Evernote - Will this be a useful tool for my genealogy research?

I am sure I am not on my own when it comes to having bits and pieces of their geneaology research in a number of places.  I try very hard to keep the all the pictures, files, useful links, newspaper clippings, emails and letters from other researchers and so on,  in some kind of ordered manner.  However, I must admit the amount coming in is often far greater than the time I have to sort them. 

I am hoping I have a solution.  I am an avid follower of Paul Higgins site on Emergent Futures and receive his monthly news letter which gives a great summary of new innovations and trends.  In the last newsletter there was an interesting article on his Favorite Applications.   The first application was on  Evernote.  Now I have to confess, when I first purchased my Ipad (which I love) I madly downloaded many of the new apps, that were going to make my life easier and fun.  One of these apps was Evernote as it came highly recommended by many.  I did set up an account and after a brief look at its applications, didn't get back to using it.

Now after reading Paul Higgins article, I have decided that this could be the tool that I can use to tie all my research together. 

This tool allows you to store your notes, pictures, develop check lists, maps, clip interesting articles, etc.  Then the bonus is that you can now access all the items you have saved at any time on your Ipad, phone, or laptop. 

I can see great potential for this app with family tree research so I plan to explore this further, and make an effort to learn the full value that this tool has to offer.  Watch this space as I share my progress.

Follow Friday - An accumulation of my weekly research - 2

Where did the week go??

This week I have had writers block and have spent most of my spare time searching the web, looking at blogs and sites that write about or provide information on the history of women.

 The focus of my research is not Womens fight for "freedom and rights", eventhough I do agree this is important, but more on their achievements, way of life, interests and escapades.

I was pleasantly surprised at the abundance of interesting blogs and helpful sites available.  Here is a brief summary of some of my interesting discoveries:

Blogs

Womens History Network,   http://womenshistorynetwork.org/blog/

Scandalous Women,  http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com.au/ , What a great title, and amusing read.

Women's History Sources, http://womenshistorysources.blogspot.com.au/, This is a collaborative blog that serves as a current awareness tool for anyone who is interested in primary sources at archives, historic sites and museums, and libraries

Womens of History, http://womenofhistory.blogspot.com.au/, Dedicated to the women who have graced the pages of history, from ancient to modern times

Writing Womens History, http://writingwomenshistory.co.uk/, Weird, wonderful and random bits of women's social history.  (I have really enjoyed reading some of these stories, and look forward to reading more)

Websites

The Womens Library,   http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/, is a cultural centre housing the most extensive collection of women's history in the UK

Notable Women Ancestors, http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/grandma.html, stories and photos about everyday women.

National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame  http://www.pioneerwomen.com.au/default.html, I like their slogan "History is her story too...".

The Australian Womens History Forum, http://womenshistory.net.au/

National Womens History Museum, http://www.nwhm.org/about-nwhm/.  I like the quote on their home page, "A better world awaits the generation that absorbs what women and men have to share about life from a joint perspective. Together, all things are possible."

This list is just the tip of the iceberg, if you have any that you sites that you have found interesting please let me know.

Interviewing your Family

As I put together notes for my next blog on The Other Half of My Tree - stories of my female ancestors I found I needed to find out a little more about my maternal grandmother. "I know what I'll do, I thought, I will give my mum a call.  She should be able to help me with this."

Forgetting that my mother, who is now 80, may not have a clear memory of her childhood years, I rattled a number of my questions over the phone to her.  "Oh Di,  I can't remember was her response".  I really had approached this the wrong way. " Don't worry Mum,  think about it a bit and I will talk to when I next visit".

I realised that I needed to be more considerate of her age and plan the "interview" more carefully if I was  to discover more about my mother's childhood.  Going back to basics, I started to develop an "Interview Plan" or some points that would help when interviewing family about their past.

These are the set of Points I thought I should consider

1. Notification  - Make sure you notify the person you want to interview of your intentions.  Fit in with their availability.  Either call or write a letter asking if they would prefer to meet, talk on the phone or correspond by mail.

2.  Background - Provide the relative that you want to interview with some details of your research so far.

3.  Be Considerate and Patient - Remember that the relative you wish to interview may not share your enthusiasm for researching the family tree.  Take time to develop a relationship of trust and if the relative is not comfortable with the interview, consider using a gatekeeper, e.g. a younger trusted member of the family or friend who will make them feel more at ease.

4. Be Prepared - Before the interview, ascertain the important pieces of information you would like to find out.  A good idea, if you have a long list of questions, would be to focus on 2-3 questions at a time and pace the interview over 2-3 sessions.

