Wednesday, August 29, 2012

GHLL Weekly Updates



Genealogy and History Data Updates August 27 - September 2, 2012.

More updates! Our webmaster, Bob, and the fantastic group of contributors we have keep bringing you more new and updated data. Happy Ancestor Hunting!




Tuesday, August 28, 2012

GTD and Genealogy? Yes!

Getting Things Done aka GTD is a productivity methodology outlined in the best-selling book by the same name. The books author, David Allen, presents the concept and steps to organize your life for stress-free living.

The Five Stages of Mastering Workflow, covered in the book are:

  1. Collection
  2. Processing
  3. Organizing
  4. Reviewing
  5. Doing
I've been working toward GTD nirvana for six months now, which I understand is nothing. It's not uncommon for people to spend a year or more getting their system "down" so that it becomes routine. 

I've read the GTD book once and listened to the audio version as well. I follow GTD blogs, listen to GTD podcasts and participate in GTD groups on various social media platforms. To date, my GTD application has been at work. However, the more I look at the five steps, the more I see this workflow applying to genealogy research.
  1. Collection - gathering all your "stuff" into one place. Documents, photos, books, emails etc.
  2. Processing - what do you need to do with the "stuff"? Scan it, read it, file it, share it?
  3. Organizing - if you need to read it, where does it go? if you need to scan it, do you have a scan folder? Do you need to scan it before you read it? What is the next step?
  4. Reviewing - What needs to be done first? What is your next action? Does it need to be a project? If you have 4, 500+ pg county histories to read...that may need to be a project.
  5. Doing - Scan it, File it, Read it
Isn't this what we as genealogist do? I think David Allen is a closet genealogist! I wonder if he knows it? I would love to hear from any other genealogists who have applied GTD to their research process.




Tuesday, August 21, 2012

GHLL Weekly Updates



Genealogy and History Data Updates August 20 - August 26, 2012.

The "Y" surnames have been updated, see if one of them is yours.

Also, this week's Splash Page photo is exceptionally beautiful. If you would like to submit a photo, please do!



Monday, August 13, 2012

Musings On A Munday Recruiting for Genealogy Societies

Do genealogy societies recruit for board and director positions? Do they approach current members about positions and hope they can "fit" the role they need filled?

If a company needs a computer programmer, they are going to hire a computer programmer, right? They will place the ad in places that computer programmers frequent to insure the ad gets in front of the right people. If a genealogy society is in need of a newsletter editor, are they getting that message in front of people with that type of experience? Is the assumption made that if they don't belong to the society or hold genealogy as a hobby they wouldn't be interested?

What has me wondering about this is I recently saw a person listed as the PR Director for a genealogy society. I looked the person up on LinkedIn (and asked someone who knew him personally, it's a small world ya know) and saw no reference to PR in their current or past positions, nor did they list PR as an expertise or interest. So why is that person now the PR Director? I know it's possible that this person did have PR experience, but for whatever reason doesn't publish that information. It's also entirely possible this was the only person that would accept the position.

I believe it's more likely that the society chose to make the position known only to it's current membership, newsletter subscribers and those in genealogy circles. Perhaps they didn't consider that many professionals are willing to volunteer in order to get that experience added to their resume. If you publish a newsletter, you are publishing a newsletter. It doesn't matter if you are getting paid or not, that gets added to the resume as experience.

How much due diligence does your society perform when looking to fill board or director positions? Have you ever been recruited for a volunteer position from a group or organization that you were not a part of?

Sunday, August 12, 2012

GHLL Weekly Updates



Genealogy and History Data Updates August 13 - August 19, 2012.

Marian, Paula & Charles have spent hours locating and correcting broken links on the site. Please let us know if you find one.


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Social Networking for Genealogy Societies

This topic applies to more than just genealogy societies. Any member society can benefit from the use of social media.

Note: there is 6 minutes of audio before the video starts.


Social Networking for Genealogy Societies from FGS Genealogy on Vimeo.

Chimani

Chimani :: Apps for the Outdoors and National Parks

This is a great app to use when traveling or even around your home area. Chimani not only helps you find National Parks, Parkways, Historic Sites and National Seashores, it can direct you to Battlefields as well. That might come in very handy on a genealogical research trip!

Chimani is more than just a map though, it provides information, photos and links directly to the locations website, if they have one. You can also mark the areas you have visited with the date. I found this app a little over a year ago and love it.


Food Family History: Cooking with the Toastite by GenealogyGems




Food Family History: Cooking with the Toastite


Visit http://www.genealogygems.com for more culinary family history with Lisa Louise Cooke. Listen to Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 137 for more with Gena Philibert Ortega. Please leave a comment about your Toas-tite! And be sure to share this video with your friends and family! Support the free podcast by using the links on our website if you decide to pick up Genas book or the cool retro Toas-tite.


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

GHLL Weekly Updates



Genealogy and History Data Updates August 6 - August 12, 2012.

Updates to domestic and international research links.


Life After iGoogle with Netvibes via Genealogy Gems

Lisa Louise Cooke has published a tutorial on how to convert your iGoogle page to Netvibes. If you haven't heard, iGoogle will cease to exist November 1, 2013. You have a little time, but with such a great alternative in Netvibes, why wait?

Friday, August 3, 2012

German Research with Roger Minert

If you are in the Kansas City Metro Area and have German ancestors, you will not want to miss Rogert Minert. The Johnson County (KS) Genealogical Society is hosting A Day of German Research with Roger Minert on October 27, 2012.

I heard Roger speak at a past MoSGA conference and he is fantastic. Roger is a professor at BYU and an expert in German research. After listening to three sessions with Roger, I was able to apply what he taught us, use the tools he directed us to and I found the village in Baden that my father's family is from.

Roger is a high caliber speaker and I am looking forward to hearing him again.