Showing posts with label research diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label research diary. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6

Alan Jackson, Books and a lil' bit of Genealogy (Research Diary, no. 9)

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."
- Andrew Ross

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened these past couple of weeks:

On a Personal Note... Mom and I went to see Alan Jackson in concert (for those of you that don't listen to him, he's a country artist). While he's not my favourite musician (though mom loves him, which is the main reason I got the tickets), I still can't believe that he came to Oshawa of all places! Artists of his caliber usually play in venues in Toronto or Hamilton or Casino Rama - not little ol' Oshawa! ;)

Blog housekeeping...
  • Thanks, as always, for reading! I appreciate your comments and I think I've followed everyone in turn, but if I haven't, please let me know!
  • I added a Resources page, on which I've listed (mainly) cemetery transcriptions and books I own... (It was also an experience in creating a Google Docs form - I work frequently in Google Docs documents, but I've done a form before. It was quite neat (and easy)!)
  • In addition to "Resources" tab, I merged the "Surnames" and "Locations" pages into a new "Research Interests" tab, deleted the "Brick Walls" page, and modified my "Research Plans" page (to which I added a category for future "Research Plans/Brick Walls" posts)!
  • I also played around with the new font styles! Let me know what you think! :)
  • I've added 33 new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more, as always!)
Genealogy:
Books:
  • Two ILLOs later and it's finally finished!  ;)  I finished reading G. J. Meyer's A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 - 1918. While it wasn't a difficult read, it was an enjoyable one and I wanted to give it my full attention (and at just over 600 pages in hardback, it was also quite hefty!). Though I had some minor quibbles with it, on the whole it was an excellent, very readable, and comprehensive history of the war (mainly from a military perspective, but also including social and political overviews). I definitely recommend it!
  • I also finished (and was quite happy with the first three):
    • Sharon DeBartolo Carmack's Organizing Your Family History Search: Efficient & Effective Ways to Gather & Protect Your Genealogical Research - she not only covered personal genealogy resarch, but also touched on research projects and professional genealogy.
    • Charlotte Zeepvat's Prince Leopold: The Untold Story of Queen Victoria's Youngest Son
    • Ken McGoogan's How the Scots Invented Canada - short, 1 to 2 page biographies of various Scots and Scottish descendants who impacted Canadian life, culture, history, science, etc.
    • Harry Adler's Tracking Down Your Ancestors: Discover the Story Behind Your Ancestors and Bring Your Ancestors to Life (eBook) - I borrowed this mainly to play with our library's new eReaders, so I don't know if my dislike stemmed from the eReader itself (I can see the possibilites, but only for occasional use), or from the book (I ended up skimming most of it). I've found a few other eBook titles that I want to read, so we'll see about the eReader...
New-to-me blogs:

What's coming up:
  • Regular features, including Military Monday, Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday (I just found some old photographs!), and Tabloid Thursday...as well as my continuation of the 2010 "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" series (which I've ignored for a very long time!)
  • All the recent talk about Research Toolbox's has me thinking - the "Links" page will be replaced (sometime!) with a new "Toolbox" tab...though I haven't worked out all the details yet!
  • Edition #103 (Women's History) of the Carnival of Genealogy has been announced and I'm mulling over an entry...

My Question (among questions!):

Do you have a favourite cemetery website?

I have always like the Northeastern Gravemarker Gallery.  And then I've found it's expanded to all of Canada at the Canadian Gravemarker Gallery!  While there is a lot of gaps, it is turning into the premier site for Canadian cemeteries.  There's just so much to find - and all pictures! ;)

Thanks for reading!
Jenn
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Tuesday, January 11

Better Late Than Never, Right? (Research Diary, no. 8)

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

""I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
- Calvin and Hobbes/Bill Waterson

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened this week:

