Month: January 2016

Letter I challenge

Miss W. Uncategorised , , , ,

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This week I am still trying to decide what I will use to collate all the

Information

I will be gathering about my ancestors.

  • Will I use Evernote or OneNote?
  • Will I use a checklist associated with a timeline?
  • What is the easiest way to keep track of all this information?

Previous to this genealogy do over with Thomas MacEntee, this is what I used to do:

At archives or library

  1. Decide on surname to research – check microfilms, microfiche, newspapers
  2. Write info on paper with some basic source – I could find again but perhaps not another relative
  3. Go home and add the info to the database on my computer software programme
  4. Before the next visit, print out family group sheets to add the new information on there, instead of scraps of paper

But now I am researching more online, how can I make use of my time more effectively and efficiently?

I am thinking of buying a MacBook Air that is light to carry, download Microsoft Office 2016 on it – that means OneNote, keep the Macbook just for genealogy, learn how to use OneNote so I have a notebook per family and pages per family member with a checklist and timeline per person on their page. Hopefully clip and add to their pages. ALso have my genealogy software on this Macbook.

Readers: Please leave a comment about my post or something beginning with I that relates to your family history or your research.

letter I

Letter H challenge

Miss W. Uncategorised , , ,

Despite having researched my family tree for over 40 years, there are always times when I need

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Because I am doing the Genealogy do over, I am needing help with my new software programme Legacy. After having used The Master Genealogist since it began, and making a mess of the sources in my database, I am determined to not enter any data in Legacy unless I have one or more sources for the information (and not from public trees on Ancestry). So I have joined a couple of Facebook groups to get help for this: Legacy User Group, Genealogy Do Over and Genealogy Cite your Sources. NB: I still haven’t installed Legacy despite having it for a week – I am going slowly with this do over.

With regard to sources, I am still undecided what style I will use. Most US genealogists follow the Chicago style used by Elizabeth Shown Mills in her book Evidence Explained. But when looking at Trove, I notice this is not one of the options so I think I might use the Harvard/Australian style – there is plenty of information about Harvard version on the net. I might send an email to the Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG) to find out what they expect for professional genealogy courses in Australia.

As I now have a desktop computer, a heavy laptop which needs renewing and an iPad, I need a programme that will sync across all three for when I go researching on the net, at libraries or archives. As a teacher I got used to OneNote from Microsoft but have noticed Evernote is also used a lot with genealogists. So at the moment I am checking it out and making comparisons to OneNote. Again I have joined the Evernote Genealogists Facebook group.

Once I start researching in England and Ireland I am going to need help there as well, even though I would love to go there again on holidays. So I will be doing a lot of emailing for county records, but also using rootsweb email groups. Often I can get help from someone actually living in the area where my ancestors lived. Or they might know some other resources I could use.

 Readers: Please leave a comment about my post or something beginning with H that relates to your family history or your research.

letter H

Letter G challenge

Miss W. General info , , ,

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Government Gazettes and publications
There are many ways to find information on your ancestors and their life. The government is great at keeping records other than a census in Australia.

As a true blue Tasmanian descended from both free settlers and those who had a journey overseas paid for by a government from a previous country, I can find a lot by checking government Gazettes and other publications like electoral rolls and almanacs.

The Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO) has been digitising a lot of their records that used to be microfilmed or in huge books. Here is a list of some online:

  • Government gazette papers – Trove
  • Electoral rolls
  • Convict records
  • Arrivals and departures
  • Census and musters
  • Divorces
  • Wills
  • Inquests
  • Tasmanian Post Office Directories – early form of white pages
  • Publicans licenses

It is very important to check out guides from your local archives to find out what they have either online or available if you visit them. National Archives Australia has a series of fact sheets about what is available there.

Cora Num has some great links to look through on her website including some references to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Readers: Please leave a comment about my post or something beginning with G that relates to your family history or your research.

letter G