The Year Ahead – May 31

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 31 – See what web listings are available for your surnames and ancestral locations at Linkpendium www.linkpendium.com

I am amazed on how many different websites are out there. Even though this website is jumping off point, so perhaps some of the links won’t work, it another avenue to try when you are stuck in rut.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 30

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced  The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 30 – Tap into your creative muse and start a family history project, such as a genealogy quilt or a poem about an ancestor.

My creative projects take a different turn. I have created a small wall hanging for my half-siblings showing how they are related to four presidents. I did a deck of cards with family photos for the court cards (Jack, Queen and King).  I have also done various descendant books. What ever your family history project, start off small. Sometimes, I like to brainstorm different ideas and then estimate how much time do you need to finish the project. This is why starting off small is good. Or are you crippled by too many ideas and not wanting to mess up the project. Put those notions aside and just do something. What about getting a pretty pedigree chart, and fill out your pedigree on it. Then put it in a frame and hang it or give it to a love one.

Once you get a project done, it won’t seem so scary. Remember, you are only human, it doesn’t have to be perfect. My father always said, “only fools are perfect”, so who wants to be perfect anyway.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 29

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced  The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 29 – Occupational directories – listings of local people in a particular profession – may give you clues to relative’s daily lives. Look for them online and at your library or historical society.

I have notice such “directories” on Ancestry.com. I have found nurses licenses and those who worked for the railroad in databases they offered. I was amazed at some of the information they included, as such as their birth dates, maiden name if they are married, next of kin and their relationship to them. Plus their current address to help determine where to look next for more information.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 28

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 28 – Have old videotapes or films that you’d like to digitize? Try a service such as Larsen Digital www.larsendigital.com

I have also seen a service called Legacybox. I haven’t tired them, but I have lots of old slides that I would like to digitize. I have a way of doing it myself, however it is very time consuming. I also purchased a slide projector years ago, so I could review the slides before deciding if I want to digitize them. Many are from my father’s travels as the Internarial Service Manager for Mercury Marine and thus, they don’t have pictures of people.

There are many from various camping trips we took as a child and I am more interested in the ones where my parents, siblings or myself are in.

So, decide if you want to take this endeavor on yourself, or if you want to farm it out to someone else. I plan on creating a pile that I want to digitize and then I will decide if I want to do it myself, or send those off to be digitized. Most likely, I will send them off, I can’t even find time to review the slides.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 27

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 27 – This Memorial Day, visit the grave of a family member who served in the military You could go either in person or virtually through sites like Find a Grave and Fold3.

I like this idea, today is also my husband’s birthday and his father served in World War II. Visiting his grave would make a nice little road trip on his birthday. Rain is in the forecast, but I think it still should be feasible.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy! 

The Year Ahead – May 26

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 26 – Look for postcards showing your ancestors or their favorite places, both in your own collection at sites like Ancestry.com www.ancestry.com/search/collections/8705.

I decided to look for postcards from my hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The postcard that shows the old Public Library makes me sad. I know they tore it down in 1966 to build the new library. In 2004, a 12,000 square-foot addition was put on the rear and interior renovations were also made. The only thing that is the same, is the location. That old library was such a beautiful building. It looked like a castle.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 25

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 25 – Records of city, county or town councils can lead to business licenses, petitions or minutes that bear your ancestor’s name. Look for them at public libraries or municipal or state archives.

Sometimes, such records are posted in newspapers or at least the highlights such as all the business licenses that were approved.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 24

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 24 – Research “sideways” by looking for collateral relatives; for example, an ancestor’s brothers.

I am a firm believer of looking for and documenting collateral relatives. I have many examples where this open up new research avenues. For example, I was having difficulties locating my great grandparent’s marriage record. They were married before marriage records were required to be recorded in my state. Thus, I knew it might never have been one. I found a sibling’s marriage record of my great grandmother and it listed her parents. At least, I assumed her sibling and she had the same parents. It was a great find. Then I turned to my great grandfather and he had only one sibling and I found her marriage record and thus I had his parents’ name. This allowed me to find census records, with my great grandparents as children, living with their parents. It wasn’t until I found those marriage records, that I could be certain it was the same family, and not a family with similar names. I had found their siblings names listed in their obituaries; however, their parents’ names were not given.

I also found this same great grandfather living with his sister and her husband and her in-laws in 1900. I thought this was very strange. I knew it was the correct family, because of his sister’s marriage record listed her husband and her in-laws. I found out later, the reason was because my great grandfather’s mother had passed in 1899.

