A recent article in Family Tree Magazine encouraged me to be serious about some things that have been on my mind. I always say I'm not doing the resolution thing this year, but these resolutions are a little different. Hopefully they will help me to do a better job on my family research.
1- Research regularly. I often find that my effort is spotty. I'll go great guns on my research, then my other life gets in the way. Weeks or months have passed and I haven't done anything. Even worse, I forget what I was doing and where I ended. I spend too much time getting back on track.
2- Cite your sources. Initially this didn't seem to be all that important, this was just a hobby for my own enjoyment, right? Now that it is a more serious business to me I find myself going back and trying to document. That job would have been much easier had I done it along the way, not to mention much less embarrassing when I have to contact people who've shared information with me.
3- Organize. Need I say more? Pictures, records, letters, on and on... Not to mention the back ups I should do on my documents, pictures, family group sheets, and pedigrees. It would be terrible to lose all those.
4- Continue to learn. I don't know near enough about so many things. How do I use my DNA match information to further my research? What other resources are available to me in my specific areas of research? Do I know enough about the locations and events that were part of my ancestors lives? Have I learned enough from elderly relatives about their lives? The questions are endless.
This list could continue, but in the way of all resolutions, the more there are, the less chance I'll be successful with any of them. Hopefully, this will spark some goals for you as well in the coming 2017.
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