backup storage company because the technology has developed enough so that the service is more affordable and more secure. The company would be backing up to the 'cloud'. In fact the technology nowadays is so much more affordable that it can be offered to not only businesses, but to individuals as well. And there are some slightly different services out there as well that fall under the 'cloud storage' analogy. One is what I blogged about before: online file storage services like Dropbox, Box, and SugarSync. Basically, through these services you can sync designated files [in some slightly different ways] on your desktop or laptop to the online storage service and then with any mobile devices where you've downloaded the appropriate app. This way you can access certain files on your mobile devices, and that makes life easier for the researcher-on-the-go. An a la carte service, if you will. Also, these services have different collaboration feature sets which can also be handy for researchers. [You know, if they're collaborating with one another on photos or documents.] Another type of online storage that's available for the individual is online backup storage, and this is more akin to what is offered to businesses. In this model, all computer files are backed up by an online backup service automatically for a fee, which is kind of nice because you don't have to think about it. Now, in looking at the fees of the first type of service - online file storage syncing, you'd think the prices of online backup storage would be exorbitant, but they are not. Personally, I have a syncing and backup hybrid plan that is slightly paranoid-esque, but I sleep better at night knowing that no matter what happens, I've got all my important files backed up and accessible. My syncing and backup plan:
Is this the right plan for you? I dunno. That's something you'll need to decide. I run a small business in addition to doing genealogy and family history research personally. Therefore, I decided to do the offsite and double backup of my laptop for added protection. [I've received the dreaded blue screen twice on my laptop and both times I was able to restore to an earlier backup from my EHD. But I got to thinking one day that if something had happened to my EHD, I'd be outta luck. Hence, the added protection of my personal files as well as my business files. Plus? It fit into my budget. So why not?] Online Backup Services So what are some of these companies that do an online backup of your hard drive and any connected external hard drive? [That's right. My backups are backed up.] Here are 3 I'd like you to take a look at if you're interested in an online backup service. However, I'm not listing their features and benefits. I want you to click on the links and do your own research and make your own choices. And? These three links are not affiliate links. They're just links to their websites. Period. Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Backblaze [affiliate link]. However, I strongly encourage you to research all the companies to the best of your ability and choose the service that is right for you. If you decide to go with Backblaze [affiliate link] and you click on a link or an image with a link and purchase their services, I receive a small referral commission that would pay for a fancy schmancy coffee. But? I really think you should pick the right service for you and your backup needs. You may even find that you're happy with an external hard drive backing up your computer files, and that's excellent. Having said that, I'd like to share a video about Backblaze's company. It gives you a sense of the company, the CEO, and what they do to secure your computer's files. Hark! You will be getting a behind the scenes look into the cloud. [And ohmigosh! These clouds are actually a bunch of red metal boxes that store servers that are all virtually connected to each other. Fancy that. ;) ] And?
Basically, my advice is that you have some type of backup plan for all those names, dates, family stories, secrets, old photos, and documents. Because they're that important. It doesn't matter which one you choose [Don't worry. I have coffee.], what matters is that you come up with a plan and service [if that's what you choose] that's right for you. Happy Researching! ~Caroline
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Here are this week's 7 Gen-Tech Links to help you out with your research efforts. Why just 7? Because as a researcher, you'd like to actually do some research, right? [Novel idea, eh?] Or maybe you'd like to do some writing or blogging about your research and the stories you've found. I mean, sure, you like the new tech tools, but you love to research and find all those ancestors and their silly stories, right? So. I've decided to bring you just 7 links to tech tools once a week [plus the 3 bonus Gen-Tech links in the Genea-Tech Newsletter]. By cutting the links down, you'll be getting a more meaningful and curated list [And might I add that this is a hand-curated list just for family history researchers?] of some really helpful tools that you can review, select, and put to use over the weekend or whenever the next scheduled research time that you have is. Because success in researching is not really about finding tech tools. Trust me, there's lots of them. It's about finding the best ones for you and your research style. And then putting them to good use to find those ancestors and their stories. It's about execution of your research and writing. Speaking of execution, here's this week's 7 Gen-Tech Links:
If you enjoyed this week's list of Genealogy-Technology Links, I invite you to sign up below for the free Genea-Tech Newsletter where you'll receive a round-up of blog posts, 3 additional Gen-Tech Links, occasional special promotions, and an exclusive article with helpful info for family history researchers. Happy Researching! ~Caroline Video is a great way for researchers like us to share our research with our loved ones without boring them to tears. People enjoy a visual show and many times the video format forces us to scale the information down, which in turn makes it enjoyable for our loved ones. And? It keeps them interested and may get them to start asking questions or sharing stories. So I've compiled a list of 6 video/slideshow apps that can be used to make short videos on your smartphone or, in some cases, your tablet. A perfect idea to do before the holidays so if you get the chance you can take out your smartphone or tablet and share some stories in video format, and maybe, just maybe, you might get some information or stories shared with you. [Stranger things have happened.]
So. Do you use a different smartphone or tablet video maker app for sharing family history research? Share down in comments below what you love to use and why! Happy Researching! ~Caroline |
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