5.  Photos, Newspaper cuttings - take a collection of photos, newspaper cuttings, old cards etc with you to the interview, these will help to get the conversation flowing and also help trigger family memories.

6. Record Conversation - if the family member is happy for you to record the conversation, then you can  give full attention to your relative rather than being distracted by taking notes.

7.  Listen - take the time to listen to your relative, don't rush them or contradict what they have to say.  Allow them the freedom to explore their memories.  Don't worry if they get sidetracked from the information you are particularly interested in.  These wanderings from the topic may provide you with some interesting and vital information that you didn't even dream of discovering.

8. Be Sensitive - remember that these stories are personal and sometimes close to home, so don't pressure your relative to disclose stories that they are not comfortable talking about.

9. Group Interviews - an alternative method of interviewing could be gathering 2-3 relatives together for the one interview.  By sharing stories between them, they could spark memories and a more lively discussion on the family history.

10. Notes and a Thank You Note - make a copy of your notes/recording and show or send these to the person you have interviewed  with a thank you note.  Not only does this confirm your respect and thanks to the relative you have interviewed, it allows them to review what they have said.  These notes will give them the option to correct or make adjustments to what they have said and more importantly, may trigger more memories about your family.


With these points in mind, I pulled together some photos and newspaper cuttings (that I had found in TROVE).  Then I called my mother and eased slowly into the conversation about family, suggesting that she put some of her memories on paper to show me when I visited on the following weekend.  When I visited her, she had prepared a short story (about two pages) on what she could remember about her mother, then we sat and went through all the photos and I asked her strategic questions about friends, family outings, occupations etc.  This approach was far more successful than my first off-the-cuff telephone call.

I would be most interested to hear other tips from other family researchers on how they interview their family members.  

TROVE continued - Updated List of Digitalised Australian Newspapers

Today, I would just like to make a short entry with some more information on the wonderful work that National Library of Australia has done with the their project to Digitalise Historical Australian Newspapers. As I have described in previous blogs, I find the TROVE web site an invaluable resource.

I was excited to read on the Genealogy and Historical News website that there was now a new updated list of all the newspapers that have been digitalised through the generosity and funding of a number of organisations.  If you are interested in seeing this updated list it is available on the Genealogy and Historical news at this link, http://www.gouldgenealogy.com/2012/07/update-on-troves-historical-australian-newspaper-digitisation-program/

In my previous blogs on Angus Shepherd and the benefits of TROVE I remark on how this resource has helped me so much with researching my family tree.  It is also interesting to read some of the comments that readers have added to the bottom of the article which include

"I have found this the most valuable tool for me research and know all the obits, family notice etc. just add a whole dimension to my research…"

and

"For genealogists, it adds another medium from which we can piece together our family trees. So often more is gained from a newspaper account of BDM & funeral notices have led us to many a resting place of a long lost relative. Papers of long ago where full of personal information especially country happenings which has put a personal touch to my family tree. Thanks so much to all the great work."

Thank you to the Genealogy and Historical News for sharing this updated list with us.  Spread the word to all family tree researchers.  TROVE is a most valuable research tool.

TROVE

In my last blog I spoke about the joys of assisting a friend into making the first steps towards researching her family history and how we used TROVE to search for some more details on her great great grandfather. Over the past few years I think I would have to rate TROVE as one of my most valuable research tools.

The National Library of Australia has developed TROVE as a free search engine that gives us access to a variety of collections in Australia and some overseas collections that relate to Australia.  These collections include Australian Newspapers, photos, articles, maps and books. No matter what your are researching, whether it be your family history, social conditions of a certain era, history of occupations, CWA recipies or sporting history as a few examples,  with just one click on trove.nla.gov.au you are able to find the most amazing collection of related material. The huge bonus to all researchers is that this information is free and accessible to all.

You can easily register as a user by going to this site https://trove.nla.gov.au/signup.  As you delve into the records you are able to tag articles of interest under you membership for later reference. Much of the TROVE content is digital and comes from libraries, cultural and educational institutions all around Australia.
When a researcher searches the site they are taken straight to the source, giving them immediate access to the information they are looking for.
As I look on family tree research as not only the collecting of the dates of birth deaths and marriages but also the collecting of family stories I find Trove to be one of the most valuable tools in my family research. There have been many occasions when I have used it to check a story that has been passed down in the family.  Often the discovery of a birth or death notice will provide that long searched for link to other members of the family or a place of birth.  However, what I find most exciting is that you are able to access stories about the towns and the times that your ancestors lived in, and some of the historical events that they lived through. 

