Citing Sources. After due consideration, ordered Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills, in book form. My pal Kathy listened to me drone on and on making the argument for both the e-download and then the print book. She'd rather have the print book but confessed to loving a print book in the lap and making notes all over it. I use sticky post notes because I just can't bring myself to write in books. Crazy, huh? Luckily, I found a 30% off coupon and bought the real book. Maybe later I'll also get the e-book so that I can have access on the run.... whenever I get a new laptop.
Plus! Did not know about citation generating web sites. I imagine they have their difficulties but wonder if they might be OK for simple citations. And what about more complex ones? Any opinions?
FamilySearch. Have been reading blog posts and I see that I'm not the only one having trouble keeping up with changes over there. What a great site and resource they have. I just never feel very comfortable using it, not that that stops me at all from plunging in.
Seems to me that stuff isn't where I left it and I have trouble finding my way back again. It really does help to know that they do move and change a lot because now I know that it's not always me... although it might be:) Am now keeping all their web addresses labeled in a Favorites folder. Maybe that will help.
Am still striving to learn how to use FamilySearch by reading everything I can get my hands on and looking at the Wiki when I remember to. Told my pal Kathy about the Wiki and she's learned a lot there too... although she couldn't find her way to it until we googled "FamilySearch Wiki", and saw it here.
March is my month for focusing on education and especially webinars... and FamilySearch education is at the top of the list.
And what's with the two week limit on remembering your sign in? Couldn't it just renew that two weeks every time you go back?
Am I being picky?
Digging Deeper. This might be a theme going around lately, but every day I see how this work really does benefit from digging deeper. What that means for me is digging deeper into the records and taking time with them. And it also means looking more closely at all the media materials I already have.
I'm trying hard to take more time with my writing, not that you all can probably tell:) It's just a behind the scenes fine-tuning and tweaking that's going on. I understand that every post is another opportunity for me to work with the materials at hand and think about the implications in the lives of the ancestors.
Thanks for reading:)
Photos of the day from Cousin Steve's Archive:
Uncle Harold Conrad, about 1942.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/02/wisdom-wednesday-stuff-i-needed-to-know.html
Diane - appreciate reading your thoughts about what you learned. I think I'm on the same learning cycle as you just described. I'm very close to taking the plunge of buying Evidence Explained and (more importantly to me) making the time to follow the documentation procedures for my research (just need more time in life!!). Also I spent this snowy week plunging deep into some land documents and the Family Search New Jersey probate and will resources. Figured out how to find the documents I needed and when I trancribed them I made a huge breakthrough connecting two of my unconnected Shackfords to their family. One of the other things I learned this week was to take a break and then come back to the research refereshed.
ReplyDeleteI also learned so much by digging deeper this week both with the land office documents and my pursuit to find these wills. In my case it meant googling using all the words I came up with in any of the prevous notes I'd taken and finding more and then using the new words. Also then looking closer in the Family Search document I had access to and finally finding out that a will I needed was right there.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on what you learned this week. I've focused on just posting the conclusions I discover after research but your article made me think that part of what made my week's research so enjoyable was all the learning, not just the outcome.
Joanne
www.shackfordgenealogy.weebly.com
Hi Joanne-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughtful comments:) Just checked out your web site and am impressed! And the blog and the post about Abigale's quilt!!
Transcription is a wonderful tool that lets us really pay close attention, isn't it? I am at the point where I both love and hate it: it's painstaking but can release details I missed in a cursory read:) Am getting better at transcribing and find, like anything else, the more I do it the easier it is.
Cheers and thanks for stopping by.
Diane