Looking Back at Genealogy Goals

Recently while browsing my files I noticed a list I made in Word titled “Genealogy Goals 2015” so I thought I should take a look back at the progress I’ve made towards these goals since I made this list back in December 2014.

1. Solidify sources for grandparents & great-grandparents, then continue back through generations. Funny enough, I was just thinking about this today. I’ve learned a lot about improving source citations, etc. over the last year and a half. Of course I made rookie mistakes early in my tree and I don’t think I’ve done a very good job going back and cleaning it up! FAIL
2. Attach media to family members in Roots Magic. I had every intention of being one of those enviable genealogists who duplicates every entry from Ancestry.com to their software program….but I haven’t been able to keep up with it. I have satisfied myself by periodically downloading my GEDCOM file from my tree on Ancestry.com and importing it to a new tree in RootsMagic but until they finally release the update that will allow syncing between the trees I’ll never be able to replicate my trees properly. FAIL
3. Explore new tools available online. Finally something I’ve actually done! I think I’ve done a great job of this over the last year and a half. I’ve been watching a lot of videos from Ancestry.com on YouTube to learn about strategies for using the website and searching the records. I’ve explored a lot of websites I had never tried before like Fold3 and various local repositories like an obituary request service from my local library, etc. SUCCESS
4. Attach information about ancestors to FindAGrave.com. I have been a FindAGrave fiend this year. I have taken a lot of volunteer photos, linked relatives, added photos, transcribed obituaries, etc. into the website. I love using it so I love making it more useful to other people. As of today I manage 55 memorials and I’ve added 133 photos. Woohoo! SUCCESS
5. Visit more cemeteries. Hmmm I’ve visited a lot of cemeteries but I can’t remember if any of these were new and relevant to my family. I definitely have some on my list few, like a few north of Dayton and some in the Dayton area other than Woodland. MAYBE?
6. Develop paper files? HAHAHA! even 2014 me knew how far-fetched this was and added the “?” to the end. I’m a mess enough in my everyday life. I don’t need paper files to make me even more of a mess. I’m pretty proud of how I’ve organized my digital files and I think keeping that in order is enough work for me. FAIL

Well looks like I didn’t achieve many of my goals but I think the ones I did achieve were some of the most important! I don’t think this post could be complete without setting some new goals for myself. I’ve listed 5 of them below:

1. Purchase materials to begin the process of preserving my family photos and documents. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time but cost has kept these resources out of reach. It’s still one of my top priorities for the future.
2. Clean up my “rookie mistakes”. Like I said above, I need to comb the tangles out of my tree and fix any citation errors.
3. Join and attend a local genealogical society. I struggle with this because my local county chapter folded and the nearest one is far away from me. But I’d like to motivate myself to attend!
4. Learn more about records specific to Montgomery County. I have a brick wall ancestor who lived in Montgomery County, Ohio prior to 1850 and I have struggled to locate records pertaining to his birth and death.
5. Work on my own digitization project! I have a ledger book from my ancestor’s business that lists the purchase history and account balance of various people in town. I really want to scan/photograph and digitize this book with a searchable index. It doesn’t have any genealogical information but it’s a fun enriching detail to a tree!