TIP #559 - A PEBBLE IN MY SHOE Have you ever been walking someplace and felt like you had a pebble in your shoe? Just a tiny grain of sand in size, but there it is, aggravating you to pieces. You have to stop, take off your shoe, reach in and try to find that miniscule piece of something that is causing such pain and discomfort … and sometimes you just can't seem to find it. It's amazing how something so tiny can cause so much frustration! Have you then ever had a pebble in your genealogy shoe? Just this nagging, frustrating feeling that you aren't making any progress and no matter how hard you try, you can't get anywhere without some nagging little discomfort that you're not seeing the whole picture or something? That feeling that every step you take gets you nowhere? Maybe it's time we stopped and tried to get that pebble out. We have all experienced times when no matter where we look, what we read, what we search - there's seemingly just nothing new. We're stuck. That brick wall grew overnight and we feel discouraged. We're tempted to toss in the towel and ask ourselves if the past 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or more years of research is worth it all. All those miles we've driven, the notebooks we've filled up with "maybe" … and to top it off, most of the family doesn't care anyway. Have we just been fooling ourselves that this was worth the effort? Sit down and take a deep breath. YES! It IS worth it all. You're just in a slump that's all. It'll pass and we'll be jumping right back in. Someday, someone WILL appreciate your efforts. You're preserving for future generations what they would otherwise never know. So, if that's true … what in the world can you do to get that pebble of frustration out of your shoe? Here are some mini ideas that might help until the feeling passes! 1 - Start through your family tree - pick a place. If you have your records on a gedcom, bring them up and read through them. Correct any typos or incorrect information that you find. Especially study your documentation and all the notes you have for that individual. Know what? I bet you that before long you'll catch something. Maybe it was a note you took 10 years ago and just entered and forgot about. What? I don't remember that! Hey, I forgot to follow through on that; maybe there's someplace else I can check. I'd forgotten that they had a child who married and moved to California. Have I checked the records there? Oh, there's a relative I haven't checked out; wonder if they are still alive and have any information. Believe me - this works; I've uncovered material I'd entered from 35 years ago and forgotten; materials and leads that I hadn't checked out. 2 - Go through your family photographs. Can you identify everyone? Put the names on the back of the photo and a date (maybe approximate) while it's fresh in your mind. This can bring back memories and maybe give you an idea of someone you've been meaning to call in the family that just MIGHT help you out. Scan the photos if possible and store on a cd or other device so if something happens to the original they will be saved. Do you have another family member who lives in a different household who you can trust with scanned pictures? Make them a copy of the cd (etal) and give to them so that if in a disaster you lose your copies; they are safe someplace else. 3 - Re-read some of your genealogy books that you've purchased over the years. You've added a lot of names to your files since you bought that book or cd and maybe you will now recognize someone else. 4 - Browse the internet. How long has it been since you spent an afternoon reading through posts on surname boards with rootsweb to see if anyone is seeking the same information you have or looking for information you have that you could share. Read through the archives of the county boards. Check to see what information is available (normally new information is added frequently) - do they have a look-up volunteer who might check a record for you. 5 - Have you tapped into another individual's family tree and incorporated it into your own? Are you sure it's correct? Have you checked out to see if they gave sources that are reliable? Have you contacted them to find out how they obtained the information if you have a question? If they reply (and most will, but not all), maybe you can fill in some information they're missing and vice versa. We are prone in this day and age to just "take and not check" everything we find on the internet. We think, "well, it's on the internet and they must know so it must be correct." Wrong! We can only hope they know what they're talking out! I have seen a LOT of bad information on our Gorin family. I write the submitter and offer the correction; sometimes they reply and are grateful - changing the data on line. Sometimes I never hear back from them and it will be impossible to get all the incorrect data off the web. Rootsweb offers the ability to leave a post-it note if there is something you'd like to add, delete or correct on another's information. So, at least, if someone clicks on that file and it has wrong data, they will see the post-it note with the correct information with the documentation. In one place on the web, I am shown as being married to my late husband 3 times under 3 different names plus he had a couple of other wives in between. On another record, one of our ancestors is shown as the father of his own father. Figure! There are a LOT of mistakes out there gang, we can't take everything as the Gospel truth! 6 - Have you considered putting your family tree on line? I know the argument against this - someone else will cop on to all my material and claim it as their own. It happens, I know. It's not very kosher but I see my data smeared all over the place and doggone it, I've worked 35 years on it and now someone else is taking the glory. I've had to swallow my genealogical pride and say … well, if they do and don't give me credit - at least my family is out there and it will get me more leads. I put our family tree, maternal and paternal plus my husband's on line a couple of years ago through rootsweb (they don't sell it), and I would guesstimate that over 30-40 "cousins" have contacted me since them and my family trees have grown tremendously. Plus, I've gotten to "meet" some wonderful relatives who were struggling just like me and form really deep friendships. 7 - have you made back-ups recently of your genealogical records that are on storage devices. See #2 above about making a copy for someone else in the family or a trusted friend. One of my daughters and I frequently share files; I have a copy of hers and she has a copy of mine … just in case. 8 - are you semi-talented? How about scrapbooking some of those pictures, documents and memorabilia? I did this last Christmas for my girls and they were thrilled. It's easy to scan the originals on a lot of documents, pictures they drew as a child, marriage licenses, photos and make up a neat scrapbook for someone you love. Who knows, it might light a spark in them to follow in your footsteps someday? 9 - Have you written up a living biography of yourself? These can be posted at rootsweb list or filed away. Have you ever sat down and written out your life story for your children? Boring? Well, maybe none of us have met the President, climbed Mt Everest, or won the Nobel Peace Prize, but our lives are important too. I have my life story on disk for both of my daughter up to the time of their birth (I've kept diaries for them since then until they were old enough to take over for themselves), so someday they can sit down and read my life in the "good old days." I have a tape transcribed that my Mom made of her life; I have my late father's stories, and my grandfather's - he was born in the 1890's. That takes our family back to the 1890's until present, a time capsule of our history. If no one in your family wants it, donate it to a historical society of genealogical library in the area where you were born … you deserve to be remembered too! 10 - have you volunteered to help at your genealogical/historical society or attended a genealogy course? Widens the mind! If all else fails, take a break for a month or so - go do your gardening, knit a stocking cap, do your spring housecleaning from 1999 and clear your brain for awhile. Then tackle it again. But, whatever you do, don't give up. We need you! © Copyright 29 September 2005, Sandra K. Gorin Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/