FINALLY Get Organized – February Checklist

FINALLY Get Organized! 31 Jan - 6 Feb 2016

1. Commence working on your mother's maiden name binder as follows:
I have begun this process however I have researched my female lines quite extensively and am not sure that I will merge their data with their their husband's file.


2. Collateral line - Siblings
The women in my lines are very colourful and well rounded, and their data my swallow up their husband's data doing neither justice.
For the moment I will stick with the suggested structure.  However as each woman introduces a new surname into the tree the become the first entry in a new folder this does give them a place of prominence that is not subsumed by marriage.  The children can go with the father with a note to where full details of the mother's life can be located.

3. Collateral lines with descendants. It's much easier to keep track of a brother or sister who marry and subsequently have children using your genealogy management program.
Agreed.  As I have gone sideways and down for quite a few of my families I will have to think carefully about how to file their documents and data - given the volume perhaps alphabetically is the best way to go.

FINALLY Get Organized! 7th-13th Feb 2016

1. Print out and study the synopsis of the GPS Genealogical Proof Standard
Done
2. Read the following blog posts, and view the embedded videos:
Done
3. Make research notes on your to-do list where you now realize your evidence is weak.
My greatest challenge - Need to think about how to do this and still not get side tracked

FINALLY Get Organized! 14th-20th Feb 2016

1. Rework the citations for documents and photos you've attached to the first four generations on your surname/maiden name individuals.
A work in progress

2. Refer to Citations available online at Elizabeth Shown Mills website.
https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/sample-quickcheck-models
Done

3. Read ESM's Quick Lesson 22: What Citation Template Do I Use?
Done

4. Explore citation templates in your genealogy software of choice.
Over time I have accumulated many software tools in an effort help me to handle my documents and their citations. I made  a comparison I have made between the various tool I have access to. As we don’t really have censuses in Australia I opted to compare voter’s rolls to examine which type citation I preferred.  The comparison can be found here on at Exploring Citation Templates.


My favourite template is Legacy family tree which I will continue to use and refine.
I have also just watched the latest WACKY Wednesday - EvidentiaSoftware.com in which the Evidentia software designer Ed Thompson said that it was quite acceptable to cut and paste a preferred citation format from elsewhere (ie Legacy Family Tree), as citation formatting was not the focus of Evidentia. This is great news as now I will have consistency where ever I cite a particular document.

Watch sessions 3 and 4 of the What Does SHE Say? Study Group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=VRvgeFQF6HE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWnpZMFP8DM
Done

FINALLY Get Organized! 21st-27th Feb Checklist

1. Add the names and compiled dates of birth, marriage and death for your 4 generations on your surname (if male) or maiden name (if female) in your genealogy management program
Done

2. If it takes more than one document to prove a point of fact about an ancestor's life, then attach the relevant documents
Mostly done

3. EXTRA CREDIT - Watch DearMYRTLE's The Written Conclusion Study Group (2015)
Done

Genealogy Go-Over Month 1, January 2016 - Done

 Work on organizing files, both digital and paper

As part of the Finally Getting Organised Challenge I have begun reorganizing both my paper and digital files.  My approach has changed from filing by document type to filing under surname by generation, and then by person. This approach has also helped to highlight what documents I might be missing.  To help keep track of everything I have started using an excel spreadsheet to record all the documents.  The excel spreadsheet was designed by one of the members of the Genealogy Do Over Facebook group, Charles Wheeler, and is based on a checklist of Australian Genealogical document sources.

Preparing to Research

I have found that trying to write up a creative non-fiction story about an ancestor it helps me to identify where I need to do more research. Using the excel spreadsheet I can identify what I might be missing and what I need to follow up on. All this helps to keep me focused.
For each element of my “story” I like to first transcribe the documents, if there are lots of documents I like to sort them into categories for that person so that extracting data will be easier. Once the I have both hard and soft copies of the documents filed and transcribed I am then ready to begin doing further research.