Second Quarter Update

It's time to evaluate my second quarter goals. Since I've been using Janine Adams' (Organize Your Family History) quarterly method now for two quarters, I'm amazed at what I've accomplished in my paternal grandfather's line. I decided this year I needed to reorganize and adapt my family history methods to "best practice" if I ever want to become a professional genealogist. Has Janine's method helped me? That's a resounding yes, though not to say that I haven't been distracted. I have spent a day here and there on another line. It's usually an email from a potential cousin that gets me running that rabbit trail. But for the most part, I've been able to stay disciplined and focused on my paternal line. So what have I accomplished this quarter?

• All citations in my Pastoor line are complete and accurate, even if they aren't perfect. Every bit of data has a citation, including a media file and transcription;
• Research plans have been created and brought up-to-date;
• Research logs and correspondence logs have been updated or created as necessary;
• Proof summaries have been written and saved;
• Notes and supporting files have been moved or linked to OneNote;
• Biography page has been created in OneNote to add stories as I go along;
• Completed the Mastering Genealogical Proof study group.

Although I didn't further any research on this line, I'm more organized and prepared for targeted research. Productive quarter? You betcha.

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Using OneNote in the Genealogical Process

Awhile ago, I blogged about my notetaking choice between Evernote and OneNote. Both are popular notetaking programs for genealogy, but I finally chose OneNote. It fits my organization style better than Evernote. Here's how I'm using it after reading Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones.

I chose to create a notebook for each ancestral surname and one for collateral surnames, including the additional maiden names from my ancestral lines. I also added specialized notebooks for my study groups and a general notebook for webinar notes, location studies, or foreign language tips, or anything else that strikes my fancy.

 

This notebook template isn't my own creation; I found it on the Internet sometime ago, but I can't remember where. If someone recognizes this, please let me know so I can give proper credit to the creator!

 

 

When a notebook is opened, there are tabs arranged across the top, called sections. These are like the dividers in a physical binder. They can be named however one desires and any number of notebooks can be created. The tab on the end with the elipses (...) indicates that there are several more sections hidden; clicking the triangle opens a dropdown menu with the names of the hidden sections.

 

 

 

 

Down the right side are the pages in the highlighted section. Pictured to the right are the pages in my research plan section. Each ancestor has a main page, on which I keep a research checklist, with several subpages beneath, each containing a research plan for a particular event in that ancestor's life. Any number of pages or subpages can be created can be created. Since Albert Herman has two marriages, a sub-subpage can be created for the former marriage, if desired.

Although I'd love to take credit for this research plan, this template is a modification of one that I found on the Internet some time ago. Again, I cannot remember where I found it or who to credit.

The research plan starts with a research question and then a list of all the facts--where it came from and who the informant was. A working hypothesis is crafted and a list of potential sources is created. From this source list, a research strategy is developed listing the order in which to search them. This order is likely to change as information is discovered and new sources are found.

 

 

 

 

 

Next is the research log in which the sources searched are recorded as they are used. If there are positive results to the search, any items scanned, copied or saved are recorded and then given a document name, which is also recorded here. If there is nothing found, this is also recorded since it might be used as negative evidence at some point.

This is also the time to record the citation while the source is still handy so there are no missing pieces to search for later.

Once all the citations are completed, a preliminary analysis of the source is done, recording the type of source and its provenance. This is information that can be cut and pasted to be used in other programs.

 

Each piece of information is briefly noted and analyzed, the informant recorded, and the evidence is labeled as direct, indirect or negative.

After the preliminary analysis is completed, any potential conflicts are recorded with ideas on how they might be resolved. This is where to note ideas about correlating the evidence and the best way to present it. Finally, a conclusion is drafted...

 

...and the cycle begins again as more questions emerge.

 

So far, I'm really liking this research plan template. It's been a great place to capture my thoughts and record my research all in one place. One thing I do want to point out is that this is only one section of my whole research notebook. When I add digital images of my records, which I can then hyperlink to webpages, notes in other sections, or to other computer files, I will never lose a piece of information again. But that's best left for a blog post for another time.

 

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2014 First Quarter Checkpoint

Earlier in the year, I came across a blog by Janine Adams called Organize Your Family History, in which she mentioned how she decided to break the year into quarters and research one branch of her family each quarter. I thought her idea was wonderful so I incorporated her ideas into my research goals for the new year. Now that the first quarter is over, I'm reviewing my progress.

