2011 Genealogy Goals - September update

It's nearing the end of the 3rd quarter of 2011, and I thought I'd see where I stand with my goals.  I'm not altogether discouraged ... 

1.  Plan (and execute) a trip to the National Archives in D.C. 

Check.  You can see the "results" of my efforts here.

2.  Request NARA files for my military ancestors.

I requested 2 files from NARA and got letters back … no records found for either of them.  This fire in 1973 in St. Louis is really going to cramp my style, I think.

3.  Break down the brick wall that we call my grandfather's biological parents!

I sent a letter to the NY Adoption Registry this week to see if they could at least point me in the right direction to go about unsealing my grandfather's adoption records.  I received a

 form letter response from them basically saying “we don’t do that” … but no ideas on where to start.  No help there.  I have joined a few mailing lists for NY adoptions just to get some ideas of where to begin, but so far no luck there either.

 

4.  Scan and organize all of my photos.  

I said in my last update that I would be at the August Scanfest.  Unfortunately, that was before I planned a trip to see my grandmother on the west coast during the last week of August.  As it turned out, I had my own sort of Scanfest – with all the scrapbooks and photos she has, and my handy-dandy FlipPal!  Now I just have to label and organize them all.  Then there's the box of photos in the closet ......

5.  Re-source all of my research ... well, some of it is sourcing for the first time, but I just need to make sure everything has a source!  

All of my known direct ancestors have been entered, documented, sourced, and media-ized in RootsMagic.  Still working on my collateral folks.

6.  Keep a to-do list in ONE place, and actually work on it!  
I continue to transfer my to-do list to RootsMagic as I transfer all of my data.  I've checked off a couple more items on that list since July! (of course, I've added more than I've checked off, but who's counting?)

7.  Increase my FamilySearch Indexing output by at least twofold.

Now that school is out and vacations are over, I will have some time to get back on top of this.  My goal is to schedule at least 2 hours on the weekends to do some indexing.

8.  Finally take a trip to the Family History Library in Ooltewah, TN 

Done!  I actually blogged about that here, and I have gone back a few times since then as well.

9.  Transcribe all the documents I have obtained (and will obtain).

I am still going through all the media I transferred to RM4 to make sure everything has been transcribed, so this is still a work in progress.  

10.  Last but not least ... start writing my family history!  Note: it will probably be 2064 before I actually FINISH it, but at least I can start writing it.

In addition to the three individuals I have already completed (as much as possible), my GGGrandfather, Joseph Zenophile Lanctot, is now a work in progress.

Now I just have to make sure I continue to keep this list in front of me so I'll remember my long-term goals for this year!  I feel pretty sure that I won't have to transfer many of these items to my list for 2012, even though many of these have no "ending."