Blog housekeeping...
  • I gained 2 more followers...as always, thanks for following and reading! I appreciate your comments and I think I've followed everyone in turn, but if I haven't please let me know
  • Thanks to Lori, I've started to contain my blogrolls to a scroll list...
  • I've added 10 new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more, as always!)
  • I posted my lists for the "Ancestor Approved" award I received last week from Lisa... Thanks again!
Genealogy:
  • Giving back: I signed up as a RAOGK volunteer (photographing select Oshawa cemeteries).  Does anyone else volunteer here?  Do you get many requests?
  • I've also continued indexing with FamilySearch - I posted about my initial foray into the indexing world at "Chronicles of a NFSI*" and I've since moved on (though still in the 1861 Ontario census project) to Orford tp., Kent co....  
  • Regular features were whittled down to Tombstone Tuesday (Oshawa Union) and Wordless Wednesday (Valcartier picture postcard)...
  • I've been working on organization: getting family group sheets and sources together...and it's a good thing to know that my yen to file by document type is not alone...
  • ...I also stumbled across Tribal Pages.  Has anyone created a site here?  What do you think about it?
  • Lastly, I started to (re) explore (since he's updated the site quite a bit) Murray Pletsch's Canadian Gravemarker Gallery. He started out with the north/northwest portions of Ontario, and has now expanded to all of Canada!
Books:
  • I finished 2 books this week, including...
    • Drew Smith's Social Networking For Genealogists
    • Megan Smolenyak's Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History, A Companion To the NBC Series.
  • ...and I'm almost done G. J. Meyer's A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 - 1918.
  • I've created a new account at Shelfari, added a few recent books, and plopped the widget on the sidebar. I've tried out a few different book tracking sites, but I always seem to return to Shelfari...
New-to-me blogs:
What's coming up:
  • Hopefully I can get back into the post-holiday swing of things and return to a regular posting (and research!) schedule...
  • Regular features, including Tombstone Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, and Tabloid Thursday...
  • ..."52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" result and challenge posts...
  • ...and I've finalized my plans for a series of Military Monday posts, to start January 17th...

Thanks for reading!
Jenn

My personal research and blog diary for the week ending 9 January 2011 (just a little belated).
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Sunday, January 2

It's Snowing!* (Research Diary, No. 7)

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right."
~ Oprah Winfrey (b. 1954)

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened this week:

Blog housekeeping...
  • I've added 44 new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more, as always!)
  • As always, thanks for following and reading! I appreciate your comments and I think I've followed everyone in turn, but if I haven't please let me know!
  • I received an award! Lisa @ Genealojournal gave me an "Ancestor Approved" award...look for my list later this week...
  • I'm still not completely happy with the layout of my blog...nor with the length of the blogrolls (I would like to list everyone I read, but at 200, the blog would be a mile long!)...nor with my header (it seems too small)...sigh.
Genealogy:
  • I became a RootsWeb Mailing List Administrator again. I used to admin a few years ago, but got out of it. Now I've adopted two surname lists: Story-L and Rivington-L. Both lists are small (Rivington with just 8 subscribers and Story with about 150) and fairly quiet, so it'll be just like riding a bike, right? ;)
  • Just like last week, not much actual research occured. However, I did quite a bit of planning and submitted my very first entry for the 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch* : My 2011 Genealogy Research & Writing Plan(s)".
  • Regular posts included Tombstone Tuesday (Oshawa Union) and Wordless Wednesday (Valcartier picture postcard, part 4), but I completely missed my Tabloid Thursday...
  • I also missed my Friday results post for "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy"'s Week 12 (Archive and Library sites), but I'm planning to get to that (and post Week 13's challenge) either later today or tomorrow (since I'm off work).
  • Have you seen "The King's Speech"? A friend and I went yesterday to the theatre and it was excellent! I highly recommend it - our showing received an applause at the end.  Great cast all around, with lots of humour and especially good if you're a history fan (like me!)
New-to-me blogs:

What's coming up:
  • Back to regular schedule programming: Tombstone Tuesday (more Oshawa Union), Wordless Wednesday (my last Valcartier picture postcard), Tabloid Thursday, and "52 Weeks" (the old 2010 version - I'm passing on the new 2011 version).
  • Read! Read! Read! I have lots of books that came in through ILLO, so I have to get those read and returned!

Thanks for reading!
Jenn

*At least it was when I started editing the entry this morning.  Now it appears to have stopped.  Stupid weather.

