Roberts Roots & Branches

The discussion continues regarding the use and need for a personal software program verses an online tree or pedigree chart.   I for one vote not only yes--- but definitely YES! Maintaining a personal software program allows the user to have control over what information is “freely” made available.   This is not only for living individuals, but also for current and on-going research as it develops and until it is well documented and proven.   It is through the documentation and sourcing process that facts are either proven or disproven.   If the tentative information is entered into a public tree, and it is later disproven, you cannot contact everyone who now has used that information in their research—because you don’t know who has the flawed information.   Once the information is given out, you cannot logically request it back. Family history research is not a one way street—it goes both directions backward (ancestors) and forward (descen...

Tagging is naming your photos that describe the photograph.   David Peterson suggests: A tag can be any (or all) of the following. ·      the location the photo was shot ·      names of the people or things in the photo (as separate tags) ·      what they were doing (ie water-skiing) ·      prominent landmarks in the image ·      the month and year the shot was taken ·      any significant event (21st Birthday, or European holiday) At the very least add a who, where and when for each of my photos.(1) Michelle Nahom suggests: Make sure your date and time stamp is set properly on your camera Choose a software or filing system Put a system in place Get ready to delete Have multiple backup systems (2) Links that may help you: Chastain, Sue, “What is Tagging?”, online accessed, 8/5/2014, http://graphicssoft.a...

O-h, no, what a mess! R-eally, how did it get this bad? G-rab a stack of papers and let’s get busy! A-lright one stack at a time. . . N-ow, right now, get it done! I think I can, I think I can. . . Z-ero effort equals zero results! A-m I ready? T-ime, just a little here and a little there. . . I-nventory of what I have O-verall, I’ll be so glad it’s done. N-ow, that I’s done, on to research!

In a family history class I attended at BYU, the discussion was about saving documents and sources verses printing them out.   The instructor, I apologize I cannot remember his name, asked what is the oldest surviving document we have today and what was it written on?    What media has the greatest capability of survival?    What form of medium will be around in 10 or 15 years?   Will there be computers and computer programs to access what we save today in digital format?   Will the digital format survive environmental conditions so that if we can access them, they will be in decent condition?     I can answer no to some of the above questions; as I have saved documents and just a few years later I am unable to read the or access the documents.   Specifically, I spent many hours transcribing my father’s mission letters.   There were two years of letters he wrote to his mother that I saved on my computer. Several y...

Re-posted from 26 October 2015 One of the most important tools for a researcher is organization.   Your future searches and your success depend upon how you file your papers, how you sort your sources and where you put the collected data; both digital and paper. What good is an original source if you cannot examine it as needed?   What good is a document if you cannot locate it when you need it?   What good is a copy of anything if you cannot find it when you need it?   There are many ways to organize what you have researched and there are many ways to organize your future research.   The best organizational tool is the one that works for you! I hate to file; I would rather research.   However, I must file, so for me, filing documents numerically has worked best. I use that same numerical number for my paper files and for my digital files.   I also feel compelled to cite my sources extensively; so I keep an index of my sources and ...