Inspiration

Sunset

The Good: Yesterday was totally awesome yet tiring. Much of my day was spent on genealogy, mainly on the ancestry.com website. I've subscribed there for quite some time as it does end up saving me a lot of travel time and leg work. Still seeing the actual records are very important for what I'm doing and ancestry.com doesn't cover everything. I wasn't able to break through the brick wall but I think I was able to knock a few holes in it. With what I found yesterday, leg work will be needed so a genealogy fact finding trip needs to be scheduled. Several important images were downloaded so that was a real bonus.

As with any research, there are certain protocols to follow in genealogy regarding sources and collection of information. I admit to being a stickler about details so have lots of tid bits about my ancestors' lives. I have several strict rules for my genealogy research as I have put considerable time and money into endeavor. I insist on paper copies for all records including family group sheets, photographs, documents, digital images and etc. All paper copies are organized into main lines of research. All paper copies are protected in page protecters then stored in the appropriate binder as I get the pages. All digital images are stored in three locations along with a total back-up of all my records. All digital images are printed. Finally my research database is backed-up each time I use the software. One copy is kept in a safety deposit box.

On the subject of genealogy, a digital camera is almost a must but if you've read my other blogs you will know how important a digital camera is to me. It is always with me in the garden. Digital images help me identify friends, foes, weeds and so much more. In cooking the camera simply captures food porn. I heard that term and for some reason it has stuck. I'm still trying to perfect getting good images of food. Now, in genealogy a digital camera will save countless dollars and for anyone who has not done genealogy before, it is an expensive obsession. A lot of money is spent on traveling, photocopies, and subscriptions. Some libraries will charge as much as a dollar a copy from microfilm. With each document being several pages this can really add up but with a digital camera set correctly you can get a very good image without the cost.