iPentimento

Genealogy: It’s All About Connecting

Posted on December 2nd, 2007 by webduck

Make sure they can find you. Keep your email address updated.

Like pieces of a puzzle, researching your family history and genealogy really can take off when you make connections. I have been doing genealogy online for 13 years, and from the beginning I posted the surnames I am looking for. Through the years, I have always tried to keep myself "findable" by keeping my email address used for genealogy updated on the sites to which I post it. Just as a safeguard, I also use the email forwarding service Return Path, so even if I change my email address, people can track me down (if I want them to) even all these years later.

Be organized. Create a folder in your browser bookmarks just for genealogy sites.

In the beginning, you'll tell yourself that you'll remember where you have posted your information. But as time goes by, you will discover more and more ways to make connections, so just bite the bullet and make a folder in your favorites, label it so you can go right to it and go down the list periodically and visit those sites to update your profile.

Create a profile

Many sites ask for some background information about you. Your interests, how long you have been researching your family, etc. You can create a generic one for yourself as a document file in Word, and then a more detailed one with a genealogical bent too. Create a sub-folder in your My Documents and label it something like My Genealogy. Then, create another sub-folder in My Genealogy and label it My Profiles.

List Your surnames

This is something else that will save you some time: create another sub folder to add to your My Genealogy and label it My Surnames. Create a document in Word and list all of the surnames in your direct lines so if you need to you can just quickly open that file, and copy and paste the names into a site that is asking for them.

Name those photo files!

There is nothing more frustrating than receiving (or sending) a photo file and having no clue what that picture is about. (Yes, I know you can be looking at a thumbnail). Not only do you confuse the person who might receive "00000719x.jpg" , but you will run the risk of confusing yourself when you're adding them to an email, or posting them to a message board. it might seem tedious to label them, but if you put a name to them as you save them, you will save yourself time in the long run. For instance, recently, I was creating a photo gift album in Shutterfly and as I uploaded the files, the site automatically labeled the photos for me because I had them named. You still have the ability to rename them if need be, but most likely there won't be as many. These are just a few ways to make your genealogy research go more smoothly. Instead of hunting for files or typing the same things over and over, if you do the work ahead of time you can spend more time finding those elusive ancestors.

Today, I created a profile on Family Tree Circles to add to the list of genealogy sites where I post information about the surnames I am researching. Rather than posting all those surnames in this post, you can look at my profile and perhaps create one of your own. It is a free site, dedicated to connecting family researchers. View my Genealogy Journals on FamilyTreeCircles.com . Post your Genealogy Research on FamilyTreeCircles.com too! Here are some other genealogy articles you might find helpful: Let's Go Visit Dead Fred Genealogy Blog Finder and More Add New Information to Your Family Tree In Just 15 Minutes My Top 10 Places To Find Genealogical Information Online