Motivation Monday: NGS American Genealogy Course

Although my blogging has been a little sparse lately, one thing I have not been neglecting is research. I have been busy working on the National Genealogical Society's American Genealogy home-study course.

My personal research time has been spent completing the assignments. I have learned a lot, especially about resources in my local area. The course encourages using your own ancestors as the subjects of your assignments, but allows for deviations when you are required to use local resources and you are unlucky enough (like me) to live in a different area.

The title of the course is American Genealogy, but my interests are primarily with my Polish ancestors. The benefit here is that I am getting exposure to some of my neglected family lines and the later lessons involve immigration and naturalization, so eventually I will be able to focus on some of the documents left behind by my Polish families.

Some of the assignments involving families in my local area have provided me with additional motivation I did not anticipate. I realized that I have a desire to learn more about the individuals listed on a deed record or a family listed on church records who are not related to me. I suppose it is the burning curiosity that grips all genealogists--the need to know more and answer our questions about those who were here before us.

My biggest motivation right now is to earn my certificate for this course and continue to develop my skills by practicing what I learned.

Tech Tuesday: Research Manager in RootsMagic

Last week, I previewed the RootsMagic 5 Research Manager during a webinar (you can view the recorded webinar here). In the last week, I tried this new tool for myself and compared it to Microsoft OneNote, which is what I have been using to log my research. Here are my thoughts as to the advantages and disadvantages of using the Research Manager:

Advantages

• The free-form fields provide a lot of flexibility and, although I do not know for sure how many characters each box allows, I was not able to max it out with any of my lengthy notes. I like to combine my correspondence log in my research log and the free-form fields make that possible.
• It is easy to transfer To Do items to a Research Log - the To Do items prefill and open in an edit screen.
• The Research Manager Report is nicely formatted and sortable according to several criteria, including the two I use the most-date and reference number.

Disadvantages

• You cannot view previous entries while typing in a new entry - being slightly obsessive-compulsive, I like to make sure that I am consistent in my data entry in free-form fields.
• The report column sizes are fixed, which bothers me somewhat because I think that if the date and reference number columns were narrower, the result column could be widened slightly - this is flexibility I have with OneNote.
• Perhaps the most important of the disadvantages is that there is no way to export information from the Research Manager to an individual record. For example, once you enter the source in the Research Manager, you have to retype or cut and paste to get that information into the Citation Manager. Although this is frustrating, I have to do the same thing when using OneNote.

I have decided that, since the Research Manager allows me most of the flexibility I get from OneNote, but with the advantage of being in my existing database with links to individuals, families, and to do lists, I am going to switch. The disadvantages of using the Research Manager outweigh the inconvenience of having my research in a separate program, especially because I can use RootsMagic To-Go on any computer.

Follow Friday: Polish Genealogy Podcast

Thank you to the Genealogy Guys Podcast for announcing the new Polish Genealogy Podcast, which started in November. This once-a-month podcast is one episode in and, although it was a short introductory podcast, I am eagerly awaiting the next. Host David Newman has promised an hour-long podcast each month, citing both the Genealogy Guys and Genealogy Gems podcasts as inspiration.

Currently, the podcast is available for download from its Facebook page, but I am hopeful it will eventually be on iTunes for more convenience. Being an avid genealogy podcast listener, I am glad one will be focusing solely on Polish research.

Thankful Thursday: RootsMagic 5 Research Manager

RootsMagic announced the release of version 5 earlier this week and held a webinar on Tuesday to present the new features. The webinar was recorded and you can view it on their website. There are many new features, as well as changes to existing version 4 features, but the one I am most interested to try is the Research Manager.

This new feature includes unlimited research logs, which give you the option of linking to a person, family, event, place, or not linking to anything in your database. In addition, you can now move your to-do list items into your research log if you choose, rather than just marking them as complete. Within the research log are predefined fields for a date, reference number, subject, source, repository, and results. All log items are sortable and all logs are searchable by title and content.

I currently use Microsoft OneNote to hold my research logs, since I was not satisfied with using the To Do List in RootsMagic as my research log, which is what they previously recommended. I am very happy with the flexibility and ease of use with OneNote, but I will be trying the Research Manager once I download my upgrade. I am hopeful that this will simplify my process by housing more information in one central location without compromising the functionality of my existing process.

Tuesday's Tip: Interlibrary Loan

Until recently, the interlibrary loan service offered by my local public library was not on my radar. That is, until I needed to look at an out of print book, Maryland in the World War, 1917-1919: Military and Naval Service Records. The two volume set was published in 1933 by the Maryland War Records Commission. My library did not have this in their collection and a quick search on Amazon.com showed used copies in excess of $130 and a collector's copy for $750. I put in an interlibrary loan request and, surprisingly, I was called to pick up the volume I ordered within about a week. The librarian explained to me that even she was surprised they were able to find a copy, and I was surprised they allowed me take the copy home for several weeks (I even asked if they realized how much the book was worth!).

At the recommendation of Cecile Wendt Jensen in both her book, Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy, and her online videos on Family Search (see my previous post), I decided to purchase a copy of Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings by William F. Hoffman. The second edition of this book was published in 2001 by the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA). There are no copies left for purchase on the PGSA's website and another Amazon.com search revealed that a used copy will run over $100 (three times that for a first edition). The PGSA's website does note, however, that the author is working on another edition to be published this winter. While I will purchase a third edition copy when it becomes available, I want to utilize the resource now. So, I entered another interlibrary loan request and within about an hour I received an email that the request was successful and I will be notified when I can pick it up.

I highly recommend checking your library interlibrary loan service the next time you need a book that is not otherwise available to you. Not all resources may be available this way, but it is at least worth a try. In my experience, it not only saves money, but is also extremely convenient. My library accepts requests on their website, so I don't even have to go in until I have a book to pick up.

Polish Research Videos

Since today is the last day of Polish American Heritage Month and I have been busy working on my personal research this month, I thought I should take a moment to recommend a learning resource.

FamilySearch's Learning Center includes several videos on Polish research. Cecile Wendt Jensen recorded two videos: Introduction to Polish Research and Advanced Polish Research, which are excellent companions to her book Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy.

While you are watching the videos, you will want to take notes. There are many websites she recommends, including those for archives in Poland with options to view the content in English. She also dispels some of the myths surrounding genealogical research in Poland and provides sound research advice for records in the United States, as well.

Below are links to the offerings at Family Search, as well as the Jensen's site, Michigan Polonia.
Family Search Learning Center: Poland
Cecile Wendt Jensen's Michigan Polonia

Tech Tuesday: Genealogy with Kindle

Last Christmas, my husband surprised me with a Kindle, which I have been in love with ever since. I have read articles on how useful iPads and other devices can be helpful with genealogy and decided to do a search for using my Kindle for genealogy. I stumbled upon the Long Lost Relatives blog post "Kindle for Genealogy" by Susan Peterson. In the post, she explains how she, too, has a soft spot for her Kindle and has transformed hers into a portable research notebook.

Here are a few of the items I added to my Kindle:

• Genealogical society newsletters
• Research reports
• Pedigree charts
• Cheat sheets
• Current to-do-list

I wish I had thought of Susan Peterson's ideas, but I have no problem following her example and using my Kindle to make me more effective in my research. I strongly recommend that you use the link above to read the post - I know you won't be disappointed.