Building Bridges: Sharing and Gathering = Relative CrowdSourcing!

     Being interested in family history is a like taking a great adventure into the past and never really knowing what to expect! This is actually one of the many things that makes family history so fascinating.

     Often discoveries become intriguing and require additional discussions with other family members creating an opportunity to share findings with family and potential family. In the process one can learn more about their family and gain new family members who may know more about your family than anyone realizes. The list of positives when sharing and collaborating is immense when one considers the possibilities.

     So just what is "Relative CrowdSourcing"? According to the Merrian-Westers dictionary, "Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed serves, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees of suppliers."

     I would like to tweak it a little and consider one's extended family the 'crowd' and you are the individual who is asking your extended family for needed information to build your family tree with not just names, dates and places but with stories, pictures and documents. All these things can be done online through many different mediums available today.

     There is of course the basic email, but there is also Skype and Google + Hangouts where one can converse face to face as well as chat if necessary. Sharing knowledge gained from others can be done in a family blog or on a family website. Pictures and stories can also be shared through blogs or a family wiki and of course FamilySearch allows you to upload pictures and stories too.

     Apps on an Android or an iPhone or tablets make access to these even easier and allow for inter-exchange between multiple people. There are many new and exciting ways to take advantage of the tools already there and to employ new ones. Evernote has added many new features that make it a possible place to store and grow your family tree. Of course there is always Google Drive which can be used to store and share stories and pictures too.

     Regardless of the methods used, the main point is to begin and reach out to your extended family and build your Relative Crowdsourcing family who will be there to help you grow your family tree which in essence is also their family tree!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)
Timeless Genealogies
We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

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http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

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Twitter @TimelessGen

 (c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

   

Building Bridges to Younger Generations...

It's safe to say that genealogical research has been around for centuries, however, those who do research are usually not from the younger generation and yet they are the very ones who would benefit the most from learning about their ancestors. Today great strides have been made in reaching out to these younger generations and it definitely is creating a wonderful opportunity to build a shorter bridge between generations than ever before causing a possible positive ripple effect on all generations going forward!

Each and every person is the descendant of those who have done their best to pass onto their posterity all they were able to do regardless of the physical, psychological or emotional circumstances of their lives.

Living conditions, illnesses, poverty, military service, personal demons, various occupational traits, certain familiar traits, hair color, various abilities to cope under difficult circumstances and a large variety of other traits are buried in each one's DNA waiting for just the right moment to appear in any of one's descendants. New studies have shed great light and hope on just how much DNA is passed on and it effects on those individuals. A recent article entitled Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes is really worth the read for all the hope is provides the whole human race.

Photos can help one add another connection to a everyone's ancestral past.