Try your luck with TROVE.  The possibilities are endless.  Some of the areas I would suggest looking in are advertisements for sales of properties, family events, probate notices, court cases, obituaries, WWI and WWII notices or the names of towns that your families lived in. Small snippets from these types of searches have provided me with a rich source of information on where my ancestors came from, their occupations, life styles and important events in their lives.

TROVE also provides family tree researchers with the opportunity to share their discoveries and look for other researchers with similar interests on their forum.  If you are interested in using this resource it is very easy to register at this site  http://trove.nla.gov.au/forum/faq.php

I hope you find this resource as rich and rewarding as I have and please share your TROVING stories.

Happy Troving

Delicious and Geneology - A great Family Tree Research Tool

 Am sure all family tree researchers spend many hours on their computer searching numerous sites for information on their family tree.  I found that I was collecting large numbers of websites  that I wanted to refer to later or read when I had more time. Often, when I went to look for the site again  I couldn't find it.  It was frustrating, so  I began creating word documents with lists of  family tree internet links for later reference.  However, I found that these collections became clumsy, messy, and often I miss placed them.  Then about four years ago, while I was studying at uni I discovered Delicious. 

Simply put "Delicious helps you find cool stuff and collect it for easy sharing. Dig into stacks created by the community, and then build your own!"

 Delicious is a social bookmarking site, that can be used by all Internet users (for no cost) to organise store, manage, search and share bookmarks for online resources.  Anyone is able to join the site at http://www.delicious.com/. Once you have joined the site you can set up your profile, with stacks (or folders) that contain links to videos, pictures, tweets, blog posts, or articles on anything that you are researching, following or just interested in, eg, recipes, travel articles and of course family tree research.  I have set up stacks that relate to the different families in my tree and  when I find any files, photos, family tree sites or blogs I save the links into the appropriate stack.

 Once you have set up your profile, you are able to use your save button to tag any item you wish to save.  The site has clear and easy to follow instructions on their help page showing you how to join and start saving the links you discover as you research.  The ability to be able to save links to all internet sites I want to save, and at the same time place them in a context that relates to a particular area has been
amazing.

The second BIG advantage of using Delicious is that you are able to share your research with others, by setting up stacks with groups who are researching the same topic/themes as you.  You are able to make comments and share your comments with other researchers and visa versa.

Social bookmarking is a great tool that can be used to consolidate bookmarkes from your computer, laptop and Ipad, assisting you in organising these bookmarks and sharing them with other with similar interests.

If you have not taken advantage of this valuable tool, give it a try, personally I have found it an invaluable tool.

Time to go Shopping!!!

In my last blog I described the early how I had started to tackle the paper pile that represented my family tree research over the past 15-20 years.  This blog celebrates the fact that I have moved on from the four boxes marked “Hewson”, “Smith”, “Shepherd” and “Herbert”  and now have a fully functioning storage system for all my documents, photos etc.  .

This step started with a visit to the local office supplies shop, where I purchased folders, binders, photo boxes , sticky labels, protective plastic sleeves, folder dividers and alphabetical filing cards for the photo boxes. You will note these were all colour coordinated to fit with our spare room décor, much to my husband’s amusement. 

 The next step was to make up folders for each of the following: Births, Deaths, Marriages, Newspaper Cuttings, Census, Research Notes and Miscellaneous (for the odd things that didn’t seem to fit into the other folders).  In each folder I put in dividers for each of the Family Branches and filed all relevant documentation into each folder.  For example my grandmother on the Shepherd side’s death certificate, funeral notice, photo of her grave stone and family thank you card were all filed in the Deaths Folder in the Section for Shepherd.

All photos are now filed in “Family” boxes in Alphabetical order (SURNAME, Christian name) and any photos that are too large for the photo’s boxes I have filed into a photo folder .  I have to admit as I packed the “colour coordinated” boxes into the shelving, along with all my family research books I felt quite pleased with my progress.  It was now time to sort the conglomeration of digital files that lived on my computer, lap top and a number of usb sticks.

The Family Tree Project

Where am I going to start?  Feeling a little overwhelmed I sat down and tried to set  some rational boundaries.  I had to remember that this was a starting point and to not get bogged down with the unrelenting supply of information, and resources available.   It was important to have a clear picture of where I was going with this project. I spent the initial week planning, considering all the stakeholders, setting a budget, developing a timeline and reaching decisions on what were achievable goals.

