Random Ramblings

Me at Occoneechee Mtn, Hillsborough, NC, Jan 29, 2011

Hey ya'll ....

Yeah this is me actually composing a post on my genealogy blog but this probably won't be much about genealogy today. I wanted to make an appearance and give a few updates about what's been going on in my life ... First of all, let me say that I've been thoroughly enjoying reading all of my fellow geneapeeps' posts about last week's Rootstech Conference! I am totally bumming that I missed it, however I probably would have been sooo overwhelmed...in fact I'm overwhelmed now and I haven't even left Durham!

I also want to give kudos for my fellow geneapeeps for being soooo articulate. Have I told you how much I envy you? I started blogging so that I would learn to write better. And become more comfortable. I thought that blogging would be a good platform for me to use to increase the amount of writing I did. But I found myself falling into the same traps - being such a darned technical writer! And I keep getting hung up on looking for good or quality CONTENT!

I just keep doubting myself. But then I realize that frankly I just don't have the time to think. Forget actually putting those thoughts down on paper. And believe it or not, I've actually been in a genealogy slump! -- GASP!!!  a what? no seriously. A genealogy slump. I've been so ashamed. Well that's what happens when you are young and you let your personal life take over... but alas I'm getting back into the swing of things!

Of course...there is that one thing...it's called SCHOOL. Yes, I am still a graduate student and from the looks of it, I have approximately 2 more semesters left to go after this one. The second semester will be for writing my thesis paper. Ask me if I've even thought about what that will concern? And yes, I already took the class all about writing your thesis paper. I thought up and discarded a few topics already....

So I go to work and class and then I work some more to make up the hours I missed and then I have no time to blog or do genealogy. When I started school I didn't have much work to do at work. Now I've been slammed for the past year or two. I juggle with the idea of quitting and living off of financial aid every day. It's like a roller coaster.

So what's in my future? I still want to get a Master's in a Public History program, although don't get me wrong, I'm loving the library school thing. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I'm not in school or working as a scientist in the lab, I'm working as a library intern at a very busy public library in N. Raleigh on the weekends and during the week. I love it! Oh yeah back to this whole Public History thing. If I don't get into the local program (they've already rejected me once), then I might apply to another program further away which would definitely require me to quit my job and **gasp** move? um how would I pay my mortgage? and pay for another place to live? financial aid will only go so far...So lots on my mind these days.

But I'm happy to be sharing this experience with you all...oh and don't worry, as you can see from the picture above, I do get out of the house sometimes!

Genealogy Goals for January 2011

So I didn't get as much done over the Christmas break as I had hoped. But I did start a couple of things that I hope to finish in January. I thought I would share them here:

1) To scan all of the genealogy documents that my cousin Richard sent me on the Binns and Brooks sides of my family and enter the information into my genealogy database

2) To enter all of the Binns, Anthony, and Pye names references from the Wilkes County Georgia books I copied from the Library into my excel spreadsheet. Determine the major Binns family lines in Wilkes Co. GA

3) To read Christine Rose's Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures book

4) Get back to working with some cousins on James Godwin Sr and Jr (not necessarily father and son) of North Carolina, including putting all relevant documents online on the Wiki site

5) Continue evaluating some Family Finder DNA test results of some Godwin relatives

Here's a toast to typing up loose ends!

Photo courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt 

A Day in My Dream Life

Amber Starfire offered the following writing prompt today on her Women's Memoirs Blog: If you’re not feeling motivated to write, ask yourself, “What would my life be like if I was living the life of my dreams?” and write a description of a typical day. Then, write about one small step you can take toward living that life.

First of all I just want to come right out and say that I would love to be a Professional Genealogist in my dream life. And since I'm such a well-rounded individual who likes to partake in several activities at once, I would throw in writing and speaking into the mix (also I'm sure it might provide additional income as well). 

I envision myself as having my own little niche inside North Carolina records specializing in historical documents that can be researched at the North Carolina State Archives.  I also envision myself as having acute historical knowledge of the State and various cultural events including the people, places, school, and geography.  

I would be well-organized (ha ha only in our dreams right!) and have each week planned out. I would work on research and reports for a minimum of two clients a week.  I would write for historical and genealogy journals, attend conferences, and book speaking engagements. 

I would keep up with technology and of course all of my genealogy cyber friends. I would assist, foster, and mentor new genealogy recruits and I would keep a daily log of how much time was spent on each process much like Randy Seaver does on his Geneaholic Blog. 