My personal research and blog diary for the week ending 2 January 2011.
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Sunday, December 26

Holiday Overload (Research Diary, no. 6)

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened this week:

Blog housekeeping...
  • Fiddled around some more on (and added to) my Blogger profile...
  • New followers - hello to everyone and thanks (as always) for reading!  I think I've followed everyone in turn, but if I haven't please let me know!
  • I've added 17 new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more, as always!)
Genealogy:
  • In a word...not much!  I had three days off work over the holidays, and planned to work on genealogy...  Guess how well that plan turned out!  Nevertheless, it was a good (if quiet) holiday and I'm hoping to get back to my research very soon.  I hope everyone's holidays' were just as good and Santa didn't pass you by! :) 
  • I did have my regular postings, however, including Tombstone Tuesday (Oshawa Union), Wordless Wednesday (Valcartier picture postcard, part 3), and Tabloid Thursday (immigration, spending and train travel in 1911)...
  • ...as well as "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy", including the results for Week 11 (Transitional Genealogists Forum) and a new challenge for Week 12 (Archive and Library sites).
  • I guess my biggest step (even though it only consisted of a couple of clicks!) was becoming a FamilySearch Indexer.  I can't wait to get started!
  • Thanks to blogs, I found two interesting sites worthy of further investigation: BBC History Magazine's book reviews and a history of the Rise and Fall of the Workhouse from "Anglo-Celtic Connections", a great overview of the Scottish-Gaelic language at Omniglot.com from "a'spaidsearachd agus a'meòrachadh", as well as a book: Great War Commands: Historical Perspectives on Canadian Army Leadership 1914-1918 edited by Andrew B. Godefroy from "Veterans of Southern Ontario".

New-to-me blogs:

What's coming up:
  • My usual Tombstone Tuesday and Tabloid Thursday...
  • ...and Wordless Wednesday brings another Valcartier picture postcard.
  • My results for Week 12 (Archive and Library sites) of "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" and a new challenge post for Week 13 (Cyndi's List).
  • Besides recovering from turkey overload, I'm not quite sure...  We'll just have to see what the week brings!

My Question (among questions!):

Did you get any good genealogical goodies from Santa?

Though nothing overtly genealogical, I did receive a history book about the Black Plague and a Chapters gift card (more books, yay! :)

Thanks for reading!
Jenn
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Sunday, December 19

Research Diary, no. 5

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

"History is neither written nor made without love or hate."
- Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903)

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened this week:

Blog housekeeping...

  • Changed my Blogger Profile picture to an actual "me" picture ;) and added the profile widget to the blog's sidebar.
  • I separated out two more lists from the main label gadget:: Locations (other than those covered in "Ontario Counties & Districts") and Cemeteries & Churches.
  • I've added 24 new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more, as always!)
  • I started charting out a rough draft of a blog schedule - as per one of my goals for the new year...
  • More new followers! Who knew I'd have something interesting to say ;-)   Hello to everyone (new and old) and thanks for reading!  I think I've followed everyone in turn, but if I haven't please let me know!
  • I edited the About page and added a header pic [though it may change, something just isn't sitting right...]
Genealogy:

  • I finished the "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" challenge for week 10 (Family Search Pilot) and posted the challenge for week 11 (Transitional Genealogists Forum)...
  • Regular features included Tombstone Tuesday (Oshawa Union), Wordless Wednesday (a second Valcartier postcard), Tabloid Thursday (1911 fashion), and a 2nd (and just for fun!) Blog Carol (with Bob and Doug McKenzie)...
  • My Brick Walls page is posted (though it's only bare bones at the moment...)
  • More housekeeping: began (or rather, continued...) indexing and properly labelling documents (currently on births); also still working on FGSs...
  • I'm currently reading Alison Gernsheim's classic Victorian and Edwardian Fashion: A Photographic Survey, Dover Publications, 1981 (originally published as Fashion and Reality (1840-1914) by Faber and Faber, 1963).  And of course, all of my ILLO's have come in at the same time, so I'll be doing a lot of reading in the next 3 weeks...
New-to-me blogs:


What's coming up:

  • I was thinking of becoming a FamilySearch Indexer - does anyone else do this? What do you think?
  • Tombstone Tuesday and Tabloid Thursday make an appearance...
  • ...and in the middle, Wordless Wednesday continues with my "mini-series" of Valcartier picture postcards.
  • My results for Week 10 (Transitional Genealogists Forum) of "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" and a new challenge post for Week 12 (Archive & Library Sites).
  • Still mulling over ideas for Military Monday, as well as another personal regular feature inspired by The Wandering Genealogist's Ancestral Profiles... [I like schedules, can't you tell? ;-) ]
  • Barely a week after I posted my Research Plan, the newest CoG edition (due January 1, 2011) was announced - about genealogy plans!  I would like to take part, and I'll probably expand (and add!) to my goals section...
  • Haven't started (and probably won't start until the holidays when I'm off work) working on my planned Resources page...