The achievable goals would be:

• Selection of a suitable online Genealogy site to post family tree on
• Provision of access to this tree to family members and other researchers
• Development of a Filing system for all documentation, photos etc
• Electronic copies and electronic filing system for all documentation.

The first step was to do some research into the different online Genealogy sites and to compare them with those that I am already familiar and decide which would suit my project requirements. It was important that this site could be easily accessed by other members of the family  and researchers who were interested following the development of our family tree.

I decided to approach the development of this family tree as a pilot project that could be expanded and developed at a later stage to include all my family tree research.  To keep the project within a reasonable boundary, I decided to only extend by family tree back 5 generations.  Then when this was established I would be able to move on and add the additional information past the first 5 generations. I think this is good advice for anyone starting on their family tree.   Keep the initial stages of your research within achievable limits. Once you have established your Family Tree up to the first 5 generations you can use this as the base to go back further in your family tree exploration. 

It was also necessary to decide on a simple and easy to use filing system for all my documents in both hard copy and soft copy.  The logical form for me, was to develop Files for the four branches of our parents surnames, e.g. my parents family names and my husbands family names.  It was important to keep this filing system simple, so as it didn't consume too much of my valuable research time.

Gathering information for your family tree

I guess I have always been interested in history, and studied modern and ancient history at school.  This fascination  with the “times before me” was transferred to an ever growing interest in my family background and the people who came before me.  To begin with I was attracted by the puzzle of putting everyone in their place, with dates of birth, marriage and death. However, this has now evolved and I find I want to know more about the people,  the events they experienced and the times they lived through.

If you are planning to start putting together your family history you have to be prepared to become  a gather and collector of all different types of memorabilia.  Some items you will have to search high and low for and others will just land in your lap.  When I was first married and my two sons were very small, I started to be serious about researching our family roots.  This was in a time without Internet. All research had to be done in library’s, local museums, cemeteries, archives and more importantly by rummaging in many dusty boxes and suitcases that had been stored under beds or storage rooms. I wrote with great enthusiasm to many relatives telling them of my plan to put together our family history. Many of these letters went unanswered.  However, luckily  there were others in my family that were happy to share stories, old photos and letters and contacts with other family links.

The process of gathering information was much slower than it is today.  All communication was by post or phone and the building of the family tree was a much slower process.    Though I must confess, it was much easier to keep up with.  I don’t know what other family tree researchers feel, but my experience is that now it is impossible to keep up with the flow of information and resources  that are available to us today. (Mind you I wouldn’t want to change this, I love that you can search a name and instantly find when they were born, where they lived etc).

I believe that the things I learnt when I first started researching the family tree (a lot by trial and error) were valuable, and more importantly a lot of the information that I gathered during these early years have opened new family links more recently.  For example, recently I was reading through some notes that I had made when visiting my great Aunt in 1986.  She had mentioned that one of her Aunts had died in a fire.  Using the wonderful resource that we now have for Australian research I did a search on TROVE, and was able to find an article that gave the date of her death and the name of her husband and children.  From this little note that I had made many years ago, I was able to fill in a number of gaps in our family history.

If you are thinking of looking into your family tree here is a list of  some things that will help you find those important clues that will assist you along the way.

1. Letters - provide a lot of information, e.g. date, residence, family events, occupations  and general family history.

2. Diaries – if you are able to find an old diary or log book of an ancestor this is a wonderful bonus. They can provide so much information about the life and times of that family member.

3. Postcards, birthday or Christmas cards- can provide residential address, names of other members of the family and information on what they were doing at that time of history. 

4.  Old receipts -  provide names, dates and add to the story of the person.

5. Memorial Cards - these generally will give you birth and death date and sometimes family members.

6. Photos – look on the back for any notes that may give you clues

7.  Newspaper cuttings -  even if you are not able to see the link with your family, there must have been a reason they were cut out, so keep them.  Something might come up later that explains the importance of the cutting.

8. Christening certificates, school awards, note books – all add to the information about an individual.

9. Stories - write down or record stories from family members.  Don’t put this off.  There are so many of my older relatives that I wish I had made time to talk to.

10.  Establish links with others researching same family or connections with your family. This can be done through the Internet, online genealogy sites or just writing to family members.

11. Historical societies in towns where ancestors are a great source and may have old newspapers, photos, maps etc.  A lot of Historical Societies have books published on their area which are a mine of information about the times that our ancestors lived in.

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