What's To Become Of It?

This morning on the APG mailing list, a question was asked as to what is to become of our research when we have passed from this life?

One researcher, in particular, has a client in Israel whose uncle passed away. The uncle was the family historian and had extensive files, but had never begun a real summarization, nor uploaded a gedcom to the Jewish Gen. sites, etc. So, his data is pretty much raw, and will need to not only be organized, but a summarization provided as well. The researcher said the problem is that the computer files are in Israel, while the raw data [documents] are in the U.S. The good news is that the raw data is also in the same city as her son, so when she visits from Israel in the fall, she will be able to pick it up then and work on it.

This is all going to be a massive expense for the family in order to preserve the work the uncle had already done! Still, they did not want his work to have been in vain or lost for future generations, and so they are more than willing to cover the expense.

The question this all poses is: "What is to become of our own research when we are gone?"

My personal solution follows. While it may not be what everyone would choose to do, I feel it is the right solution for my research.

MY PERSONAL RESEARCH: My personal research is to be downloaded into a gedcom, complete with notes, and all of my raw data [documents; photos; etc.] are to be donated to our local historical society. I am blessed in that my local historical society is also in the same county where 80% of my personal research [which is vast] takes place! My family was among the earliest settlers in the area, and as such, the historical society is very interested in our material. A copy of the gedcom will also be donated to another historical society where most of the remaining 20% of my research takes place. The historical society here has the funds and capabilities to keep all gedcom files updated in the latest formats. Those donated a few years ago on floppy disks are now safely stored on CD's. These are also safely copied and the master copies are preserved in case of damage to one of the copies. Raw documents are kept according to collections. So they will all be kept together, archivally safe.

MY GENEALOGY BUSINESS RESEARCH: For clients who retain the copyright to their material, I have all of their files shredded after 12 months. This allows the client to retain their degree of anonymity. As well as protect their identity. However, I do ask most clients to sign a release so that I can use the work I performed for publications, lectures, etc. For those files, they will also be left to my local historical society. They will be catalogued under the general family name of the research, but will be placed with my collection, listed as professional research. As such, should someone later wish to find research that was published under my name, they would be able to locate it in the historical society.

Again, while this solution may not work for everyone, I am comfortable with it.

Some researchers have children, or grandchildren, to whom they are able to leave their research. While I have five children, and numerous grandchildren [so far], I don't have anyone who is interested in genealogy, at least not with the passion that I carry And so I would choose to leave it to the historical society.

Others, might want to leave it to their children regardless of the child's interest in genealogy. I want to make sure the public can have access to my work.

You might also check with your local library, or county, state museum or historical society. Most of these have the capabilities, and the desires, to obtain well written and documented familial research.

Preserve the work you have performed. Protect it for the future generations!

cbh

Mega Genealogy Portal Available!

I received the following in an email this morning. What a treasure trove! I share it with you here.
Enjoy!
CBH

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UPDATED: FAMILY GENEALOGY and HISTORY INTERNET EDUCATION DIRECTORY
Professional worldwide humanities and social sciences mega portal,connected directly to numerously related sub-sets, with billions ofprimary or secondary database family history and genealogy records.The most comprehensive Genealogy and Family History online Handbook,How-To-Guide and Manual.
URL: http://www.academic-genealogy.com/
SEARCH: Family Genealogy and History Internet Education Directoryhttp://www.academic-genealogy.com/searchthissite.htm

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History and Social Studieswww.academic-genealogy.com/historysocialstudies.htm How Do I Begin To Document and FileFamily History? An Introduction.
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/documentfilefamilyhistory.htm

Libraries and Museums: Reference Shelffor The Genealogist and Family Historian
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Living Family and Fun Portal
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The Lord Jesus Christ, Jews, The Houseof Joseph, Gentiles and Heathens [Introduction]http://www.academicgenealogy.com/thelordjesuschristjewsjosephgentilesheathenstinneyelijah.htm

Math (Mathematics)
http://www.academic-genealogy.com/math.htm

Medical and Health: Genetics, Genealogy and Historywww.academic-genealogy.com/medicalhealthgenealogygenetics.htm Melvyl System - University of California:Worldwide Genealogy and Family History Research
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Tinney - Green(e) / Baker - Quibell Family Organization Newsletter
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Worldwide Postal Information (General):[also] Tinney Home Pages, Email & Snail Mail
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Seize From Every Record Its Unique Genealogy Evidence

Once more, Arlene Eakle has outdone herself!

