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.  

Sorting Family Tree Digital Files

An integral part of storing your files/photos should be, if possible, making digital copies of all your documents and photos.  To assist me with this I enlisted the aid of my (sometimes willing) husband. We had invested in a good flat bed scanner about a year ago and have found it an invaluable resource. As I sorted all the documents and photos into Family Groups, Steve scanned the documents, ready for me to later label and sort into folders.

There are a number of good reasons for making digital copies which include:

• Security:  in case of loss due to water damage, fire or misplacement of a document
• Online Resources:  for attaching to your online family tree or blog, an easy way to back up your research.
• Sharing: for sharing with other family tree researchers 
• Time Management:  it is a good way to have all your files at your finger tips, you are able to check out details quickly and without fuss.  It is much easier than going through folders, boxes etc for the hard copy for the record.

The  dilemma again arises on how to file them so they can be easily found. 

Trying to stick to my KISS philosophy, this is the method I have chosen.
As each document, photo or newspaper cutting is scanned I name the file with DC, BC, MC, newspaper, census etc, then the surname, christian name, and date if known.  eg.  Death Certificate for my grandfather would have the file name:  DC.Shepherd, Malcolm Michael 25.06.1932. 

Of course the system you use is a personal choice and you need to choose your own approach and make it consistent for all your files.

The next step is to set up your files within your Family Tree Digital File.  I have chosen to organise my digital files in the same manner as I set up the files for the hard copies.  (see my previous blog , Time to Go Shopping.  All the folders on the computer corresponded with original files of photos and documents. i.e,. Four main folders  in the names of grandparents eg. Shepherd, Herbert, Smith, and Hewson  (see diagram above).

 

Once these files are set up I set up a file within each of these folders for the family groups of my great grand parents.

 eg:  Hewson is divided into Hewson and Keable and Shepherd is divided into Shepherd and Lee.

Then within each of these folders set up files for the documents for that section of your family group, eg: Births, Deaths, Marriages, Newspaper Articles, Military etc. 

 See the diagram to the right as an example of how your folder setup could look.

Again these folders are a personal choice and will correspond to the type of documents you have to store.

One final note:  Yes this is quite a daunting task! However if you take the time to set up a workable system and slowly work your way through your collection of data, you will be rewarded with a manageable collection of family tree files that can be easily accessed and shared with other researchers.

Also, as you discover new information or others share photos or documents with you, they are easily filed away.

If you find this system of use let me know, or if you have any suggestions to improve my system I would love to hear from you.

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.

Filing and Storing Original Documents - Keeping that Pile under control

If you are like me, the amount of time that you have to spend on your family tree research is limited.  This means that it is important to develop a filing/storage system that is straight forward, and doesn't consume to much of your valuable research time. I think it is important that you choose a filing system that suits you and works for you.  You are the person who has to work with it.

Operation Paper Control was on!!!!

 

What an adventure!!!  When I had allotted the amount of time I would take to do this I had not considered the time I would waste being side tracked by the little bits of information I rediscovered in  letters, on the back of photos and in notes I had taken. Having a deadline kept me reasonably focused and I resisted the temptation to wander too far from the task at hand.

Much to my husbands delight, I finally sorted all the documentation into the four "Family" boxes!!   He  now had space to watch the footy in peace.  The next step was to work my way through each "Family" Box. sorting the information into documentation that supported "Birth", Death" and Marriages", Census, Newspaper articles, photos. 

 Initially, I sat on the floor of our lounge Room with four boxes marked "Shepherd", "Herbert", "Smith" and "Hewson".  These were the four main branches of our family tree.  Legs crossed, sneezing from all the dust, I slowly made my way through the boxes of documents, photos, notes, letters, newspaper cuttings  and other bits and pieces that I had collected over the last 15-20 years.   I then proceeded to sort all the information I had collected into these four boxes. 

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.

Approaching your family tree research in an organised manner

Yes this is part of what had accumulated in my spare room, not to mention the collection of scanned documents that were in numerous files on our computer and my lap top. I am sure there are many family researchers who, like me, find it hard to keep up with the large amount of information, photos and documents that they have accumulated.

It was around 2007 I decided it was time to really sort out this mess. At this time I was studying at University and one of the subjects I was doing that semester was Project Management. Our first Assignment was to identify a project we would like to put into action over a period of 2 months. We had to develop a plan, put it into action and report back to our lecturer and class on its success. So using the guidelines and lecture notes from our Project Management Course I set out, with great determination, to put some order into my family tree research. (I do believe my husband was even more enthused at the thought of having the spare room or family office functioning in a more ordered manner).

The first step in the process was to identify what my were my main objectives. (sooooo important to have something that is dooable). So after some careful thinking I came up with the following objectives.

1. Develop an on-line family tree, that can be accessed by family members and family researchers and can be used as a basis for future research.

2. Establish a physical filing system for the storage of family tree records (birth, death and marriage certificates, photos, newspaper cuttings, personal accounts, letters etc.).

3. Develop an filing system on my computer for the storage of all scanned documents that is logical and easy to maintain.

I look forward to sharing the different stages of this project and appreciate any feedback or suggestions on how to make the process even smoother and more efficient.