So don’t limit yourself to just your direct ancestors, at the minimum record all your direct ancestors’ children’s names. I find the more I collect, the easier it is to find more information and people because I have a lot of other facts to compare and evaluate against.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 23

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 23 – Repair faded photographs and documents with a free trail of the Vivid-Pix Restore software www.vivid-pix.com/restore.

Free trails are nice because it gives you a chance to try a program before you drop money on the software. Vivid-Pix Restore has a free trial version that provides all the features with 10 free fixes.

Since repetition makes learning easier, you may want to wait until you have several photos to try the software on. Give yourself time to learn the program, and don’t rush through the project.  

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 22

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 22 – Seek out records from your ancestor’s funeral homes. Find the name of the funeral home in obituaries and death certificates, then contact the home or look for their records in historical societies and libraries.

Many years ago, when my mother passed away, I took the time to ask the funeral director about their records. I wanted to know how long they kept them and where they can be found. I was told each funeral director has their own records. Sometimes they pass them onto the next funeral director, sometimes not. They were kept in storage, some on site, and others off site. Thus, to see these records, advance notice was a must, because they may have to retrieve the records. Also, if they are planning lots of funerals, they may want you to come in on a certain day, when they know they won’t be having a funeral.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 21

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 21 – Search for your forebears’ death records using Joe Beine’s directory www.deathindexes.com.

Even though some of these links might take you to paid websites such as Ancestry. I find these links helpful in seeing at a glance what might be available. Too many people get stuck using just Ancestry’s basic search page or relying only on their suggested hints. Going directly to a Records Index for a certain state or region is very useful. It also helps you to stay focus by limiting what you will see. Instead of seeing all kinds of general hints, you will only see one type of record, for example: death records.

Therefore, if you have people in your tree who you know can’t still be living and  you don’t have any death information, take today as the day to find those dates.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 20

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 20 – Update your blog, or see what’s new at GeneaBloggers.

GeneaBloggers is a community of content providers supporting one another with expertise and encouragement as they share their family histories and educate others. If you are looking for some genealogy blogs, this is a great place to start. They even have a Facebook group.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 19

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 19 – Clean up your computer hard drive with software such as Clooz www.clooz.com and PaperPort www.kofax.com/products/paperport.

Besides these software programs, I decided that I needed to clean up my backup drives. I have a cloud-based backup service and it has backups for several devices I no longer have. Therefore, I am copying these backups onto an external drive so that I can see what duplicates I have. I then can compare against what I have on my current devices. I often think I have a file or picture and then can’t seem to find it. Perhaps it was on a former computer now sitting in my cloud-based backup. I might have never reinstalled that file or picture onto my new computer. Thus a project that might be good to do, especially during the winter months, as I sit in front of my TV, or just on the couch sitting near the fireplace with my laptop and look at what these backups have. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 18

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 18 – Explore a museum in your local area, or Google virtual museums to explore one from your easy chair.

I love museums, especially historical museums. The town I moved to, has a Historical Museum that I need to go and explore. In the lower level they have created the Plank Road Trail, a street scene of downtown Plymouth, Wisconsin.

Construction of the Plank Road began in 1851 and was completed in 1852. This allowed settlers to travel from Sheboygan to Fond du Lac (42 miles) on a somewhat paved roadway. 

Today, the Old Plank Road Trail parallels Hwy 23, the original plank road route. The trail is used year round and accommodates bicyclists, runners, walkers, in-line skaters, horseback riders, moped users, Nordic skiers and snowmobilers on 10 feet of asphalt and 8 feet of turf. It's seldom flat, making for more interest and exertion than many other trails. The Trail was only 17 miles long, and extended from Sheboygan to Greenbush, location of the Old Wade House. However, with the upgrade to Hwy 23, the trail was extended all the way to Fond du Lac.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 17

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 17 – Norway celebrates Constitution Day today. Explore the holdings of the country’s digital archives www.digitalarkivet.no/en.

I read that just because you don’t have Norwegian roots, doesn’t mean you can’t get something out by exploring their website. What resources does Norway offer? Could these same types of resources be available for the country your ancestors came from? It might open up other resources to you that you never thought about. A person can find a learning opportunity in almost anything, if they look hard enough for it.  

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 16

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 16 – The National Genealogical Society’s annual conference is about to begin. Consider signing up for the all-virtual event https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/

Although this event is not free, it is very economical when you consider that you can access every lecture through August 15, 2024. Every lecture will be recorded and you can keep viewing it whenever through August 15, 2024. Thus, if two lectures happened at the same time, no problem, you can watch one via a recording. No need to book expensive hotel rooms, rent a car to get around or worry about where you can eat. Plus, you can view all of this from the comforts of your own home!