Collecting, organizing and sharing these photos with each of ones descendants can help them recognize just where they fit in their family. Did they inherit that red hair from their father's side of the family? Those blue eyes and freckles from the mother and so on. Sharing these precious moments in time is just one of the many wonderful things we can do as genealogists and family historians. Don't wait till it's too late and those ancestral pictures are all part of a collection that will fall to someone who has no clue who the people are once you are no longer here to tell them...share them digitally, in a scrapbook or an photo ancestral chart and help to build shorter bridges between generations!

~~~

Building Bridges for All Generations!
Claire (*)
Timeless Genealogies
We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs
http://timelessgen.blogspot.com
http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies
https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

 (c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

Digital Safety & Digital Estates

This year has a been one where many individuals discovered through various news reports just how much of one's online life is no longer as private as they may have once thought.

Most try their best, through settings on specific sites to be private while maintaining some sort of online presence either for their work, family and friends and take precautions of what they put online as well as say online. Knowing that photos as well as anything else shared online may end up where one does not want it can be one way to get the message out and be very careful with your online presence.

Genealogists, like many others, collaborate with other researchers to help solve difficult problems as well as assist and share with one another. In addition, clients, as well as the researcher, need to be able to access their research projects regardless of their physical location. To prevent data loss, precautions have to be taken to have back-ups of one's hard work along with whatever else is worth keeping in a digital format for future use and generations.

Keeping the above in mind, various companies offer storage on their servers for a fee, some offer free services and still others can handle larger organizations. They all have one thing in common and that is the ability to access your information from multiple media types as shown in the image above. These companies also provide reassurance that nothing is loss over time and your data automatically synchronized through the software setups on your main computer.

While these kinds of backups provide for secure and digital safety, what happens to all that data when an individual passes away? Recently this subject came up at the annual conference of the Canadian Bar Association in Saskatoon and these lawyers raised questions about digital data rights after an owner's death and how this is definitely a growing problem that seriously needs addressing, the article is here.

Most written laws don't take into account digital assets. The article not only discusses loved ones digital assets after their death but also digital items like downloaded music and books onto a digital device which really only belongs to the individual who paid for it. Then there are social media sites and many other online activities that could have been part of a loved ones virtual life.

This definitely brings into mind one's online genealogical activities which could include blogs, photos, documents, really anything at all including emails that exchanged genealogical information and perhaps early message boards which were another way to help one another in genealogical research, just for starters.

It's not only time to check 'terms of use' with the locations of one's data but also to make sure one's digital assets are handled correctly legally when we are no longer here by our descendants. More than ever before it is important to share your research, photos and all connected with your genealogy and family history with your living family members. It is definitely a time to bring the subject up for open discussion and perhaps lead to some solutions.

One company that is helping with this Gen-Ark, they are a leader in digital estate scanning and preservation solutions, check them out!

Comments and Suggestions are always welcomed!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)
Timeless Genealogies
We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

http://timelessgen.blogspot.com
http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies
https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

 (c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

Technical advice for the Genealogist and Family Historian

Do you struggle with learning how to use the latest gadget, a new application or what to look for when having to buy a new camera or scanner? Are you struggling with figuring out how to best take care of the artifacts that you just inherited?

Many struggle with these and other questions as they incorporate new methods and ways to do their family history research. The landscape of new applications, websites, and databases is constantly changing and while most are helpful and will make your research easier there is often a learning curve that comes along with it.

Along with the influx of these new tools, equipment continues to improve and become faster and/or smaller. At some point you are going to want to purchase a better camera, scanner, computer, GPS, printer or perhaps a storage device to keep all the precious memories and research that is now in digital form.

To help with these situations and much more, FamilySearch TechTips is available for discovering the answers to technology in connection with the needs of genealogists and family historians. The main link is currently at the lower half of the screen under Learn but there is so much information there to help anyone.

It is broken into four categories: 1) How To's and Tips, 2) Learn About, 3) Apps and Tools, and 4) Learn How to Buy. Each category breaks down again to encompass the whole category as follows:

As you can see there are many topics covered to handle many of the unique situations that genealogists and family historians find regularly. Each area opens up to a number of articles on that subject matter. This site is built and supported by the community. All the authors share their expertise to help solve some of the technical issues faced often on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis.

To help with keeping up, you can add this to an RSS feed or follow TechTips on Twitter. Take some time to investigate this great resource, add your comments and if you feel you have some tips you's like to share,  just click the Become a Contributor and follow the prompts to join the community!

Comments and Suggestions are always welcomed!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)

Timeless Genealogies

We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

http://timelessgen.blogspot.com

http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

(c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

Google Web Search

Google has become a household word as most know today. Its' search capabilities are well know throughout the world. To increase their ability to provide the best search results possible they have also customized searches for a number of countres and regions across the world.

If you want your results to be centralized in England, one simply uses http://www.google.co.uk/, for France it is http://www.google.fr/. They have the full list with matching flags at the bottom of their page under "Language Tools" which really could be a great single page to promote their versatility throughout the world.

It is nice to see each flag with the matching URL and is a great learning tool when working with children and also for those who have ancestors from other countries. Their language translation ability is also a great asset for translating not only words but web pages and sites, too.

Google itself is a great asset to genealogists and family historians as shown in Dan Lynch's book entitled, "Google Your Family Tree". The book illustrates many search tips and how to use filtering and other command techniques to locate new or additional information on an ancestor.

His blog provides additional online tips. It is never too late to learn new and improved ways to research one's ancestors!

Comments and Suggestions are always welcomed!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)

Timeless Genealogies

We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

http://timelessgen.blogspot.com

http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

(c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

Occupations

Knowing an individuals occupation can help follow a family through the censuses as well as through a country. Individuals may have the same names and live in the same areas, however, different occupations can help to assure the correct ancestral family is researched.

As one does research, various strangely named occupations are often listed causing one to wonder what their ancestor did for a living. The working world of today is not much of a reflection on the working world during the times of your ancestors. Many jobs they held have now been either eliminated or taken over by a machine. This is often termed 'progress', however, to the one who lost their job it was devasting and often part of a long list of reasons to emigrate to another country.

Occupations varied from country to country and so one may need to have a glossary of terms from different countries. "Hall Genealogy Website: Old Occupation Names" has a good collection of old terms. While some terms may still exist today, most do not. Some examples include a "Danter" which is a 'female overseer in silk winding room' or a 'Palister' which was a 'Park keeper'.

Another good list is provided by the "World Through the Lens" which covers old English occupations.There are some great resource pages on occupations in the FamilySearch Research Wiki. One can view the list by simply going to the Research Wiki and typing in "occupations', the results will be England Occupations, Wales Occupations, Jewish Occupatins and many others.

If you need a different country one just needs to use their search engine to type in "Old occupations of (name of place) and the results should take you to a website that has the needed information.

As a closing note, many times trades and tendencies are generational and it is not uncommon to discover that an occupation held by an ancestor is something a descendant may have an inclination to do. For instance, if my ancestors were farmers I may enjoy gardening, if my grandfather worked on the railroad, I may enjoy trains, etc.

Remember, a greater understanding of the actions of one's ancestors developes as a researcher digs and discovers more information about their lives during their time period.

Comments and Suggestions are always welcomed!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)

Timeless Genealogies

We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

http://timelessgen.blogspot.com

http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

(c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com   

Name Studies

Often when researching individuals seem to forget that names have changed over time for a large variety of reasons. Sometimes this happens when coming to a new country and the family wants to assimilate as quickly as possible. So someone with the last name of "Blanche" became "White" or "Des Neiges" became "Snow" and so on.

Names were also shortened for convenience as in the case of surnames from Poland, Germany and other countries. Additionaly names could easily be misspelled as they were written down by another person because the original person was unable to write or even read.

Donna Pizecha wrote an excellent article on this subject on Genealogy.com entitled "They Changed our Name at Ellis Island". In order to do a proper search one has to be open minded about an exact spelling of a last name. There are lots of studies on names and many websites offer meanins a names which can sometimes explain the origins of the name and help guide a research to look in place not thought of originally. I have had personal success in one of my family lines and was able to break through a very stubborn line following this method.

The Guild of One Name Studies is a good place to start as well as the large variety of message boards already suggested in an early post.

Take the time find out the meaning of your family name and see if there are any studies on that name, it could help and lead to finding just the right clues to aid in your ancestral research!

Comments and Suggestions are always welcomed!

Building Bridges for All Generations!

Claire (*)

Timeless Genealogies

We're Your Family is "No. 1"

Blogs

http://timelessgen.blogspot.com

http://gen-reflections.blogspot.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

https://www.facebook.com/TimelessGenealogies

Twitter @TimelessGen

(c) 2005-2013, Timeless Genealogies, All Rights Reserved

     claire@timelessgen.com