Mocavo Summer Genealogy Research Guide 2015

1MOCAVO SUMMER GENEALOGY RESEARCH GUIDECopyright © 2015

MOCAVO SUMMER GENEALOGYRESEARCH GUIDE


As summer arrives, we enter one of the big times for genealogy travel. Genealogists love to plan their vacations around genealogy trips. And there are so many options. Visiting locations where your an-cestors used to live, stopping in cemeteries, libraries, archives, and courthouses to do research. And, of course, there is always the granddaddy of all research trips: a visit to Salt Lake City, where you can re-search locations around the planet in one fell swoop. Although traveling can be the highlight of the year, sometimes it can get a bit stressful. With the help of Chief Genealogist Michael J. Leclerc, we created this guide to ensure you are prepared to have a successful and fun research trip this summer.

Going on a research trip this summer? Let us help you plan for success and fun!

Necessary Reading

Necessary Reading

Can’t get away this summer? No problem, there are many ways you can still “travel” from the comfort of your home.

• Four Essential Items to Pack in your Suitcase• Five Steps to Creating a Foolproof Research Plan• Four Important Travel Tips to Remember

Work schedules, family obligations, and economic issues can often interfere with our ability to travel great distances. But the good news is there are still many ways we can “take a research trip” without leaving the comfort of our homes. Check out the following articles to discover how you can still take a genealogy research “trip” of your own this summer.

• Three Tips for an Alternative to Genealogy Summer Travel• Three Ways to Access Family History Library Materials Remotely• TED Talks: Help for Genealogists


NECESSARY READING FOR YOURSUMMER RESEARCH TRIP

Four Essential Items to Pack in your SuitcaseFive Steps to Creating a Foolproof Research Plan

Four Important Travel Tips to Remember


Genealogical research trips can be fun and exciting or nerve wrack-ing and excruciating. The key is in preparation and planning. The more prepared you are, the better your chances for a successful trip.

Blank charts and forms are very useful when you’re at a re-search repository. Blank family group sheets can easily be filled in with information as you find it, showing what information is missing. Pedigree charts quickly fill in with more generations. It is much easier to carry pieces of paper into the stacks to look at books, computers, etc. than trying to carry a laptop all over the building.

Baggage and weight limits on planes are getting more and more strict. When travelling, toss an extra bag into your luggage. When you arrive, you can use it as an extra book bag, to carry papers, books, and other research materials that don’t fit into your primary bag. At the end of the trip, you can use it as a second carry-on to hold valuable photocopies, books, and other items you picked up on your trip.

1. Blank Charts and Forms

2. Pack an Extra Bag

FOUR ESSENTIAL ITEMS TO PACK IN YOUR SUITCASE


You would be surprised what a difference your clothing can make in the success of your trip. Dress comfortably, but neatly. One needn’t wear a formal ball gown or black-tie. But even neat jeans and a professional casual shirt make a much better impres-sion on the people who work at repositories than ripped jeans and faded sweatshirts. And dress in layers. One never knows what the temperature will be in a repository. The more layers you have on, the more you can take off to keep yourself appro-priately comfortable, no matter how cool or warm the physical environment at the repository.

4. Clothing

• File folders (to organize photocopies and other papers)• Multiple sets of rechargeable batteries (for camera, scanner,

etc.; multiple sets allow you to use one while another is re-charging)

• Pencils (because pens are barred from many repositories)• Erasers• Paper clips• A magnifying glass• Post-it Notes (of varying sizes)• Binder Clips• Small stapler and staples• I have a pencil case that I use to carry a number of these items

in one convenient place.

You will need a number of items in repositories you visit. Carry-ing these will help keep you organized and keep you from run-ning around looking for items.

3. Tools


Before you leave, it’s important to review your research so you are familiar with what you have already done. If you come prepared with a research plan, it will be much easier for staff at a repository to assist you and for you to stay on task.

FIVE STEPS TO CREATING A FOOLPROOF RESEARCH PLAN

Take a moment and think about what initially inspired you to start looking into your family’s past. Were you interested in a specific family member? Or was it just general interest in your family’s past? Assessing your initial goals and interests will help you choose an appropriate research path.

Once you have re-evaluated your initial family history interests, take a moment to review the information you gathered in the past. Often you will discover new avenues for research. Discov-ering new goals is completely normal and to be expected. The constant discovery of new information is one of the reasons why genealogy often becomes a lifetime hobby for many.

