Two recent blogs from the company of Geneabloggers have helped me better to understand how I function as a genealogist / family-historian / default-’keeper-of-the-data.’ GenYGenealogist named my most comfortable style of working – namely, “batch genealogy.” Katrina’s description of “batching” to save time, however, didn’t quite ring true for me. Sometime I have put concentrated effort into acquiring data, without taking the time either to log or provide source citations. Saving a little time now; creating much more work for later. TennLady provided a more accurate provided a more accurate picture when she wrote: “I work in fits and spurts.” The title of that particular blog was “The Distracted Genealogist with OCFRD*” I, too, am afflicted with a distracted-OCFRD (Obsessive Compulsive Family Research Disorder). Thanks to both GenYGenealogist and TennLady for the insight into my distracted research style. Such insights help me chart a better path for my work.
Because of the challenges associated with participating in the “Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games” I have begun to correct some of my genealogical mistakes from the past and bad habits. Since Saturday (especially with major roads being closed due to icing conditions) I have gone to a couple of the digital “heaps & piles” on my hard drive. I collected and reviewed 55 Census images and 36 death certificate images that I had gathered over time. These images were just sitting there without source citations and I had made no notes about accessing them. I have accomplished three major tasks with those images: 1) they all now have proper citations; 2) they are now logged and indexed in my research wiki; and 3) I have added a new page to my research wiki containing cut-and-paste formats for citing 45 different kinds of research data. I have clearly reach Platinum in the “Go Back & Cite Your Sources” category, but I am not stopping there. There is more citing to be done… and I want to maximize the results of this spurt.
Without realizing it, I have also been working on some of the other Winter Game challenges. I have been organizing and backing up my data and adding appropriate pages, etc., to my blog. I might just emerge from the rigors of these Winter Games with more medals than expected… and without straining too many muscles.. More later.