Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I discovered an index card today, written in someone else's hand, with notes of connections between relatives and relatives of relatives.  I have no idea who gave it to me or when.

I admit it; I'm a sloppy note taker and very disorganized.  

I also recently discovered a photo of my paternal grandfather that I've had for years.  I don't remember ever seeing it.  I didn't know I had it but I do remember other items in the envelop I found it in.  The photo is attached to my grandfather's enlistment card.

Over the years, many people have given or sent me notes, photographs, newspaper clippings.  I have boxes and files full of things.

Over the years, I've visited a lot of people who have spent time talking to me, giving me information about relatives and ancestors.  I've taken notes, returned home and looked at the notes weeks and months later and not been able to figure out what I'd written, or who I'd visited or when.

Sometimes, I'm able to piece together these things and fill in holes in family trees and take another step forward in the family history.  Sometimes, I have to put the note back into a file folder or envelop and hope I'll figure it out later.

I apologize globally to all who have contributed to the information I have on my families, for being so disorganized that I can't always remember who gave me what.

So, DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO.

Get yourself a plan together, a routine for research, for taking notes.

If nothing else, whenever you're working, visiting somebody, looking at some kind of record, use the basic journalistic practice of writing down:  Who, What, When Where.  Sometimes you need to record How and/or Why, as well.

Whether you use spiral notebooks, a 3-ring binder, loose note paper, when you begin, write down, on the top of the page:  Date, Place, Title of Resource, Name of Person Spoken to, etc.

As you take notes - write down the surname of individuals discussed.  Draw a miniature family tree chart.

Use separate pieces of paper for different surnames.

When you get home, look over the notes briefly to be sure you know what you've got, then file them in surname file folders.

This index card I've found has mostly given (first) names related to the writer's "Dad".  Since I don't know who gave the card to me, I don't know who the Dad was.  Fortunately, there are a few surnames given and some are familiar, although not directly related.

The next few blogs will be about a filing system, correspondence and genealogy etiquette.

I really would appreciate your comments.  I'm sure you have methods and practices that would be helpful to me.

Switching Software

I'm definitely a creature of habit and I like my routines and familiar tools.

But, every once in a while, something changes that you can't avoid and you have to make a change:  new dentist, new hair cutter, new software.

I've used PAF, Personal Ancestral File, the Mormon family history software, for decades.  I first acquired it because it was free and it proved to provide everything I need and it improved over time.  I did try another software for a very short time, for whatever reason.  It was inexpensive but had more of a learning curve than I wanted and it also linked my database to a well-known online genealogy site that I pay to use, and appreciate, but I don't have any interest in supplying them free data.  So I uninstalled it.

I used to have my own free family history web site with charts, photos and lots of information but encountered someone who appeared to want to exploit my data for personal profit and that same genealogy web site clearly data-mined my site and sent me emails wanting to sell me back data that, as far as I knew already, only I had.  So, I deleted all my online files and deleted that site membership.

I use a couple of online genealogy sites that allow you to upload your GEDCOM - genealogical database files - and control access to your own data.  My membership in one has lapsed to I don't have access to my own data now and updating the database is not easily done.  More on that later.

Most recently, I've been migrating my data files to my new laptop.  You can't migrate your software applications; you have to install them on your new system.  So, I visited the Mormon FamilySearch site to get the latest edition of PAF only to discover that it's no longer supported.  This has happened before and within a few years, PAF is downloadable at the Mormon site again.  Still, I can't wait, I have work to do.  The edition I have on my old laptop was downloaded, no discs.  The last edition I have on disc is way too old and is not compatible with Windows 8 which is the operating system I have now.  So, what to do?

FamilySearch, the Mormon genealogy site, with some effort in finding it, has a list of both free and commercial software available.  I went to the site of a couple of them but it was obvious, right away that Ancestral Quest is, more or less, a new edition of PAF, with with a few bells and whistles.

Ancestral Quest is very inexpensive, under $30, and easy to use.  I was very concerned about migrating my database file into the new software but it worked easily and, so far, foolproof - no errors. I'm happy with it so far and have already added quite a few records to my database through AQ, added a database to compile some work for a friend and printed out a substantial number of reports from mine and her databases.