The next step is to start creating research objectives. These are the building blocks that will help you solve the mysteries in your family history, and will help break down your search into at-tainable tasks. One of the best ways to create these objectives is to first focus on one or two of your goals. An initial goal can be anything from looking for a specific per-son or family, to answering a research question about the living conditions of your ancestors.

1. Assess Your Initial Goals and Interests

2. Evaluate the Information You Already Discovered

3. Create Research Goals and Objectives


1.2.

3.

1.2.3.

Locate the place from which my great-grandmother came.Complete the family group sheet for my great grandfather’s family.Identify when and where was my great uncle born.

When was your great-grandmother born?At which port did your great-grandmother arrive?Did she travel alone, or with family and/or friends?

Once you decide on research goals that you would like to initially pursue, you can then create research objectives to help you discover your goal. For example, if your goal is to find out where your great-grandmother immigrated from, research objec-tives could include:

Now it is time to use your research log to record potential sourc-es. A research log can help you keep track of the sources that you have already examined, and those you plan to use during your ge-nealogical research. By diligently recording your research steps, you will be able to easily cross-reference new information with what you have previously found.

All of the questions above are considered research objectives. Before you leave, take some time to record a few initial goals and two research objectives for each goal.

Examples of research goals are:

3. Create Research Goals and Objectives (cont.)

4. Identify Potential Record Sources


The information that you should record on your research log be-fore you search includes:

Once you record all of this information on your research log, you are ready to start your search. After you have finished your search, record the following information:

After you have recorded this information in your research log, take the data relating to an individual relative or family such as dates and places, and transfer the information onto your pedigree chart, onto your family group sheet, and into your genealogy da-tabase and/or word processor. Each additional entry gets you one step closer to making new discoveries.

5. Examine and Record your Sources

1.2.3.4.

1.2.3.4.5.

Name of your ancestorYour selected research objectiveSource to examineRepository or source location

Source examination dateComplete source citation (title, author, publication data)Notes on findingsWhether or not you made a photocopy or transcriptionWhether this source requires further examination


It is important to plan in advance whenever possible for your visit. The more you prepare in advance, the better your experience will be.

FOUR IMPORTANT TRAVEL TIPSTO REMEMBER

There have always been a plethora of questions for a researcher to answer before visiting. For a list of sample questions, check your toolkit found at the back of this packet. The best place to find the rules is on the organization’s website. Unfortunately, the website may not always have the most up-to-date informa-tion. Due to the difficult economy, please keep in mind:

Before the start of your visit, drop an email or call the reposi-tory. Ask if there are any changes to the policies listed on their website. You may also ask for clarification on one or two items that are of the greatest importance to you. And no matter what you hear before hand, be prepared that the policy may have changed by the time you arrive.

1. Check Repository Logistics Beforehand

• Temporary hour changes may not be reflected on the site.• There may also be no mention of staffing cutbacks that make

assistance more difficult to obtain.• Fees may be higher than reflected online.• And policies regarding the use of technology are things that

are still being created and nuanced by repositories.


Whenever I go to the Family History Library to research, I check the catalog and make a list of films I would like to examine. A spreadsheet works great for this.

You may find that you are not finding anything on your primary question. It may take forever for items to be retrieved for your use. Have smaller things you can work on in between. Be pre-pared to switch focus if you cannot do the things you originally intended.

I assure you that as frustrated as you may be by the service impact of budget cuts and policy changes, the staff at the repos-itory probably feels the same, and they are rarely in a position to change anything for you. Keep a smile on your face. Be pleas-ant. Work with the staff as much as you can. After all, don’t you much prefer to work with happy, smiling people than grumpy, cranky ones? Make the best of the situation and you will be hap-py when at the end of your trip.

2. Check the Catalogs

3. Bring multiple avenues of research for your visit.

4. Relax and Be Flexible

• Film location• Film number• Film description• Surname• Place Name• Reason for looking at film (find birth record for specific per-

son/s, with full first, middle, and last names)


NECESSARY READING FOR CONDUCTING YOUR SUMMER RESEARCH FROM HOME

Three Tips for an Alternative to Genealogy Summer Travel Three Ways to Access Family History Library Materials Remotely

TED Talks: Help for Genealogists


We know that with busy work schedules, family obligations, etc, it’s not always possible to travel long distances during the summer. So, here are a few ideas to help you do a summer “genealogy trip” with-out leaving your home.