Weekly Question ('cuz I'm nosy! ;-)

How do you tag/label your blog posts (if you blog) and how do you (if you do) showcase them on the sidebar/bottom of your blog (list vs. cloud, number vs. not numbered, alphabetically vs. most popular, one long list vs. specialized lists, etc.)? 

Whenever I find a new blog, one of first things I do (beside read the posts!) is to see how everything is set up - I'm always on the look-out for ideas!  There's always something different, which is good!

Thanks for reading!
Jenn
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Sunday, December 12

Research Diary, No. 4

My Research Diary:
Part to-do list...
Part dear diary...
Part Nosy-Nellie...

Weekly events, plans (and a question or two) from my oh-so exciting genealogy (and sometimes non-genealogy) life...

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth."
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

What happened this week:

Blog housekeeping...
  • I separated some more labels from the main list: "Ontario Counties & Disticts" and "Memes & Themes" are now distinct label lists, along with "Surnames".
  • I moved some buttons to the bottom of the blog, including blogoversary (only 50 more days!), Geneabloggers, comments, and the moon phases.  I was thinking of moving the Followers gadget down there as well, but I kept it in the sidebar as it breaks up the text...
  • I added an identification/copyright footer.
  • I added 48! new-to-me blogs to my reading lists - see below (though I'm sure there will be more!)
  • I gained (just a few! ;-) new followers - hello to everyone (new and old) and thanks for reading!
  • I added my name to the Geneabloggers Blog Listing - and I appeared in the December 4rd edition of New Genealogy Blogs. Thanks Thomas!
Genealogy:
  • Organization may (finally!) be coming!  I've finally found the type of forms I want to use (actually, I ended up making the templates myself...) and have started to input data.  Along with my Research Plan (see below), I think I'm finally on the road to organization...at least it feels that way!
  • I finished the "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" challenge for week 8 (online maps) and week 9 (genealogy blogs) and posted the challenge for week 10 (Family Search Pilot)...
  • I bought a scanner!  And it was on sale!  Now I can start posting my gadzillion cemetery pics...
  • I created an overall Research Plan, including my "mission statement", my research focus, sources, an organizational plan, and objectives for the coming year.  And since I'm nosy...do you have a general genealogy research plan (whether kept in your brain or jotted down on paper)?  Or do you fly by the seat of your pants? ;-)
  • I posted my first "Tabloid Thursday" - a personal weekly meme designed to showcase everything newspaper: articles, social news, columns, and other little tidbits.  This week it was...1910 BMDs and a "cheerful spinster" wanted
  • Other posts this week included my first Wordless Wednesday and my entry for footnoteMaven's Blog Caroling theme.
New-to-me blogs:

What's coming up:
  • I have two new pages I want to create: i.) a Resources page listing the cemetery transcriptions and books I've acquired, both for my personal memory and also for other researchers (look-ups and such); and ii.) a Brick Walls page, where I can (briefly) lay-out my major research hurdles.
  • My results for Week 10 (Family Search Pilot) of "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" (for which I don't have very long with the brand-new site coming soon!) and a new challenge post for Week 11 (Transitional Genealogists Forum).
  • My first Tombstone Tuesday post! ;-)
  • I would also like to participate in Military Monday, but what I have in mind might take a bit of planning... so stay tuned for that! ;-)
  • For Wordless Wednesday I have a second Valcartier postcard and Tabloid Thursday brings the arrival of Paris fashion to a rough-and-tumble mining town...

My Question (among questions!):

Do you have an ancestor who served in the Great War (World War I)?  My family (except for my step-great-grandfather, but mom's already "claimed" him...) is lacking in Great War soldiers, so I find myself "collecting" other people's ancestors...  Or on the opposing side, was anyone in your family interred as an "enemy alien" during the Great War?

