Goals for 2010

I don’t remember setting any specific genealogy goals  last year.  Although about midway through the year I did start trying to clear out some boxes of stuff in my home office.  And I have been working at documenting my facts in my family tree.  A few years ago we decided to only make positive New Year’s resolutions (like “sleep late on Sundays” or “drink champagne for no reason”).  So I’m trying to list my goals (not resolutions!) for my genealogy work in a positive way for the coming year.

1. I will empty the 3 boxes stacked in the corner of my office.  These boxes have been stacked there by the door for much too long – read years.  As I noted above, this was a goal for 2009 that only got partially met, so it’s on the list again.  These boxes have paper files and pictures (snapshots) from my mother’s, which I inherited in about 1994.  I think they’re aged enough to work on now.  I actually have started on the biggest box of files, putting papers into protective sleeves (since I think I do better with these in binders rather than hidden in folders).  I have discovered that one thing that slows me down is is reading the papers and deciding that they need to be kept or that it is all right to get rid of them (not every letter to the bank or scrap with figuring on it needs to be kept).  So now I already have a pile of pages in sleeves that need to be entered into my organizing software and then divided into binders.  I’m using Clooz for organizing and like it alot.  The first box is about 1/3 to 1/2 done.

2. I will write Nathan’s story (see my post on him from November).  I have been wanting to do this for a long time.

3. I will put the sources I have into my tree software so I can really see what I have documented and what I don’t.  There are sometimes specific dates for people that aren’t now sourced and I know I didn’t make the dates up, but where did I get them?  And are the sources primary or secondary or what?  Do I need to be hunting for other sources for a fact or not?