THREE ALTERNATIVES TO GENEALOGY SUMMER TRAVEL

National and local tourism boards often maintain detailed web-sites with a great deal of information. Travel agency websites and others dedicated to travel can have similar information. Because these websites are trying to attract visitors, they pro-vide a great deal of information on locations, with many links to additional information. You might find images of the towns and villages where your ancestors lived. You also might find maps of the areas. Many of them will provide histories of the area, in varying degrees of detail.

If you know where your ancestors lived, Google Earth and Google Maps can give you an idea of what the area looks like today. If you are fortunate enough to have street addresses, you even get to see the buildings where they lived. Remember, don’t assume that a street address from the past is in the same location now. Further research will be necessary. But you can get clues and see what the general area looks like. This is particularly helpful when researching ancestors who migrated from one location to another. Google Maps and Goo-gle Earth allow you to see the physical barriers that might have impacted their migration route. Large bodies of water, hills and mountains, gorges and valleys, and more all had a great effect on the direction people took when moving for place to place, and can help explain why they might have gone hundreds of miles out of the way.

1. Travel and Tourism Websites

2. Google Maps/Google Earth


Over the last few years a huge number of websites have popped up that allow you to share your images over the internet. Insta-gram is the largest of these, but Flickr, Pinterest, Snapfish are also very popular. You can use these websites to find images of places where your ancestors lived. In addition to modern pho-tographs, many people upload older images from their personal collections. You also might find older, out-of-copyright images as well.

Just because you can’t get away this year doesn’t mean you can’t do some “virtual travelling.” You may be surprised and quite thrilled at what you find. And you can use it to plan for next year’s trip!

3. Photosharing Websites


FamilySearch has been working for years now to convert their collections to digital format and make them available online. Many people don’t realize exactly how much material is avail-able on the website. Simply go to the Search page, then scroll to the bottom of the page. Select a geographic location, and you will be presented with a large list of records available online for that locality. Each location can be further subdivided (by country, state, province, etc.). Searching these databases individually can give you more productive results than the long list you will get from searching a large locality. You can also do a separate search for a large number of books.

FamilySearch also operates a large network of more then 4,600 Family History Centers (sometimes called FamilySearch Librar-ies or FamilySearch Centers) around the world. Like the Family History Library, they are free and open to the public to use. Each FHC has some portion of the microfilms and microfiche held at the FHL. If your local FHC doesn’t have the films you need, you can borrow them from the main library in Salt Lake City. You will also find reference books, and access to many subscription websites. The size of the FHCs varies widely, as does their indi-vidual holdings. Use this map to find the location nearest to you.

1.

2.

The Family History Library is one of the best repositories in the world in which to do research. It is five floors of floor-to-ceiling books and microfilms filled with all manner of records and historical information from around the world. And the best part of it is that you don’t necessarily need to come to Salt Lake City to access it.

THREE WAYS TO ACCESS FAMILY HISTORYLIBRARY MATERIALS REMOTELY


Another great option for obtaining records from FHL is to use their copy service. If there is no FHC near you, and no public library nearby that has the material you are looking for, you can order copies from FHL. They cannot look to see if your ancestor is in the record or book. They can take requests for specific re-cords or books. They will copy no more than 10 pages or 10% of the total, whichever is less. For more rules, or to order a photo-copy, check out their Photo Duplication Services.

3.


Almost thirty years ago, people from the fields of Technology, Enter-tainment, and Design, joined together for the first conference about “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Since then, TED has grown into a 501(c)3 dedicated to these ideas. It now runs the TED and TEDGlobal confer-ences, the Open Translation Project, Ted Conversations, TED Fellos, TEDx, the annual TED Prize and the TED Talks video website. The TED Talks video website is fascinating. There are more than 1,500 videos on a wide variety of subjects, among them:

Take the time this summer to explore the TED Talks website. Not only will you find interesting and informative topics, you will dis-cover a number of them that will just fill you with inspiration in general.

TED TALKS: HELP FOR GENEALOGISTS

ArchaeologyArchitectureBusinessEducationFoodGlobal IssuesInternetMusicPlantsThinkingWriting

Now you might wonder what TED talks have to do with genealogy. As genealogists, we are interested not only in family history, but social history and world history. All of these work together to give us the best picture of our ancestors.