Thanks for reading!
Jenn
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Wednesday, December 1

Distractions (Research Diary, No. 3)

After an unexpected absence of almost 10 months, I (think) I'm back... ;-)

Life, work, and other distractions got in the way of any genealogy-ing.  But in the midst of my final week of vacation (and with the impending holidays), I've decided to dust off my research and my blogging...

I've changed the background (since my old background was gone anyways and Blogger changed its layout...), fiddled around with a few odds and ends, while otherwise contemplating my next major move. 

Changes to the sidebar:
  • added a Welcome message
  • got rid of the profile pic and blurb...while adding a link to my blogger profile in the welcome message
  • added decorative dividers (to break up the text)
  • added a brief label legend (it began brief, anyway...)
  • separated surname labels from the rest of the labels
I was also thinking of separating out the location labels from the rest of the labels, but I haven't quite decided yet...

Changes elsewhere:
  • the background and format
  • added the "share buttons" (facebook, email, twitter, etc.) to the bottom of posts

Let me know what you think!

As for the "52 Weeks to Better Genealogy" feature (hosted by Geneabloggers), I am planning to start where I last left off (since it's a very useful series...).

Therefore, I need to finish weeks 8 and 9 (which I both posted initial entries for, but never got around to finishing...ahem).  Since I began initially with week 6, I also think I'll head back to the first and work through weeks 1 thru 5...eventually. ;-)


I think that's all for the moment.  It's getting close to 11 p.m. and my brain shut down for the night about an hour ago...

Jenn ;-)
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Monday, February 22

Research Diary (No. 2)

What happened this week?

Not much, actually.

Having been working all weekend, I haven't touch anything genealogy, nor did I complete challenge 7 of the "52 weeks to better genealogy series" (but I'm planning to do that today - and maybe even challenge 8 (historical maps) - since I'm off!).

And then there was the two cakes I had to do for work...

The only thing remotely to do with genealogy this week was a calendar I've started at google.  I'm planning to put all events in that I know dates for and (eventually) have a "This week in my family blah blah blah" thing.  (Or something like that, anyway... ;-)   Oh, and the blogs, of course (I keep adding more all the time - there's too many good ones!)

I'm still in my sorting and organizing phase, so no real actual research (besides the gems from the Ottawa Citizen) is going to be done anytime soon...

What's to be done this week?

      1.  The "52 weeks" challenges (weeks 7 and 8).

      2.  Family group sheets clean-up and organization.  I have all my source documention (births, deaths, census, etc.) somewhat neatly (there's one last pile I have to complete) organized, so it's on to the actual extraction.

      3.  Continue to search the Ottawa Citizen back issues for tidbits.

Non-genealogy, this week we're getting (from a friend at work) a dining room set (5 chairs, table, buffet and china cabinet), so I also have to do some moving and shifting...
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Sunday, January 31

Neglected Roots... (Research Diary, No. 1)

Almost a decade (eek!) has lapsed since I began my quest to discover where my family originated. I've ignored the piles (and piles, and piles, and piles... ;-) of paper which that initial search has precipitated for the past 3ish years (so, technically, it really hasn't been a decade...), as life and work and all that other crap intervened. In the meantime, we've lost pets and gained pets, moved places (and emails), lost a desktop computer, gained a laptop and cable (Ancestors in the Attic, yay!), and tried out a couple of other blogs (and topics of interest). Unfortunately, I'm still as scatterbrained as usual, and hopefully this attempt won't go the way of the dinosaurs (as did the other bloggies...).

And since I haven't laid a finger upon any of my genealogy crap within the last three years (and I wasn't the most organized person prior to that, as it was...), I'm beginning this reintroduction with some much needed O&O - organize and organize. At the moment, there are piles of (mostly crap) laid out upon the length of the couch. For the most part (I was apparently thinking at the time!), most of the vital records, postal correspondence, and census records (and a few other miscellaneous bits) are safe in sleeves and binders. However, my family group sheets and all that other accompanying paperwork should be officially declared a disaster zone - most of it will probably not survive...

So, here is the (immediate) purpose of this blog: to help myself (and I need all the help I can get!) re-organize my genealogical documents and present them in some semblence of order - so that, come the spring, I can begin my quest anew!
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