I highly recommend Ancestral Quest as a basic genealogical software application, and beyond.

The Cost of Public Records

The cost of birth, death and marriage records has gotten completely out of hand.  Having working in public entities most of my adult life, and having attended town counsel and city department head meetings more times than necessary to my job function, I can tell you that these prices have nothing, whatsoever, to do with the actual costs of providing them.

When I began sending for birth, death and marriage records, for my family history research, decades ago, most of them were $8.00 and were actual photocopies of the document.  At some point, the State of New York doubled that fee and what I received was an "official" transcription.

So, here's the deal.  The records are all there.  In some places, they've been indexed, in others they have not.  Indexing would facilitate retrieving specific records.

Here's what the process might be (a fantasy):

I fill out a form requesting a document (a death certificate, for instance).  The law is that these documents are private and unavailable for 70-75 years.  

I mail the request form with the fee to the Town or County Clerk, or State Archives.

If I know the exact date of death and have so provided it on the form and, if the records at that office are indexed, how long do we imagine it would take to retrieve the document?  Many are in ledgers and may be in a storage facility in which case someone has to go to that facility which is, hopefully, organized, and bring the ledger or box back to the main office for photocopying or transcription.

If the document is in a ledger, it is probably not removable for easy photocopying.  It is also unlikely that the Clerk's office (except perhaps the State Archives) has a photocopier intended to easily photocopy large books.  Perhaps moving from photocopying to transcription was done to prevent damaging ledgers.

If, however, the certificate is in a box of like certificates, photocopying would be easy and would take all of less than 5 minutes.

So, imagine how long it takes to transcribe a death certificate.  Transcription would be facilitated if the office has recognized the frequency of such requests and has designed a transcription form including all possible information from past documents.  Or, at least, the most pertinent information:  full name, date and place of birth, date and place of death, age at death, place of residence before death, full name of spouse, full name of father and mother, date and place of interment, full name of person providing data.  Looking at my maternal grandmother's death certificate, with or without a form, I'm guessing it would take me about 20 minutes to transcribe what I most need from the certificate.

So far we have a request for a death certificate with exact date of death.  The record is in storage requiring someone to go to a storage facility to retrieve it.  

Time of clerk receiving request to find out where the record is (assuming indexing) - 10 minutes - (at $20 an hour) - $2.00

Time of someone to retrieve the box or ledger - half an hour - (at $15 an hour) - $7.50 - plus gas to get to storage - $3.00

Time to photocopy a loose document - 5 minutes - (at $20 an hour) - $1.00 - cost of photocopy - probably $.15 but give them $1.00.

Time to transcribe a bound document - 20 minutes (at $20 an hour) - $2.00 - cost of paper/ink - $.15

Since good family historians know to send a stamped, self-addressed envelope with their requests, there's no cost to mail it back and, since mail is picked up once or twice a day from most public offices, there's no cost in mailing the fulfilled request.

So, we have a cost of roughly $16.65.  Maybe.  And, yes, some Town Clerks are paid $20 per hour and they deserve it.  They have many legal and fiscal responsibilities for which they are held legally liable and they have to put up  with the public, meaning us, who do not always behave well.

However, even this cost is too high for those of us who gain nothing financially from our research, yet need these documents and pass them on to historical societies and/or family members.  There has to be a way to reduce the costs of these documents.  They are, after all, public documents, belonging to the public.

So, here are a few thoughts:

Vital records have to be organized, indexed, digitized, and put online.  ASAP.  They should also be microfilmed and housed, paper and film, in monitored, fire-controlled, temperature-controlled facilities.  The digitized copies have to be mirrored, best practice I would think would be, on local, county and state servers.

Microfilming and digitizing are not cheap.  They both require either specialized equipment and staff trained to use them or they require contracting with someone who has both.

However, I believe that with the efforts of local historical societies and local genealogists, family historians and volunteers, some of the work can be done effectively and cheaply and the information and documents made more widely available.

I will try to look into this more, both how the actual process of fulfilling document requests and what can be done to make these vital documents more available.  It's given me an idea.

Now I have to get to the supermarket.  Have a great day.