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 15

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 15 – Celebrate International Day of Families today by noting the social, economic and demographic issues that impacted your ancestors.

I have many family members who were Irish and the potato famine had a big impact on them. They fled Ireland and started over first in New York State and then traveled westward until they ended up in Wisconsin. In more recent times, the great depression had similar effects on families, where they fled and some moved west to California. Knowing these factors help us to understand why they moved to where they moved. Also, many didn’t just move their family, they traveled with other families, whether family, friends, or neighbors.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 14

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 14 – Brainstorm clubs, fraternal organizations or trade associations your ancestors may have belonged to. Then check Cyndi’s List https://www.cyndislist.com/societies

Knowing what organizations your ancestors may have belonged to, can give you a glimpsed into their personality. Perhaps there is a newspaper article related to their organization affiliation. If the organization is still in existence, perhaps they have some records pertaining to them. Just because they still existence doesn’t mean the records do or that they will even share them with you. Also, just because the organization doesn’t exist doesn’t mean the records are gone, sometimes local historical societies have been gifted these items. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 13

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 13 – Search eBay for genealogy plus your family surnames and places.

The only time I search eBay for Genealogy items is when I see suggestions such as this. I have noticed that some businesses are selling digital books on a CD or flash drive. What I have found, is that many of these books are available on-line for free. However, since the eBay listing doesn’t list every book available, perhaps this is an easier way of finding these books. Plus, you don’t need internet access to review them. However, buyer beware, please read the reviews of these sellers, some might be better than others.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 12

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 12 – This Mother’s Day, research your maternal lines. (And call the moms in your life!)

As a mother, my advice to you, if your mother is still alive, put the research aside and see your mother in person. All she wants is you to spend time with her. Before you know it, you might not have your mother around to share the day with. It will be 22 years this September when my mother left his world. Oh, to spend another day with her. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 11

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 11 – For “Eat What you Want Day,” whip up a favorite family recipe.

Since it’s the weekend and almost Mother’s Day, you could invite friends or family over to enjoy your favorite family recipe. Or have a pot luck and everyone brings their favorite family recipe to share.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 10

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 10 – Prepare for a research trip to the courthouse. Call or look online to check record holdings, hours and visitor regulations. List records you want to find.

Many years ago, I started a Research Trip Folder, as I came across things that needed a follow-up visit to a courthouse, I would print out something to place in the folder. For example, perhaps you find a vital record index and want to see the actual record it refers to, I print out the index page and place it into the folder. I make sure I write the County and State in the upper right-hand corner. Then, when I get enough stuff to look up, I plan to visit the courthouse.

I usually also create a to-do-list for other items I could look up while there. I have even used my genealogy program’s task feature to create to-do’s for in-person research. My program allows me to create a category. Thus, I create a category with the county name + Lookup.

I have also created “Low Priority” general task for each Courthouse or Cemetery I have a task for. This allows me to input the address, the room number (floor) where I need to go, their hours, phone number and website address (so I can verify the information). The Category for the courthouses is Courthouse Address, For Cemeteries, it Cemetery, County Name. Thus I can print out my Task list, selecting just certain categories or all categories and take the printout with me on my Research Tip.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 9

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 9 – Try FamilySearch or the local coroner’s office for coroner’s records, which may contain clues to an ancestral untimely death.

I have seen in newspapers where a coroner’s inquest was started. Thus, you may have to look in the circuit court records for more information. However, the newspapers of old really had a lot of the information printed in them.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 8

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 8 – Check libraries and historical societies for ancestral town anniversary booklets or newspapers accounts of centennial celebrations.

Yesterday I mentioned how I used to volunteer at my local genealogical society library. That Society actively sells a pamphlet on one of the founding fathers of Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Robert McCulloch. For a small fee you can learn about him and the city.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 7

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 7 – Purchase an orphaned family Bible or photo from a flea market and track down its rightful owner using websites such as DeadFred.

It always makes me sad when I see old photos or bible being sold at flea markets or 2nd hand stores. However, I guess that is better than all the old photos and bibles that probably been tossed in the garbage after someone passes on. 