On a personal note, I would hope that I have a loving and supportive partner that I would have some free time to spend with.  Maybe make their lunches for them, or coffee in the mornings.  Or a brief visit or surprise lunch date would be nice. Oh yeah and of course I would drag them to my conferences as well, so they would have to be a good travel companion. 

What do you think? Am I on the right track or is it "Just a Dream?"

Photo by John Norton, lowjumpingfrog's photostream

Inventory of Beginner Genealogy Books at Wake County Libraries that Circulate

I’ve been interning for several weeks at a fairly big Wake County library in Raleigh and I was pretty surprised to see that their genealogy collection was pretty non-existent.

I think the only genealogy-related book I was actually able to put my hands on was the Genealogy for Dummies book.

I wanted to do a book display at the library on genealogy to celebrate Family History Month back in October. However, in order to do so, I would have to request genealogy books from other libraries because as I mentioned above, my library just didn’t have any.

When I started searching for genealogy books I kept running into the same roadblock – all the good ones were locked up tight at the Olivia Rainey History Library. Well, not really, this just means that they do not circulate, which would not be a good fit for my book display as the point of it was to get people to take the books home with them and read them!

I did an inventory of some of the basic genealogy books held throughout the 20 or so libraries in the Wake County system.  I ended up with a random collection of 13 books that are available to check out from these libraries along with 13 books that are only available at the History Library (that do not circulate).

Organizing your family history search : efficient & effective ways to gather and protect your genealogical research / Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. 1999 12 copies, 1 DNC at ORL	American genealogical research at the DAR, Washington, D.C. / by Eric G. Grundset and Steven B. Rhodes. 1997 DNC at ORL
Unpuzzling your past : a basic guide to genealogy / by Emily Anne Croom. 1995 5 copies, 1 DNC at ORL	Going to Salt Lake City to do family history research / J. Carlyle Parker. 1996 DNC at ORL
Uncovering your ancestry through family photographs / Maureen A. Taylor. 2000 2 copies, 1 DNC at ORL	Courthouse research for family historians : your guide to genealogical treasures / by Christine Rose. 2004 DNC at ORL
North Carolina research, genealogy and local history / edited by Helen F. M. Leary and Maurice R. Stirewalt. 1980 (older edition) 2 copies, 1 can circulate	Professional genealogy : a manual for researchers, writers, editors, lecturers, and librarians / editor, Elizabeth Shown Mills ; editorial board, Donn Devine, James L. Hansen, Helen F.M. Leary. 2001 DNC at ORL
Crafting your own heritage album / by Bev Braun. 2000 Several copies available	North Carolina Research : Genealogy and Local History / Helen F. M. Leary, C.G., F.A.S.G., editor. 1996 5 copies, none circulate
The researcher's guide to American genealogy / Val D. Greenwood. 2000 Several copies available	Land & property research in the United States / by E. Wade Hone.1997 DNC at ORL
Genealogy 101 : how to trace your family's history and heritage / Barbara Renick. 2003 Several copies available	Ancestry's guide to research : case studies in American genealogy / by Johni Cerny & Arlene Eakle.1985 DNC at ORL
Genealogy for the first time : research your family history / Laura Best. 2003 Several copies available	The Source : a guidebook of American genealogy / edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny. 1984. 1997. 2006 DNC at ORL; DNC at other Libraries too
The family tree guide book : everything you need to know to trace your genealogy across North America / the editors of Family Tree Magazine. 2003 Several copies available	The handybook for genealogists : United States of America.2006 DNC at ORL
The everything family tree book : research and preserve your family history / Kimberly Powell. 2006 Several copies available	Red Book 2004 DNC at ORL
A genealogist's guide to discovering your female ancestors / Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. 1998 2 copies, one at ORL, one that circs	Ancestors : a beginner's guide to family history and genealogy / by Jim and Terry Willard with Jane Wilson. 1997 DNC at ORL
The complete idiot's guide to genealogy / by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls. 2005 Several copies available	A genealogist's guide to discovering your immigrant & ethnic ancestors : how to find and record your unique heritage / Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. 2000 DNC at ORL
The weekend genealogist : timesaving techniques for effective research / Marcia Yannizze Melnyk. Several copies available	Evidence explained : citing history sources from artifacts to cyberspace / Elizabeth Shown Mills. 2007 DNC at ORL

So from the look of this list, maybe we are not so bad off after all? I was thinking that because we had a dedicated History Library that the genealogy selection for the mainstream libraries which could circulate was reduced; However, it does seem like the beginner genealogist wouldn’t have to go very far to get their hands on some good quality books, albeit they might have to do some finagling to get them sent to their local library.

