By Linda Bergren Polich
As we start another new year, and a new decade, it’s a good time to start some new habits or improve on our current ones. Let’s make a few genealogy resolutions together.
Review the information you have in your files to be sure each fact has at least one source attached.
Check your records and see what information you are missing. Start a spreadsheet to use as a Task List so you can fill in some of those blanks.
Start a good backup plan. It goes without saying – ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS back up your files! Not in just one place, but put those files that “you can’t live without” in several places and in several different media. Back them up on your computer, think about putting a copy in a cloud-based program like DropBox, copy them to a flash drive and/or an external hard drive. Also backup your mobile devices. Get into the habit of doing backups on the first day of each month. Once you start this habit, you know your files will be safe.
Check our Society website on a regular basis. There are several resources on the public portion of the website for nonmembers, and even more resources under the Members Only tab! (Not a member? Not a problem! Join today on our website!)
And last, but certainly not least … our Society has a great line-up of programs scheduled for the new year. As you are aware, we meet the fourth Tuesday of each month, January through October. We would love to see some new faces this year! And why not bring a friend? Researching is always more fun if you have a “research buddy”. Guests are always welcome at our meetings.
Finally, how would you end this sentence regarding your own genealogy research? “This will be the year that I …” Here’s hoping that this is the year you break through some of those brick walls in your research!
