Genealogy Jottings

Every weekday I devote several hours to genealogy. I spend time researching online and in repositories, writing, attending genealogy meetings, and taking field trips. I used to do a lot of Society volunteer work, but I cut way back because I do not find it as rewarding as working on my own family tree. The logistics of volunteer work have also become prohibitive with long drives required to reach likely volunteer venues like the Denver Regional Archives or the Denver Public Library.

Even after eliminating a lot of the genealogy volunteer work that I did, I still find time management a challenge. I try to stick to a research plan and schedule, and that helps. An experienced genealogist told me long ago to focus on one line at a time, and I follow that advice. This year I have surrounded myself with all things Finnish. At the end of the year, I will prepare and give a biographical sketch of our Finnish immigrant ancestors to members of my family.

But sometimes I make an exception to the research schedule when a good opportunity arises. Last month we found ourselves with time to visit Norwegian homesteads. I put aside the Finns for a while and pulled out the Norwegian information. When I returned home, I had documents and photos to enter in the database, and I have done virtually no Finnish research in September.

Now I am planning another trip, this one to the genealogy library in Salt Lake City. Time is at a premium during a repository visit like this, and one does not want to spend it looking through the library catalog when you can do that at home. Whenever I go to Salt Lake, I comb through the catalog ahead of time and then arrive at the library with lists of films and books to view.

This preparation used to be pretty simple, but recently a new element has come into play. The LDS church is rapidly digitizing its collection and putting in online. When I go to Salt Lake, I do not want to spend time viewing films that I can look at from home. Searching the catalog now requires me to check every item to see whether it is available online. Those that are not will make it onto the list of films and books to view when I visit the library.

We will spend three days in Salt Lake. I plan to work first in the Finnish records because many of those have not yet been digitized. I just finished compiling those lists. I also keep a running list of books and films I need for other family lines, and I will certainly take that along. But what if I need more to do? And what will my husband work on while we are there? I still need to make some more lists. This all seems time-consuming, but I hope I am managing my genealogy time effectively.