Transitioning from beginner to intermediate genealogist might present more of a problem, however.  Books like The Source, The Red Book,  and The Handybook are only available at the History Library. And any kind of specific type of research book covering records at the DAR library, cemetery research, immigrant research, land and property, court house, or North Carolina research is also only available at the History Library.

I was glad to see that Carmack’s Organizing your Family History Search, Greenwood’s The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, and Rising’s Family Tree Problem Solver were available for circulation through a couple of local libraries. Next time I will inventory the Durham Public Libraries’ genealogy collections. Durham County does not have a dedicated History Library, although they do have an “NC Collection Room” where they keep all of their non-circulating genealogy books.

How about your local library? Does it have any genealogy books that are available to be checked out? If not, are there other public libraries in your area from which you can request genealogy books be sent?

Family History Expo

 This weekend I attended my first genealogy conference. This 2-day Family History Expo conference was held at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA, just outside of Atlanta. Here are a few pictures I took:

Driving into the Gwinnett Center

Walking into the Gwinnett Center

Getting on escalator headed to registration

On the first day I met up with the other bloggers at the Beacon of Bloggers Table. I think it's great that the bloggers have been so well represented at conferences now! I met Amy Coffin of We Tree, Linda McCauley of Documenting the Details, Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers, Drusilla Pair of Find Your Folks, Valerie of Begin with Craft', Tonia of Tonia's Roots, Angela Walton-Raji of My Ancestor's Name, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist, and of course DearMyrtle of DearMyrtle.com.

Day 1, I attended 5 classes:

1. Finding Your Female Ancestors by Lisa Alzo - I learned that most records were created by and for men and that it is difficult to track women because their surnames changed when they married. Lisa offered suggestions including to take inventory of the keepsakes we have and to ask everyone we know about them (including photos); and to let everyone know that you are doing the family genealogy so they won't throw those records and heirlooms away. She highlighted the importance of the Social Security SS5 application which can be obtained for $27 and one thing I did not know was that a person can have an SS5 but not be in the death index. Oh yeah, and make a timeline and include World, National, Local, and Personal events!
2. Traditional DNA Testing by Elise Friedman - I attended this seminar to learn more about ftDNA's Family Finder test which looks very promising for people who want to connect to cousins and expand their genealogy research base. There have already been a few genealogy success stories since its release in August. 
3. Want Land Will Travel - Southern Land Records State by State by Arlene Eakles of the Genealogy Institute - Arlene reminded us to look at the rent rolls of MD, military bounty lands in TN, bounty land records in KY (for service in VA) for stockade or fort building, Marriage bonds and Pauline McCubbins index cards in NC, survey records in VA; Also note boundary line changes: DE was a county of PA and the Northern Neck of VA was part of Lord Fairfax's estate. 
4. Birth, Marriage, and Deaths in the South by Arlene Eakles - this wasn't too informative for me, but I'm looking forward to seeing the handouts Arlene will be sending in the mail. She talked a lot about how to read indexes. Look for the Bible Records of the Southern States Volumes 1-7 by Memory Lester and don't forget to look through your periodicals!
5. Citing your Sources - this was supposed to be done by Christine Scarborough, but Arlene taught this one again and by this point I was pretty tapped out with Arlene. However I did take home a reminder to record where you looked for stuff, what you found and what you didn't find so the next person can start where you left off (or you can tell Arlene yes or no when she asks you if you looked here or not)

Day 2:

1. Family History Books: Editing, Design & Publishing by Nancy and Biff Barnes - Collecting stories for a family history book is a lot of work for one person to do, so enlist the help of family members. Give them tasks and then plan a family reunion so you can collect all their stories at the same time without having to travel individually to them. Write either topically or chronologically. Watch out for publishers who can collect monetarily from your book and who can also decide to stop printing of your book. If someone gives you an ISBN number, they are a publisher! 
2. RootsMagic: Sharing and Publishing Your Family Tree - I was hoping to learn something new from this class because I'm a fairly new user to this software, but it was for beginners who had never opened the software before. I did get to see what the shareable CD would look like though - that looked kind of cool!
3. Juicy Family History: 25 Ways to Write Compelling True Stories by M. Bridget Cook - By far my favorite speaker and presentation. I so wish I had attended her dinner last night and received a copy of her book! Very good ideas about how to capture the true life stories of our family members which can also be applied to ourselves. I can attest that this works because I've been enlisting some of these ideas with interviewing my Grandmother and I've learned a lot!
4. The DAR Library for All: Near or Far, Member or Not by Jennifer Dondero - This class was a great session about their website and visiting the Library in D.C. The website is difficult to maneuver so this class was a must!
5. Researching the Common Surname by Deborah Campisano - She gave a lot of great ideas, however I've already been using these records in my research.

