Tuesday 31 March 2015

In Deep with the Book of Me - April Prompt 2015

Tomorrow is the start of month 4 of what is going to be a 12 month project. On the 1st of the month, at around 12.30 am UK time I release the prompt for that month's In Deep with the Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE and the prompt list for In Deep with the Book of Me can be found HERE

Traditionally in April bloggers take to blogging their way daily across the month using the alphabet as their blogging feature, with each day representing a letter of the alphabet. The only day there is not a post is Sunday. 1st April is A, 2nd April is B and so forth.

So, over the course of the April we are going to be blogging DAILY - as always you can ignore the prompt, take a different spin on the prompt, share (or not). The choice is completely yours.

There are TWO sets of prompts
1. A - Z Genealogical is aimed at those with a genealogical slant
2. A- Z Book of Me Medley  aimed at those who are perhaps knew to the Book of Me series.


You can mix and match the prompts or if you are brave you can answer both set!

Here are a few links that might assist you as we blog every day.



The presentation

Sunday 29 March 2015

Guild of One-Name Studies Conference - Sunday Sessions & Close

10.00-11.00  - Tennyson 1&2 Tools & Techniques: Using Wordpress for Blogs & Websites - Alec Tritton

11.00-12.00  - Tennyson 1&2 Tools & Techniques: Managing your DNA Project, and Interpreting Results - Maurice Gleeson

12.00-13.00  - Tennyson 1&2 Tools & Techniques: Communication from the Hereafter - the Members' Websites Project – Jim Benedict and Mike Spathaky

14.00-15.00  - Tennyson 1&2 Tools & Techniques: Using Blogger for Blogs - Julie Goucher

15.30-16.30  - Tennyson Suite Keynote Speaker - Mark Bayley, S & N Genealogy Breaking Down Brick Walls in your Family History Research

16.30-16.45 Close of Conference - Guild President



Guild of One-Name Studies - www.one-name.org

Saturday 28 March 2015

Guild of One-Name Studies Conference - Saturday Afternoon Sessions

14.00-15.00  - Tennyson 1 & 2 Tools & Techniques: Webinars - What is Available and How Do I Participate? - Tessa Keough

15.30-16.30  - Tennyson 1 & 2 Tools & Techniques: How to Set Up Facebook Groups, and Research Using Facebook - Alan Moorhouse

16.30-17.30  - Tennyson 1 & 2 Tools & Techniques: The Give and Take of Collaboration - Bob Cumberbatch



The Guild of One-Name Studies - www.one-name.org

Guild of One-Name Studies Conference - Saturday AGM & Morning Sessions

09.00-10.30  - Tennyson Suite Welcome and Opening of the Conference by the Guild President, followed by the Annual General Meeting

10.30-11.30 Morning Coffee

11.00-12.00  - Tennyson Suite Keynote Speaker - Laurence Harris Collaboration, Cooperation and Communication

12.00-13.00  - Tennyson Suite Panel Session: What Software Do I Use? How Does it Support Collaboration, Cooperation and Communication?

Panel Members - Bob Cumberbatch, Paul Howes, Jim Benedict and Tessa Keough



The Guild of One-Name Studies www.one-name.org

Friday 27 March 2015

A-Z April Blogging Challenge & The Book of Me

I have taken part in the A-Z Blogging challenge for the last four years or so and this year will be no exception. What is new is that I have linked the A - Z Challenge with the Book of Me.

Below is the presentation with the prompt hints along with the various links and more information.






Thursday 26 March 2015

RootsMOOC

Earlier this week I stumbled across a genealogy MOOC opportunity. The course starts officially on Monday 30th March, but is available for people to sign up and get familiar with the set up.The cost for the course is nothing, other than your investment of time.

The course is divided into four modules
  • Orientation Module -- Begins March 23
  • Module 1: Getting Started -- Begins March 30 
  • Module 2: US Census -- Begins April 20
  • Module 3: State & Local Resources -- Begins May 4
  • Module 4: Online Sources & Strategies -- Begins May 18
Below is the introductory video


Something that is really useful is that you can join the course and submit your surname and location interests with any contact being made through the Canvas portal. It is certainly a great idea and I listed my interest in my two One-Name (Surname research) studies for the names of Orlando and Worship.

To sign up and take part visit - https://learn.canvas.net/courses/369

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Web Wednesday - Willard Suitcases

Sometime ago I came across today's Web Wednesday topic and thought it was simply fascinating. Not just in terms of the actual project, but also the historical context and details behind it.

The project is called Willard Suitcases and the blog is capturing the very essence of the 400 suitcases belonging to former residents of a New York psychiatric hospital. The cases were put into storage when the patients were admitted, many contained belongings packed without the realisation of what it means to be institutionalised. The luggage dates from between 1910 and 1960 and in the cases of many of the patients they never left. Quite simply tragic.

