November 30 - Back up your data

November 30 - Time to back up your data. Tidy your paper files while you wait.

 
Always try to stay organized. I used to be real organized when I use to work. My work desk was very well organized and I knew where everything was. Everything had a proper place. Now that I don't work and as I look around my messy computer room, I realize that I need to take a step back and clean up my work area. Especially with the weekend coming up. I always liked when I wrapped up work projects and came back on Monday to a clean and organized desk. I need to start doing that at home!

November 29 - Immigration resources

November 29 - Focus on lesser-known immigration resources on the Internet, such as the Galveston Immigration Database <www. tsm-elissa.org/immigration-main.htm> and the Famine Irish Passenger Record Data File <aad.archives.gov/aad> (select Irish from the Subject pull-down menu).

November 28 - New site of the week

November 28 - Try to find a new site each week to research for your genealogy. We get into ruts and sometimes we need to move out of our comfort zone. Spending just a little time each week exploring new resources can be fun and rewarding.

November 27 - Publish your family history

November 27 - Publishing your family history doesn't have to be complicated. Do a Google search for print-on-demand publishers.

This is a great way to offer your book without costing you money out of your pocket. You set the price and share the link and family members can order how many books they want and ship them to themselves. Plus many offer a E-Book option with all the readers that are out there. Please remember, even though might not be in it for the money, still charge for the E-Book option. Perhaps a fraction of what the printed book would cost, but if you are making a small profit on the printed book, then have that profit the cost of the e-book. Genealogy is not a cheap hobby.

November 26 - Mystery Photographs

November 26  -. Pull out a few mystery photographs and examine the clothing with a magnifying glass. Compare them to photos in Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900 by Joan Severa (Kent State University Press).

November 25 - Holiday Travels

November 25 - Plan to take your genealogy on holiday day travels: Pack your PDA (make sure to sync your files first), an issue or two of Family Tree Magazine, some society journals and your research binder.

November 24 - Call a genealogical library

November 24 - Call a genealogical library in one of the places your progenitors lived. Ask what long-distance research services the library offers (checking indexes? obituary lookups?) and how much they cost.

November 23 - Black Friday

November 23 - Starting holiday shopping today? You're a brave soul. Put these genealogically beneficial gifts on your list: digital voice recorders, scrapbooks, picture frames, magnifying glasses, software and computer gadgets.

November 22 - Thanksgiving Day

November 22 - Enjoy Thanksgiving Day with your living relatives

November 21 - Overseas Internet Sites

November 21 - If you're surfing overseas Internet sites, try Google's language tools <www.google.com/language_tools>. You can search for Web pages from a specific country (use the pull-down menu) and translate the text of a foreign-language site (plug in the URL and pick the languages you need).

November 20 - Generate Maps

November 20 - Generate maps of your ancestors' hometowns-and get directions for your upcoming holiday road trip—at MapQuest <www.mapquest.com> or Google Maps <maps.google.com>.

November 19 - Small Talk

November 19 - Hate making small talk? Discussion starters such as the conversation cards at <www.goaskanyone.com> can break the ice and help you learn more about your family at this Thanksgiving's gathering

November 18 - Ancestral Nicknames

November 18 - Don't let ancestral nicknames-such as Beth, Bess, Betty, Liz or Lizbet for Elizabeth-trip you up. Broaden your online searches to include nicknames or just a first initial.

November 17 - Research Ellis Island

November 17 - Ellis Island closed this month in 1954, after welcoming more than 17 million immigrants to New York. Look up 1892-to-1924 arrivals at <www.ellisisland.org>.

November 16 - create a wish list

November 16 - Create a genealogical wish list of software, books and subscriptions you've been coveting. Leave it in plain sight of anyone who might give you a holiday gift.

 

This is a great idea. I did this once and received Family Tree Maker software that included a free year of Ancestry.com. It was the best gift I ever received!

November 15 - serve a dish from yesteryear

November 15 -  Hunt down a Thanksgiving dish from yesteryear at HeritageRecipes.com <www.heritagerecipes.com/Recipes.htm>. Plan to serve it at your family's Thanksgiving dinner.