I decided to research my mother's side of the family first since both of my grandparents were Polish and I didn't know much about their families. I created a notebook in OneNote for the two surnames of interest, Chrzanowski and Dabrowski. I've decided to keep separate correspondence logs for each surname, so the first thing I did was create a log and start collecting vital records. Then I decided to use the notebook system to file my hard copies using the marriage record identification numbers, or MRIN, generated by my Legacy program. The scanned copies are filed in a surname folder on my computer after I add the citations electronically to them and then I link them to the appropriate citations in my Legacy program. I'm trying to decide if I want to create a virtual notebook in OneNote like my hard copy notebook where I would store my photos, scanned documents and research notes.

In focusing only on my Polish branches this quarter, I was able to make lots of progress. I've received all the vital records available for everyone, except for two. Since my great-grandmother, Stanislawa (Makowski) Chrzanowski, died in 1981, her death is too recent for state law to allow me to get her death certificate. I am also unable to find the marriage record for my Dabrowski great-grandparents, who were supposedly married in Connecticut. Their first three children were born there, so I suspect they were married there, though I need to consider they could have been married before they arrived in the United States. I did find ship manifests for my both my Chrzanowski great-grandparents, and also for my grandmother, Genowefa "Jean" Dabrowski, but so far the Dabrowski's remain mostly elusive.

I split my time between research, organizing my files and entering data into Legacy. I now have a research plan for each direct ancestor, complete with research questions--something I never wrote down before. Each direct ancestor also has a biography (their story so far) and a research log in the research notes section of the Legacy program.

In addition to working my genealogy files, my other genealogy goal was continuing education. For the past 10 weeks, I've been part of a study group working our way through Mastering Genealogical Proof. This has been a great complement to this year's genealogy goals because I'm incorporating what I'm learning into my genealogy research. As I obtain a new document, I spend some time analyzing it. Each ancestor's research notes has information about the record: whether it is an original or derivative, whether the information is primary, secondary or indeterminate, and whether it is direct, indirect or negative evidence. I then write about my observations and my opinion about it. I also enter them into a new program, Evidentia, which will eventually help me write my proof summaries and proof arguments.

I am grateful to Janine Adams for her wonderful idea. It has really transformed my genealogy research. I feel on top of my research and I've made enormous progress in just one quarter. Just knowing that I will get to the other family branches helps me focus on my current tasks. While I still have some odds and ends to do on my Polish family, I'm tucking them away and moving on to my father's paternal side, those elusive Germans. With this system, I know that those odds and ends won't be lost; I will be returning to them next year.

 

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Rabbit Trails

You know the story. You've got your research plan open, your research log ready, and your good intentions; you're ready to begin the internet hunt for the parents of your ancestor. You begin searching one database and then another. You find some information that leads you to a possible relative. You search another database for new information on that relative, hoping to find a link to your ancestor, and maybe you find another clue to a child. Pretty soon, you are doing research for a completely different ancestral line and you are no closer to the answer to your original question.
Sound familiar? This year, I've decided to stop chasing rabbit trails and become more focused and begin to consistently use research plans. Rather than collecting data on the descendents of the nieces, nephews, and in-laws of my ancestors, I've decided to limit research to my direct-line ancestors and their immediate family. I like to include siblings and their spouses, if only for additional clues to dates and locations. If I actually start using a research plan, it may help me to keep that focus. At the least, it will force me to pre-plan what records to search, where I might find them, and write down the results of my research. Janine Adams of Organize Your Family History had a great idea to focus researching one ancestral line each quarter of the year. I like that. It would keep me from switching ancestral lines in mid-quest if I knew I would be getting to that line later in the year.
While getting derailed is not helpful, researching collateral lines is. A few months ago, I was looking for the parents of Elizabeth (Losee) Outhouse, the mother of my great-great-grandmother, Emily (Outhouse) Lamb. I couldn't determine which Samuel Losee might be Elizabeth's father; however, a search of probate records led me to the file for who turned out to be her brother, Daniel, and gave me a gold mine of information. In the file was a transcription of a deposition by his niece, Sarah Outhouse, daughter of Elizabeth (Losee) Outhouse. In Daniel's senior years, he lived with his widowed brother-in-law, James Outhouse, and his niece, Sarah. Sarah nursed Daniel for several years until his death and had to file a lawsuit afterward in order to collect payment for her nursing services. The deposition makes interesting reading. Daniel's probate records also contained a detailed list of his heirs, including naming his sister, Elizabeth and her husband, James Outhouse, and all of their children, including who they married. From this one file, I was able to confirm not only the names of all of Daniel's siblings, I was also able to find the married names of all of his sisters, as well as the names of whom they married, whether or not they were deceased, where the families were living and the names of their children.
While I didn't answer my original research question of who were Elizabeth Losee's parents, I did flesh out a family group and gather information that will help me answer that. So I guess some rabbit trails may be worth following. I think I will limit them to the siblings of my direct ancestors for now; otherwise, I may get lost in a maze of endless rabbit trails and never reach my goal.