Willard Psychiatric Hospital circa 1880 - courtesy of The New York Times
Once the hospital was closed the luggage was salvaged and acquired by New York State Museum. The blog host, Jon Crispin was given the wonderful opportunity to photograph the luggage.

You can read more details about the project at
http://www.willardsuitcases.com/about. Jon's introductory post can be found HERE. You can also read Jon's blog and see the posts about the suitcases at http://joncrispinposts.com/

The tragedy in all of this is that many people were confined in institutions across the globe  for conditions that were not diagnosed or treated. Conditions such as epilepsy for example. Conditions such as dementia was not acknowledged. In other instances wives were confined for perhaps having what we know now to be post natal depression, or perhaps confined so they could be replaced with a newer model!

Websites such at this one exists to honour those who lived in such tragic times. It is important that we learn from the material and data they left behind.

Further information

Links accessed and found to be live 23rd March 2015

Tuesday 24 March 2015

Tuesday's Tip - Use auction sites

Back in 2013, I wrote a blog post for the In-Depth Genealogist, which can be read HERE. I talked about sourcing material from auction sites and alike. I still believe that is a good option, and that is my Tuesday's Tip for this week, fuelled by my latest addition.

This lovely little beauty is made from reclaimed pine.

The moment I saw it, I had one of those I MUST have that moments, because apart from the surname, it fitted even the fish them!

The sides of the box are decorated with a fish and even my beloved said perfect! and now he is rather impatiently waiting to see if we can establish who the A L Goucher was in Yorkshire.

So do explore those auction sites, use the Evernote clipping tool to gather the information, so that you can capture the details without bending your credit card!

Many of those with One-Name Studies (www.one-name.org) do just that.

Sunday 22 March 2015

Sunday Salon - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Sunday Salon.comI had planned to share my Sunday Salon post with you today, but the plans of mice and men have prevented that so I am going to share the following YouTube video with you.

I have been reading this book for the last few weeks. Dipping in, making a few notes, reflecting etc. Then by coincidence I noticed that +Jennifer Ross who blogs at Organizing Jen (http://www.organizedjen.com/) had also read the book. I smiled when I spotted that Jen's copy of the book was awash with post it notes too! The video below is Jen's review of the book.



I expect to complete the book in the coming week (presentation writing and appointments allowing) and whilst I have stopped sharing many book reviews via this blog, I will share this review, because there is a rather interesting overlap with genealogy, tidying up and a whole pile of emotions as I still deal with items that I have inherited from Mum.

The website for the blog can be found at http://tidyingup.com/

Happy tidying!

Sunday 15 March 2015

Going In-Depth - March Issue

The March issue is OUT and the Across the Pond column continues with the featured look at occupations, especially those carried out in the City of London.

The March issue looks at the Worshipful Company of Carmen and can be found on pages 60 -63 of  the magazine.

Also this month, making her début as a writer at IDG is the well known Australian genealogist, Shauna Hicks looking at genealogy Down Under!


To subscribe to the magazine please visit The In-Depth Genealogist website.

Friday 13 March 2015

Getting ready for In Deep with the Book of Me - April Prompt 2015

Today we are about two weeks away from month 4 of the In Deep with the Book of Me series.

Usually on the 1st of the month, at around 12.30 am UK time I release the prompt for that month. however, there are two exceptions, April and December when the prompts will DAILY and in therefore the prompts will be released half way through the previous month.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE and the prompt list for In Deep with the Book of Me can be found HERE

Traditionally in April bloggers take to blogging their way daily across the month using the alphabet as their blogging feature, with each day representing a letter of the alphabet. The only day there is not a post is Sunday. 1st April is A, 2nd April is B and so forth.

So, over the course of the April we are going to be blogging DAILY - as always you can ignore the prompt, take a different spin on the prompt, share (or not). The choice is completely yours.

There are TWO sets of prompts
1. A - Z Genealogical is aimed at those with a genealogical slant
1. A- Z Book of Me Medley  aimed at those who are perhaps knew to the Book of Me series.

You can mix and match the prompts or if you are brave you can answer both set!

You can sign up to the A-Z Challenge at www.a-to-zchallenge.com and you can also see a list of other participants at the above site.

The presentation will be published a little later on this blog and of course on the Facebook group. In the meantime, you can get a heads up by visiting the website and seeing the prompts list

Tuesday 10 March 2015

In Deep with the Book of Me - March Prompt 2015 - Genealogical Tapestry



You can read the Prompt Post HERE.
You can read my take on the prompt HERE
The web page with all the details on, including the prompts from the first series can be found HERE

Thursday 5 March 2015

Going In-Depth - February Issue

Over the last few months I have neglected to post when a new edition of the Going In-Depth is published sorry about that!

