New Year’s Resolutions for Genealogists: Top 10 Goals for 2014

Introduction: In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak suggests 10 New Year’s resolutions that genealogists everywhere might want to consider for 2014. Mary is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background.

Over the years, I’ve read and written many articles about genealogical resolutions. This year, I am dedicating my 10 resolutions for 2014 to my mother Meg Stevens (1928-2013) who, through her dedication to genealogy, added over 30,000 memorials to findagrave.com—a true random act of genealogical kindness (RAOGK).

On New Year’s Eve day she received a posthumous “thank you” from a grateful researcher, who was delighted that Mom had discovered the maiden name of her ancestor, Phoebe (Winslow) Armstrong. Thanks Mom! Great work, and I miss you!

Here are my top 10 New Year’s resolutions for genealogists this 2014.

1) Do a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK).

Hopefully, my mother’s example will inspire you to join in the RAOGK movement. It truly makes a difference to genealogical research. You can do this on your own, or join a Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness group, such as this one at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/raogkUSA/).

Here are some ideas to get you started doing genealogical good deeds!

• Do you like to look up genealogical records? —Then answer someone’s query or add a memorial to an online site.
• Do you like to type? —Then index a record.
• Do you like photography? —Then visit a cemetery and post a photo online that shows the text of a fading headstone.
• Are you a photo software guru? —Then touch up someone’s creased, crinkly or faded ancestral image.
• Do you like to listen? —Then interview and video a veteran or a treasured family member!

2) Archive and protect family treasures!

Many heirlooms are improperly handled. To help prevent this, proper labeling and storage should be considered. In particular, be aware that acid can be transferred from boxes, envelopes and even your hands to your treasured family keepsakes.

• Purchase acid-free materials for storage & labeling.
• Be careful about how and where you label a photo (avoid writing on the back of the photo behind a person’s face).
• Use gloves for proper handling of ephemera, photographs, textiles and heirlooms.
• Weatherproof rooms where items are stored.
• Minimize exposure to light, drafts and uneven temperatures.

3) Make backups of all electronic genealogical data.

When disaster strikes, all of your family history data can disappear in an instant—but if you have a digital backup, all is not lost!

• Create a backup schedule and abide by it throughout the year.
• Send your genealogy data offsite and give it to others for safekeeping.
• Online trees preserve your ability to restore your family history, should your computer crash.

Genealogy Tip:

Read another of our blog posts to get even more tips about preserving genealogy records.

4) Address your genealogy in your will.

Another thing my mother did before she passed was to transfer her publishing rights to me. What a great gift (and honor). We did this via a written agreement, but another good idea is to address the disposition of your life-long family history research in your will. Here are some ideas to ensure your family history is preserved as you would like.

• Leave the rights to your genealogical research to specific people in your will, and name your 2nd or 3rd choice in case the original inheritor is tempted to discard anything. Consider naming libraries and historical or genealogical societies in your hometown, as well as where your ancestors resided.
• Leave notes in books and files as to how you want them preserved.
• Leave the price tags of expensive resources you purchased in the books themselves.

5) Publish your genealogy, lest you perish before anything looks official.

If genealogy has become your lifelong passion, then pass it on to the next generation by consolidating your family history research into a nicely bound family history book. This is extremely important, as overwhelming hodgepodges of notes that don’t look official are more likely to be discarded than bound books!

Use a service within your genealogy software, a commercial printer, or publisher to create your family history book. Many office supply stores can add a hard or soft cover to your research. Also, consider a self-publishing service such as Createspace.com or lulu.com.

During her lifetime my mother wrote several books on her direct family, another one for my step-father’s family, and completed two annotated census records for Union County, Indiana. (I’ve already republished one, and hope to complete the others in the upcoming years.)

6) Be kind to others.

If someone took the time to share a genealogical discovery, be grateful, even if they’ve made a typo or error in fact. Too often in the genealogical community we encounter slammers and complainers, who undoubtedly make many mistakes of their own!

So please resolve to suggest genealogical corrections gently and in a positive manner. If you have come to a completely different genealogical conclusion than another researcher, follow resolution #5—publish your own version based upon the evidence. Eventually other genealogists will find it, and appreciate your efforts.

Remember this rule of thumb: even if you are 99% accurate, then you will make a typo or mistake

• every 100 characters typed
• as much as 14.4 minutes of a 24-hour day, or
• as much as 9.6 minutes of 16 “awake” hours each day

7) Be a genealogy sharer, not a hoarder.

When Mom transferred her copyrights to me, she had one caveat: don’t keep her family history research tucked away in a closet or hoarded on a computer. “I want people to be able to find my genealogy,” she told me on more than one occasion.

And she followed her own advice. Having the only copy of an 18th century family Bible, she published it in a journal—and I later shared it online. See the copy at fishergenes.com (the handwriting on the transcription page is my mother’s): http://www.fishergenes.com/showmedia.php?mediaID=99&medialinkID=105

8) Head out to your homesteads and homelands!

There is no greater feeling than walking in the steps of an ancestor—and who knows, you might find that more than a trace of their existence still exists. Several years ago, my mother and I took a trip together to East Jersey Olde Towne and discovered that one of our ancestral homes is still there!

This photo shows the Jeremiah Dunn home (built c. 1750) to the left of the Church of the Three Mile Run and the Vanderveer House.

Follow these links to see other views of my ancestor’s house.

Library of Congress Survey of the Jeremiah Dunn House, Stelton Road, Middlesex County, NJ

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.nj0587.sheet.00005a/

Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission East Jersey Olde Towne Village

http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/culturalheritage/village2.asp

Custom Photography of Historical Sites and Events (lincolnbittner.com)

http://www.lincolnbittner.com/dunn_house.html

9) Give credit where credit is due—not just to authors, but to anyone who assists you via e-mail, mail or in person.

Unless you’ve never looked up something in a book or family tree, it’s impossible for your genealogy research to not be based upon the research or efforts of others (authors, librarians, online contributors, e-mail buddies, cousins and even anonymous finds).

So how do you thank them? Try this approach: cite sources as best you can, and use those powerful words of gratitude such as “Thank you” and “I appreciate your help!”

10) This one’s for you to complete—so please share it with us in the comments!

My top genealogy resolution for 2014 is to: ___________________________________________.

Thank you everyone for sharing your genealogical successes and supporting this blog in 2013.

And remember my favorite saying: “Genealogy isn’t just a pastime; it’s a passion!”