Arlene is a well-known Virginia genealogist, historian and lecturer.

In yesterdays feed Arlene wrote a most inspiring work regarding the title above.

"Seize from every record its unique genealogy evidence" is her advice. She goes on to tell us to combine all of our gleanings together to create as complete a picture as possible regarding each person we research. She states "This is a genealogy axiom."

Arlene states that by doing these simple things we can go on to trace even difficult to find ancestors. Arlene should know! She has a remarkable 96% success rate!!

One of her many tips is that when the money runs out for a research project, she keeps a special notebook and takes it with her everywhere she goes. If she sees data that might break the line open, she goes ahead and retrieves it for another day. How wonderful! So many of us end a project, and it literally "ends". She later shares it with the client.

Arlene ends by stating: "...your ancestors can also be identified if you SEIZE FROM EVERY RECORD ITS UNIQUE GENEALOGY EVIDENCE and then re-combine that evidence to prove each person. It is not in copying the information that we err. The difficult step is combining the facts to develop the family history."

How true and how wise Arlene! We thank you for your hard work and efforts in keeping us educated!

cbh

File Photos

I've often been asked where I find some of my file photos. Naturally, most have been sent to me by family or friends of the family. These have allowed me to amass a rather large photo collection of family members and of graves.

But there are four places that I frequent quite often that I'd like to share with you. All on the World Wide Web!

One of my favorite places to just browse is Dead Fred. This is a wonderful archive of old portraits and photographs. Many are unidentified. But most are listed by the subjects name. You are also invited to post your own old photos there as well to share with others.

Another good site is Family Old Photos It is quite similar to the Dead Fred site.

My favorite site to locate graves is at Find-A-Grave Here you will find "Millions" of graves recorded. Many with photographs of the grave and many with photographs of the deceased individual. Excellent! You can search by the individual's name, or the cemetery name if you know it.

And the last one I use is Interment This site is great for the newly deceased as it also posts obituaries.

All four are sites that I highly recommend and that I utilize on an almost daily basis.

Add these to your Favorites!

Enjoy!
CBH

Use Only Verifiable Sources

There are rumors and reports running around, yet again, of the illegitimacy of Abraham Lincoln [as if that should really matter at this dateand time!]. These rumors are not new, although some would have you believe they are. They are unsourced and have no proof of their claims.

The lesson to learn from these unsourced reports is simple.

When you are adding information to your files, be sure to use verifiable data sources. Not only does your source have to be from an area where others can access it, but it also must be from a source that has a quality that not only convinces others who are reading your research, but will convince other researchers.

He said/ she said will not provide proof of anything in your research project! Make sure you provide the proof that is totally researchable and totally convincing!

Until next time!

Citing Websites as Sources

I have seldom cited websites for sources, but there are occasions where original material is found on a website and you must be sure to cite these sources appropriately.

Website sources must be treated the same as you would a book.

The name for the particular page is capitalized and written in italics within quotation marks, just as you would a book source. The website address is listed just as you would a publisher.

Be sure to give the author credit if he/she is known.

Any quotes from the cite must also be placed in italics and within quotation marks.

These are just the basic guidelines for citing websites as sources.

As always, give credit where credit is due!

Till next time!

A Little Professionalism...Please!

Ok. So today I learned that I don't have the most business savvy in our household. Ugh!

I was putting together a report I did for a client. This client had purchased 40 hours of research. What I came to realize when I was tallying up the total hours involved in this "40-hour" project was that I had actually performed a little over 68 hours of research!!!

Yeah, I got a little carried away and was so involved in this project! I mean, this was practically virgin territory! There were alot of published genealogies on this family, but none of them listed any sources! On top of that, as I began doing the research, there were numerous errors on these published trees! The whole time I was photocopying documents and printing off census records, military records, and death certificates, I kept saying aloud "Where's the professionalism in any of this? Come on people!"

Then today...my husband says, "Come on, Cyndi! Where's the professionalism! You're giving away over 28 hours of your work!"

Yeah, I know, that's not business savvy. Sure can't make a living doing that! Right?

But I'm not complaining. Nor am I browbeating myself. And neither is dear old hubby.

Why?

Because for me, this isn't just my business. This is my PASSION.

I couldn't be doing anything that is making me more happy than this!

[Well, nothing that is except some rocky road and a good love story on the tube!]

Hope you're having a GREAT weekend!

Cyndi