The February issue is OUT and the Across the Pond column continues with the featured look at occupations, especially those carried out in the City of London.

 The February issue looks at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and can be found on pages 26 - 30 of  the magazine.


To subscribe to the magazine please visit The In-Depth Genealogist website.

Wednesday 4 March 2015

Organising Genealogical and Research Papers

Yesterday I took the time to join in a hangout on air with Jill who blogs at Geniaus.

The discussion was about organising genealogical research, which was triggered by a blog post written by Sharon who blogs at Gathering Dust and I shared, probably somewhat badly what I do with my research. You can read Sharon's post HERE

Pauleen Cass shared her thoughts via her blog and I thought I would explain further what I do.

Firstly, let me explain that I began researching before the internet existed as we know it. I gathered research by visiting archives and using the postal service.

I also have a family history where my maternal line has lived within the parimeters of three Counties in England - Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire for around 300 years. It is therefore not too surprising that I have some surnames that occur more than once and several lines that cross over through intermarriage.

I also have the added complication that my husband's surname does on occasions become Goacher instead of Goucher and I have Goacher's in my maternal line. There does not appear to be any connection between my Goachers to my husband's family but.......
  • My genealogical software program, I use Roots Magic contains a file called "Main File" 
    • I have a physical folders called Main File (JDG) for my maternal ancestry and
    • I have a digital folder called Main File (JDG)
    • I have a physical folder called Main File (SPG) for my husband's ancestry and
    • I have a digital folder called Main File (SPG)
  • I also have two filing cabinets which hold suspension files such as shown in the picture here. I have a file for each surname where the material does not (or does not currently) provide a link to my own ancestry.
  • I also have two drawers for my two One-Name or surname researcher relating to my two Guild of One-Name registered studies of
I also have numerous papers and digital files that relate to other places where my ancestors lived such as
There is also my trusty set of Index Cards which I talked about here. I have scanned them, and I have the original cards, or at least I have at the moment. In addition I have every notebook and journal I have kept, all the way back to 1982. I always keep the first two pages free as my index and index as I go along. 

One-Name Study or Surname Research

The Orlando study currently sits at approximately 50,000 entries on a mixture of digital and paper. My plan is to put all the material online with the appropriate source material. I have a website and a blog and as I gradually add the material I add the details to the master index which is located in Google Drive and is available for everyone to see.

The same will be carried out for the Worship One-Name Study, although that has around 10,000 references.

When I work on family reconstructions for my these two surnames and for my Puttenham One Place Study I use Legacy, inspired by the +Legacy Virtual Users' Group Community

Excel

I keep a track of all the material I have and where it is located. For this I use Excel. I also use Excel for my One Place Studies - index of parish records and in the case of my road study * I track the houses by number order. Each item recorded as a separate event. I can then filter by name or by property.

At the beginning of EVERY spread sheet I have a methodology sheet. Here I advise what the material is and how it is kept. 

Final Words

I am sure that my organising way seems complex to some. That is probably due to the mix of written and digital files. I am gradually scanning and archiving my paper mountain but to process research that nearly spans three decades it could take another three quite easily!

In essence my work is broken down into segments
  • My own family
  • My specific studies - Surnames / Places / items
  • Other material that does not fit and perhaps never will!
For each of those there is digital and paper and gradually it will all be digital with the exception of my own family. I rather like having that in the files and every now and again I glance through it.

I use Evernote as a premium user and have an electronic inbox notebook where I collate material until it is processed or sorted. The Orlando Evernote folder currently sits at 212 entries and at some point they will be processed into the digital structure, added to the master index and master index. The original Evernote item will move from the Orlando folder to the Archive folder where I won't see it again unless I search for that specific item or it appears in search results.

I also use One-Note and whilst I originally love it, I have found in the last year or so that I prefer Evernote. I still have access to my One-Note files and over time will transfer them to Evernote. I have written blog posts about One-Note and Evernote and have shared the various links below.

The bottom line is there is NO right or wrong way to created and organise genealogical and historical material - there is only YOUR way! Do what feels right to you and make sure you write instructions for how the material is laid out.

Further Posts of Interest

Sunday 1 March 2015

In Deep with the Book of Me - March Prompt 2015

Today is month 3 of what is going to be a 12 month project. On the 1st of the month, at around 12.30 am UK time I will release the prompt for that month's In Deep with the Book of Me, Written by You.

If you are new here, welcome! The details, background flyer and Face Book link to the Book of Me can be found HERE and the prompt list for In Deep with the Book of Me can be found HERE

Genealogical Tapestry

Our lives can be defined as a tapestry. Clear threads, isolated from each other, yet coming together to represent a life. A full potential of being. What threads define you?

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