Planning, then & now

It is so different planning for a family history trip today, than it was even just 10 years ago!  I can take everything with me on my laptop and on a flash drive.  Previously, I would print out as much as I could and add those papers to all of my other files, in a file box.  You always took too much information with you, because it would be horrible if you were out of town and didn't have the information you needed!  Today, however, not only do I have my laptop and flash drive, when I get internet access, I can access the blog.  So, different!

Another difference is the preliminary planning.   Previously, that meant finding addresses for the courthouses, clerk's offices, cemeteries, museums, libraries, and historical societies and making hotel reservations.  With the internet not only can I find the addresses I need, but I can find the holdings and even access the card catalog of the places I am going!  I can MapQuest driving directions and plan my trip right down to the minutes and the miles!  Hotel reservations can be made without even picking up the phone!

This technology world in which we live is taking genealogical research to a whole new level.   Hopefully, all of this technology and access will allow me the opportunity to have more time to access and research the depositories with a better planned itinerary.

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