If your ancestors lived in New York City at any time, you might enjoy Eric Sanderson’s talk New York —Before the City. He used computer technology and an eighteenth-century map to create a 3D image of what Manhattan looked like in 1609. Jean-Baptiste Michel is a Fellow at Harvard University and a visiting faculty member at Google. He specializes in using large quantities of data to under-stand our history and cultures. In The Mathematics of History he explains how technology is helping to reveal bigger patterns and themes in history. You might also like David Christian’s, The History of Our World in 18 Minutes. Some of the talks fi gure directly into genealogy. For example, Sarah Kaminsky is an actress and author from France. In 2011 she record-ed, My Father the Forger, a video about her father’s work during World War II to save lives. If you like to do oral interviews of your family, you might get some tips from Marc Pachter in The Art of the Interview. Over more than three decades at the Smithsonian Insti-tution he has specialized in preserving the lives of great Americans. You might also appreciate a talk by Gabriel Barcia-Colombo called, Capturing Memories in Video Art. He discusses how he memorialized his friends in a very unique way. Those of you who are interested in DNA and genealogy would like-ly enjoy A Family Tree for Humanity. This talk is given by Spencer Wells, director of the Genographic Project at National Geographic. He explains the goals of the project and the DNA work that they are doing in plain English. Genealogists who use the Internet Archive as much as I do might enjoy A Free Digital Library, presented by Brew-ster Kahle who founded it. If you enjoy a particular subject, you might appreciate the curated playlists. Those who enjoy reading and writing, for example, might enjoy the playlist Words, Words, Words. It has ten talks from various presenters on a wide variety of subjects.


SUMMER GENEALOGY RESEARCH TOOLKIT INCLUDES:

Pedigree Chart

Family Group Sheet

Research Chart

Logistics Check-List

Birth Date:Place:Death Date:Place:

You:

Spouse:

Birth Date:Place:M

arriage Date:Place:Death Date:Place:

Father:


Mother:

Birth Date:Place:M


Grandfather:


Grandmother:

Birth Date:Place:M


Grandfather:


Grandmother:

Birth Date:Place:M



Birth Date:Place:M



Birth Date:Place:M



Birth Date:Place:M



Birth/Place:Death/Place:

Birth/place:Death/place:















PE

DIG

RE

E C

HA

RT

PE

DIG

RE

E C

HA

RT

Date:

Birth Date:Place:M


Num

ber 1 on this chart is the sam

e as num

ber_____ on chart_______.

Family Group SheetHusband

Wife

BirthBaptismDeathBurialFather Religion

Notes

BaptismDeath

Death

BurialFather Religion

Notes

Marriage

Marriage

Status

Occupation(s)Mother

Occupation(s) Mother

PlacePlace

Place

PlaceSpouse

Spouse

Spouse

Place

PlacePlace

PlacePlace

Source #

PEDIGREE CHART #

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)

M / F

M / F

M / F

Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Name

DeathMarriage

Birth

DeathMarriage

BirthName

NameChildren

1 / 2

DeathMarriage

PlaceSpouse

Spouse

Spouse

Place

PlacePlace

PlacePlace

Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)

M / F

M / F

M / F

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Name

DeathMarriage

Birth

DeathMarriage

BirthName

Name

DeathMarriage

PlaceSpouse

Spouse

Spouse

Place

PlacePlace

PlacePlace

Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)

M / F

M / F

M / F

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Name

DeathMarriage

Birth

DeathMarriage

BirthName

Name

DeathMarriage

PlaceSpouse

Spouse

Spouse

Place

PlacePlace

PlacePlace

2 / 2

Birth (DD/MM/YYYY)

M / F

M / F

M / F

(DD/MM/YYYY)

Name

DeathMarriage

Birth

DeathMarriage

BirthName

Name

Children

Husband Wife


TRAVEL LOGISTICS CHECKLIST:

____ Where are the repositories located in relation to each other?____ Where are your accommodations in relation to each of the places you wish to visit?____ What are the opening hours for the repository?____ Are there any entrance fees?____ Are there restrictions for accessing materials?____ Are you limited to what you can bring into a research room?____ Is storage provided for materials you cannot bring in with you?____ Are there restaurants nearby for lunch/dinner breaks?____ Do you need to bring change for photocopy machines?

The advent of the electronic age has only added to our burden. Policies about the use of electronic equipment will vary widely. More questions must be answered:

____ Can you use your laptop in the research room?____ Is power available for your computer, or will you be running off your battery?____ Are iPads/mobile phones/iPods allowed?____ Can you bring in you own scanner?____ Is photography allowed? If so, are there restrictions on the use of flash?

Documents

Mocavo Summer Genealogy Research Guide 2015