In 2014, when I use to volunteer at my local genealogical society library, we came in possession of some bible pages. I did a little research on the family that appeared in the bible pages and did a five-part blog post about the pages and people as a way to preserve it for future generations. The first Part can be read here.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 6

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 6 – Explore the digital collections on Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center www.yadvashem.org/collections.html

I have been watching a holocaust series on Hulu titled “We Were the Lucky Ones”. It’s about the Kruc family and how they will do anything to get back to their loved ones and keep their family lineage alive. I have been finding that I enjoy watching movies based on true historical facts. I learn things that weren’t taught in school. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 5

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 5 – Celebrate both Cinco De Mayo and Orthodox Easter by studying FamilySearch’s Mexican and Orthodox records www.familysearch.org/search

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 4

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 4 – Horse-racing fans flock to Churchill Downs today for the 150th Kentucky Derby. Find state-specific genealogy resources at www.familytreemagazine.com/explore-by-state

My mother said her maternal grandfather was a horse buggy racer. However, looking at old newspapers, I was unable to substantiate those claims. This doesn't mean it's not true, it just means I haven't found anything to support her claims. Thus, this is still considered family lore.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 3

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 3 – Join the hundreds of thousands of worldwide volunteers on BillionGraves www.billiongraves.com and head to your local cemetery to snap and upload cemetery pics.

BillionGraves is the world’s largest resource for searchable GPS cemetery data. Their home page has links to getting started taking photos, how to transcribe photos and they even have a free index for family and link records to your favorite family tree resources since they partnered with great companies like, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and FindmyPast.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 2

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 2 – Maybe your ancestors isn’t in US passenger lists because he first immigrated to Canada. Look for information on border-crossing records. 

Also, when did your ancestor arrive in the US? Did they arrive before 1820? If they did, it might be harder to find US passenger list for them. Have you found US Citizenship forms? Do you know they sometimes list the ship name and date that the passenger arrived. Keep in mind, your ancestor might have reported this years later and may not have remember the facts accurately.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

 

LibraryThing Mobile App

I didn’t feel much like researching today.  I decided to see what I have recorded in my account under LibraryThing.

I realized pretty quickly, that I was missing many of the books I own that pertain to genealogy. Thus, I decided to add my books. Since LibraryThing has become more popular since I first started using it back in 2017, I found adding books was a breeze.

I used the desktop version and all I had to do was click Add Books then input the ISBN number and search. The book will display on the right side of the screen and I click Add Book to add it to my collection. I get a red warning “This is a Duplicate Entry” if I already entered the book.

I decided to see if I could print out a list and when Googling for instructions, it stated to click the More option on the top tool bar. That is when I saw LibraryThing Mobile Apps for iPhones and Android. This is better than trying to print out a list.

I can search my catalog and it shows I have 59 books; it states I have 7 Collections. The Collections consist of Your library, Wishlist, currently reading, to read, read by unowned and Favorites. I basically only use Your Library.

My Library consists of 42 authors, and I can view my alphabetically sorted list. It will show how many books by that author our in my collection. I have a few that have three books and a few more that have authored 2 books, however most are only one book each. Caution, when I click on one of my authors who displayed he authored one book, I click on his name and it showed two books. The second book shown was one he co-authored. Thus, it only gives credit in the Author list for the main author of the book.

In the app, to add a book, it gives an option to scan the bar code. How convenient this will be when I purchase more books. I have several saved on my Amazon Wish List that I wish to purchase. I like purchasing books during the winter months, when I am more housebound due to the weather and have more time to read them.

If you haven’t checkout our LibraryThing and you have a large genealogy book collection, I recommend you to check them out. In years past, I had a habit of buying the book more than once, and this has helped me see what I already have.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

The Year Ahead – May 1

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 1 – Happy May Day, the point roughly halfway between the first day of spring and the summer solstice. Review the goals you set in January and what progress you’ve made.

I had five goals for this year. 

1.) Keep up the “The Year Ahead” blog posts. – I am doing this so that is good. 

2.) Continue to participate in “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Blog post for those themes that move me. – I am doing this too, so that is good. To see these posts, go to my other blog, “My Simple Genealogy Research Blog”. 

3.) Finish the Jones book – I am so happy that one is off my list. I finished that in late February, actually Feb 22 is when I ordered myself a copy of that book. I learned so much from that project. Copies of this book, along with two other's I published can be ordered through LuLu, from my Author's Website. 

4.) I will spend at least one day a week researching the Goodwin Family. - I have been doing pretty good with this one too. I have been averaging about two days a week except the week my sister ended up in the Hospital. 

5.) I will spend my first hour of each research day with cleaning up my paper files. – Nope, haven’t been doing that. The first day I did this, I realize that it involves doing some research to see what I should do with the papers. It distracts me from my Goodwin research. Thus, I am rethinking if I want to continue this goal. I know it needs to be done, but perhaps not on the same day as my Goodwin research day. Perhaps on a different day.

Therefore, I am very pleased with my goals, I have completed one, and am actively working on the three of them and I need to reevaluate the fifth one.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!