Resolutions and family history

 

                                                                 Some of the research I've gathered over the years

One piece of advice for genealogists that I've often heard is to be organized. Of course, there are many ways to do this depending on your research methods and the ways that you retain material, whether paper based or on the cloud or anything in between. Above all, the wise genealogist keeps a log of everything they have researched, otherwise they might spend time looking up the same thing not realizing that it is a repeated effort.

Year after year, I've resolved to keep my family history research organized so that I can see what I have already learned and where I need to look next for each family line. It sounds ideal, doesn't it? It also sounds like a lot of work and, to be truthful, being methodical bores me to tears.

This year, though, I need to take stock of where I am with my research because, yet again, I'm planning a trip to Salt Lake City. Of course, I've planned this trip for a while but I haven't yet done my pre-research in order to come up with a plan for where my hunt should focus when I am there.

So I'm starting to drag out the notebooks and thumb drives I've gathered from other research trips to find out what I have already gathered. This all would be so much easier if I had kept my resolution to organize my genealogy. But, then on the flip side, looking at my family history info with fresh eyes can lead to inspiration and maybe a few stories and, ultimately, that's why I do genealogical research. I want to piece family stories together from the data I've gathered. That's what makes it all worthwhile for me.