Monday, January 2, 2012

My Genealogy Goals for 2012



My class load this year will really start to wind down, so I will need to start to focus more and have some goals if I'm going to get any major genealogy research done. So I have set quite a few goals for myself for the upcoming year based on what I've been thinking about these past few weeks and hoping that I could start working on one of these days. I have organized my goals in to categories to hopefully help me keep even more focus. One thing I do not have on this list is a goal towards increasing my genealogy expertise. I think this will occur naturally and can be incorporated once I get a feel for how the ebb and flow of my life will start to take shape. So without further ado, here is my list:

Think outside the box:
  1. Extend my research to University collections, for example, the Thomas Hume papers at UNC (and evaluate Mildred Holladay's papers from UVA which Lori ordered)
  2. Search for brick walls on Google and in Google Books - maybe do one surname per week
  3. Search for brick walls in newspaper archives online
Organization:
  1. Organize my paper files and file cabinet
  2. Scan, transcribe, abstract, and analyze all of the documents I have retrieved in the past 7 years of research (they are in a pile), file them in respective family folder(s); add the relevant information to my genealogy database and submit transcripts to respective USGenWeb sites
DNA:
  1. Connect with 5 more Family Finder matches - I connected with 5 from July to Dec of 2011, so this shouldn't be a problem
  2. Sort through my Family Finder matches by maternal and paternal - my mother took the test in Dec so this should help me sort through them
  3. Work more closely with existing Family Finder matches from July-Dec to exchange historical data and recent data; my goal is not just establish a connection then never speak to them again, but to build a relationship with them; ask them for photos, documents, etc...share, share, share!
  4. Try to connect some American Godwins to English or Irish Godwins via Y-DNA
  5. Update my Goodwin-Godwin Y-DNA surname project website with goals, success stories and summaries of existing lines
Brick Wall Research:
  1. Find the parents of Jess Dunlap from Stokes County, North Carolina
  2. Find the parents of William Peters, b. 1873 in Thomasville, Missouri
  3. Find the parents of James Silas Barton from South Carolina
Research:
  1. Do research on my O'Neal family from North Carolina - other researchers, including my grandfather, have a pedigree already drafted which I can use as a guide to find the documents
  2. Use more research reports to tract resources searched and analyzed
  3. Use  more matrix reports to better display disparaging or corroborating information
  4. Build on my collateral lines to help me collaborate with my Family Finder matches in order to see where different branches of each family migrated to (ex. the Cox family)
  5. Add the South Carolina wills and probate records on FamilySearch.org to my Cox, McCoy, Cheek, (my SC) family files
  6. Work on my Steed and Lewis families of North Carolina. I have lots of documents. I need to scan, transcribe, abstract, and analyze them and add to my genealogy database 
  7. Obtain copies of the deeds mentioned in Ann Jobe Brown's genealogy files to validate parentage from Ephraim Thomas and his migration
  8. Start building a genealogy profile for the parents of James Franklin Lasiter: John Riley Laister and Emily Jones (per his death certificate, obtained July 2011)
Blogging:
  1. Write more blog posts
  2. Write about my Family Finder DNA experience
  3. Make my blog look more snazzier
  4. Turn my header into an image so that I can post a blog link to Facebook and Google+ and the "description" will be of the blog post and not of the blog itself
Graduate School:
  1. Graduate in 2012...but in order to do that, I have to complete a few more things...
  2. Take 1 more class this spring
  3. Write a Master's Paper
  4. Take Comprehensive Exams
  5. Test out of 1 class
  6. Do a Field Experience (Internship)
Addition - I would like to add the creation of Annotated Bibliographies for the geographic locations of my Brick Walls to my list. 

13 comments:

  1. Good luck! You will undoubtedly succeed ;)

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  2. Thank you Lucie! I will give it a good try that's for sure!

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  3. Thank you Linda, I'm waiting eagerly to hear all about your trip to SLC and to see if your tablet holds its own!

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  4. So impressed, so organized. I'll be watching the Godwin reports. Good luck! You Go!

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  5. Thanks for the support Carol! I will keep you up to date on the Godwin info. I'm excited about it!

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  6. Wow - you have got a lot on your plate! Best of luck and I look forward to reading about your DNA experience.

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  7. Tessa, thank you for stopping by. I just checked out your blog for the first time and enjoyed reading about your Jan 2012 goals as well. I wish you all the luck and I look forward to hearing more about them!

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  8. Ginger, your image gave me a good laugh. I just wrote a post yesterday in which I stated that I was not going to set goals this year but, instead, make a to do list. Let's hope my list continues after the first week of the year!

    You have quite a plateful of goals for 2012. I wish you all the best in accomplishing them all.

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  9. I am in awe of your goals, but I know you'll do very well with them. Happy 2012!

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  10. Ginger, LOVED the comic. So true, but I know you'll do great with your goals. Very impressive and I have no doubt that you can tackle them!

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  11. Sounds like you'll have a busy and productive year, Ginger! I like your "Think outside the box" category. Best wishes for success!

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  12. Thank you everyone for your support. Nancy and Cherie, I'm not sure where the comic originated from. It was posted on so many blogs and webpages that I could not find the original source. I'm sure it was from the newspaper somewhere. But it seemed fitting. I'm glad you liked it!

    Amy, happy 2012 to you too!!!

    Shelley, thank you for the best wishes! We'll see how it goes and good luck on your goals as well!

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