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Rinse & Repeat

One of the things I really like to do is to organize—really. As a kid, I had hundreds of books, all organized on shelves alphabetically by author. My records (yes, those vinyl ones) were also filed alphabetically. My husband laughs at me because even today, my spice rack is alphabetically arranged. Organizing things is just part of who I am and gives me great pleasure.

So you would think organizing my genealogy would come naturally. Unfortunately my need to organize is a bit too compulsive. I find a system, then read about another system I think I might like better. So I re-organize my system and in between, my paper piles continue to grow. The advent of the computer and the internet should have made my life easier. Hah! Not for a compulsive organizer like me.

For a long time I used both computer software and a color-based paper file and binder system. Being old school, I tended to trust my paper files more than my computer ones. I could find my paper files; I forgot where I put the digital ones. But as I’m becoming more computer savvy, I really like the idea of going completely digital. I have developed a system of labeling my digital photos and scanned documents and filing them by surname on my computer. Then I learned that best practice means I should have a citation on every document and photo—which I don’t.

At the same time, I realized I was working too hard to make my natural organizational style fit with my current software. I found a program which uses Sourcewriter, a built-in tool that helps cite my sources properly and the way citation goddess, Elizabeth Shown Mills in Evidence Explained suggests. This appeals to my inner organizational bone and I have now transferred my research from one software system to the new one.  I am currently going through my direct-line families first (followed by collateral and off-shoot families) and cleaning up my citations and adding my digital files. I’m taking the time to go back and add citations to those un-cited digital photos and documents as I come to them. 

Some might say I’m stuck in the rinse-and-repeat cycle, but I’m improving my process all the time. I think the biggest perk in doing it this way is that while I am again going through my data, I am seeing it with new eyes and making new discoveries in my old data.

Now, I not only collect data, but I analyze it before adding it to my tree. Keeping Evidence Explained by my side helps with proper citation technique, but also reminds me that I need to think through each piece of information, not just for additional clues, but for the reliability of the source.

So while I am seemingly in an endless data-entry cycle, not only am I learning new things along the way, I’m also refining my research technique. And this continues to appeal to my inner organizational nature…and probably why I will continue to work genealogy in this way. 

Paperless - Evernote or OneNote?

Having decided to move to paperless genealogical research, I’m trying to choose between the two main note-taking programs, Evernote and OneNote. Since I don’t know how to use either of them, I’m having lots of trouble deciding.  So I had to figure out just what I want to do with the program. Basically, I want to duplicate my existing paper and notebook method. I want a place to store bits of information and notes that I’m not yet ready to input into my family tree software. I want a holding place where I can analyze the data I’ve collected. I’ve been using Clooz to organize my documents and link them to my people, but I haven’t yet been able to find a method that works for me for analyzing the documents and writing down my ideas and thoughts about each document or potential research avenue.

So what do I want in a note-taking/notebook system?

• Easy to learn and use
• Good organization
• portable - an app for my iPad
• Searchable notes
• Not too expensive

Evernote can sync across many devices, and the app seems to function almost fully like the desktop version. It also has a great add-on web-clipping tool for desktop that will automatically save items I clip from the web to Evernote. It has three levels of organization: stacks of notebooks, individual notebooks, and notes. Evernote relies on a tagging system for searching and there seems to be an unlimited amount of tags one can create. The program is free to use across all platforms, however if I want extra features like more storage and no ads, the cost is $45 per year.

OneNote is organized like a virtual notebook.  Each notebook can have a section, which can be divided into subsections, and then into pages. Hyperlinking notes to other notes, webpages, or notebooks are a nice feature. I don’t see a web-clipper, but digital images and audio files can be dragged into the notebook. OneNote also employs tags for easy searching, but supposedly has an instant search feature. Notes are automatically saved as I type and syncs to all devices if I sign in to SkyDrive. The app is free, but I learned that after 500 notes, you must pay $15 for the iPad version, which has limited functioning. OneNote 2013 is reasonably priced at $69.99 for standalone or it is included in the Microsoft Office Suite bundles.

I think the choice depends on style rather than features. I’m leaning toward OneNote because it mimics my own style of organization a little bit better. What do you think? Which program do you use and why? I’d love to hear how you use either program for genealogy.