I have enjoyed reading the blog conversation discussing the paradigm shift taking place in genealogy in the last couple of weeks. Michael Hait began the discussion with The Genealogy Paradigm Shift: Are bloggers the new “experts”?. There was a wonderful discussion that followed in the comments section. Marian Pierre-Louis wrote a great reply in Are Bloggers Really the New Experts? , Are Bloggers Really the New Experts Part 2 and Genre and Genealogy
The discussion really got me to thinking about how I fit into this picture. I am a thirty three year old mother of two young children. I have been researching my family since my junior year of college. I am a member of my local genealogy society. And I have been writing this blog for about 10 months.
I consider myself to be an intermediate level researcher. I do not have aspirations to become a professional genealogist. I am just as comfortable on the internet as in an courthouse or archive library. I have taken a genealogy vacation and believe in the importance of correctly citing your sources.
One of the biggest points I have taken away from the discussion is the importance to be aware that others are reading my blog. I know that the list of people on my blog as followers are not my family so I am assuming that you are a fellow genealogist. I do not know why you have chosen to read my blog but I would like to keep you as a reader. I do not plan on my blog being written at a professional level. My style of writing is basically the conversation I have with myself in my head. If you want to know more about my research, including citations, I would love for you to email me.
I have mentioned several times this year how this blog has changed my research. Some of the changes have come from the focus writing brings. Other changes have come from being a part of the blogging community and reading other genealogy blogs. Genealogy blogs have opened my eyes to the educational opportunities out there. In the last year, I have learned from individual blog posts, watched genealogy webinars, listened to genealogy radio and to genealogy pod casts, and read case studies that are posted online.
I do not consider myself perfect by any means. In fact, I have a dirty little genealogy secret. While I am careful to cite everything, I have never really kept a research log. I have kept some to-do lists but they in no way cut it. Over the years I have read over and over that research logs are one of the fundamentals of genealogy research. I have always looked at a research log as an extra step that just takes too much time and impeds any forward momentum when pausing to document the steps. I am learning this is not so.
I have recently watched Research Logs: Part 1 and Research Logs: Part 2 available on FamilySearch.org. I have also looked at the research logs available on Google Docs in the forms section. I have taken parts of each to create my own digital research log in excel.
So by this time I am sure that you are wondering how on earth this is all going to tie in to my New Year’s Resolution. I just want to say that I am listening to the call to “lead by example” as Marian Pierre-Louis says or “put your best face forward” as Michael Hait commented. I am going to start keeping a detailed research log as my New Year’s resolution. I am going to be a better genealogist and hopefully help influence someone else who is reading my blog to be a better researcher too.
I think you will be well served by a Research Log – I also listened to the FHL lectures on this topic. I revamped it a bit in light of the fact that I use my computer much more than paper and pen. You will find a method that works for you and you will be amazed at how your methodology improves. All the best in 2012.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I've never kept a research log. My work doesn't fit into the little boxes. I always think things like “When you drill down into a website, how do you record it? Name all the steps? How about when you branch out in a different direction?”
I watched David Dilt's FamilySearch.org lesson on research logs, which was as much about organizing your research as tracking it on a log. I think every log-challenged and paper-challenged researcher can learn a lot from these two videos.
JG – I put together my own research log in an excel sheet. I do not plan on keeping my family lines separate since the sort function is so great in excel. If you would like to see what I put together, I would be happy to email it to you.