With the exception of the writing classes, much of the research methods and records searching information was not new to me which was what I was afraid of.  This was a good experience overall though because I finally got to see exactly what a conference like this entails and it was very cool to be able to talk about GENEALOGY (and some about technology) for two whole days!!!! I would definitely do it again but maybe do these things differently: 

• Bring more snacks
• Choose my classes BEFORE I get there and print out syllabus for those classes
• Take more pictures
• Bring a friend (although I was able to find a couple of buddies to traipse around with :-)

Did you attend the conference? What were your thoughts? 

What I do When I'm not Doing Genealogy...

The Presence of the Past by Roy Rosenzweig

Wow. This book gave very good insight into how Americans viewed the concept of "History" and the Past. I was not surprised to learn as a genealogist that most Americans valued the beliefs and oral history of family members over books, TV, and "experts," especially around National events. They believed family members who had "been there" and "seen firsthand" what happened during these events were the most credible sources. This is a recurring theme in the genealogy world.

A very surprising theme, however, was that most Americans believed that the History they learned in school was rubbish and a waste of time. HOWEVER, today they believe it is IMPERATIVE that their child go through the same process in school today and they propose no changes to the curriculum.

Motivation Monday

Just a quick blog post to say no, I haven't been hiding.  I've been reading reading and more reading for class class and more class.  I got a little bit stressed out last week, but I nipped it in the butt when I knocked out a bunch of reading on Friday night and I was able to pop in on Miriam's Scanfest on Sunday!

RootsMagic....

I've been fighting with RootsMagic4. It's not as nice as everyone made it out to be. At least not for me. When I imported it from Family Tree Maker 2009, all of the sources disconnect from the person's names. A nice person from the RootsMagic user group mailing list took my database and put it back together again and reattached the sources.  Of course now I can't run my narrative reports because the footnotes that are created from all of the sources that are attached to each name is crashing the software. Sigh. Strike 2. However, I am liking the correspondence and repository list and reporting system that RM4 has to offer. Has this been implemented in Family Tree Maker yet?

Godwin DNA Project....

I joined the Goodwin/Godwin family Surname DNA project as a co-coordinator last month and am slowly getting my feet wet and working my way around the reporting system.  We have a LOT of DNA participants. I am trying to get everyone in order and pedigrees posted and arranged before I start another big recruiting process. Last year I recruited 4 or 5 people and that was enough to send me into shock with trying to analyze and compare paper trails and results and figure out mutations and all that jazz. I juggled with the idea of attending the ftDNA conference in Houston at the end of October, however registration has already closed. It would have been an expensive trip anyways. Instead, I decided to go to the Family History Expo in Atlanta in November.

Genealogical Society...

I'm still pulling teeth with my local genealogical society. They have agreed to let me put up a facebook page, however I have not had time to do so.  We have secured Colleen Fitzpatrick as a speaker at next month's meeting. I'm really looking forward to hearing her speak and meeting her! I'm debating whether or not to run for office. They really have a lot of stuff to do to get back into the swing of things, although I'm still proud of what they have been able to accomplish so far this year.

Blogging...

I haven't blogged much at all. I've got the blogger blues because it seems like no matter what I do - participate in memes, comment on other people's blogs, and follow their blogs, I still feel like no one is reading my blog posts. Although I am at least getting a couple of comments a week, which is great. Finally. I couldn't even get that before! It's not an egotistical thing going on, I assure you. Sometimes I simply like to have input. Sometimes I wonder if the information I'm posting is completely wrong. Like the DNA stuff. I discuss it with experts beforehand, but I still lack confidence that what I'm posting is 100% true. It's nice to have others to bounce ideas off of. Oh well, I'll get off my soapbox now. I'm gonna go back to blogging for me now.  So I'm in this Public History class - by the way - it reminds me that Public History is what I really want to be studying - and not necessarily Library studies, although LS can certainly be a key aspect of the field.... Anyways, my Professor secured a grant to build this interactive website, a kind of blog, in which there is text and clickable links and photos and videos and oral histories and such, that is linked to other university archives. I am very excited to be working on this project because it is what I like to do with my own blog. I have toyed with the idea of learning flash and learning how to jazz up my blog a bit. I was surprised, however, that out of the 30 or so undergraduate and graduate students in my class, only one person blogged and used Twitter, besides the Teacher and that person was me! I couldn't believe it! So it looks like I will get to stand out somehow after all at least in my class as a person who already knows how to blog!

Ok, well speaking of class, I need to get back to it. Thanks for reading.