November 14 - share a family history article

November 14 - Photocopy the most helpful family history article you've read recently and share it with a genealogy buddy. Ask her to do the same for you.

November 13 - Get a reference book

November 13 - Get a reference book to tell you when counties formed, which courthouses have which records and more. Ask friends to recommend their favorites-we like The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists edited by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack and Erin Nevius (Family Tree Books).

November 12 - Historical Census Browser

November 12 - Learn all about your forebears' neighbors. With the Historical Census Browser <fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus>, you can see demographic information-sex, age, religion, slavery, education-of counties from 1790 to 1960.

November 11 - Veteran's Day

November 11 - This Veteran's Day, add your WWII ancestor to the National WWII Memorial Registry <www.wwiimemorial.com>.

Don't forget to check www.Fold3.com for their memorials to all veterans.

November 10 - Search the Archival research catalog

November 10 - Search the Archival Research Catalog http://www.archives.gov/research/search/ to see NARA's photograph, map and record holdings. If you want only matches linked to digital images, be sure to click the box.

November 9 - Googles Downloads

November 9 - Google offers more than just its well-known search engine: Try Google Earth to explore an ancestral neighborhood, or Picasa to organize the pictures on your PC. Get both these Windows freeware programs from <www.google.com/downloads>.

Things have changed since 2006 and so has google. To find the download for Google Earth try http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/agree.html and for Picasa try http://picasa.google.com/.

November 8 - Family Newsletter

November 8 - Write up and mail out your family newsletter today.

I wonder how many family newsletters really exist these days, with blogs, family websites through MyFamily.com and such. Plus if they do exist, are they still mailed or is everything done via email?

So however you communicate with your distant and not so distant relatives, do something today for it.

November 7 - voting records

November 7 - After casting your vote yesterday, search out your ancestors' voting records. Contact the county election commission to ask where old records are — probably in a public library.

November 6 - American Indian Heritage

November 6 - Chase down those family stories about an American Indian great-great-grandmother. See the April 2004 Family Tree Magazine and http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/.

I remember growing up, my half-siblings telling me that they descend from an Indian Princess. Well, as I grew up, I learned that family stories sometimes have a little bit of truth in them. They do descend from Indian Blood, and it was through the War Chief's daughter. So it was assumed that she was a Indian Princess. However, there are many different types of Chiefs in a tribe and they as a group decide how to proceed with the tribe.

Later I found that I one of my ancestors, through my mother was an Mohawk Indian Women from the turtle clan. I haven't done any more research to find out what that exactly means or how the family historian even knows this. I guess now is better than never.

November 5 - Family Newsletter

November 5 - Design a family newsletter. Get how-tos at <www.microsoft.com/athome/ intouch/newsletter.mspx>.

As always, the web is constantly changing, check out http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/create-business-or-personal-newsletters-in-office-HA001081867.aspx for how to information on newsletters.

November 4 - Daylight Savings Time Ends

November 4 - Daylight Savings Time ends —“fall back” and get an extra hour to search an online database you haven't tried. See <www.familytreemagazine.com/101sites/2005> for suggestions.

 

FamilytreeMagazine has many 101 sites, to visit the latest, check out this website http://www.familytreemagazine.com/articlesearch/L0?SearchTerm=101+best+web+sites&Sort=Rank

November 3 - Looking 4 Kin

November 3 - Maybe someone in Looking 4 Kin's <www.looking4kin.com> friendly genealogy chat rooms can help you solve a brick-wall problem.

November 2 - Dakota Territory

November 2 - Today in 1889, Congress admitted North and South Dakota (originally part of the Dakota Territory) to the Union. Changing state borders affect where records are, so learn your ancestral states' histories from Wikipedia <www.wikipedia.org>.

November 1 - Behind the name

November 1 -  Roman Catholics celebrate All Saints Day today. Many Catholic parents named children for saints—for first-name information, see Behind the Name <www.behindthename.com/>.