Paper & Pencil Time

I've been successful at the LDS library, but too successful with the amount of data I have. I sat down with low-tech paper and pencil to organize a data-flow/data entry/data dissemination process. This sounds like overkill, but to keep the data organized, backed up and published on a website is going to take migration procedures. This is much like the process I do at work when I administer Endevor (yes, that's the product's name) to migrate projects from test to production.

First: Digital or Not Digital?

1. Digital
1. Save using "My File Naming Convention"*
2. Copy to "Document Holding Area" folder
2. Paper, photo or other goes into the "To Be Scanned" Folder in the file cabinet
   

Second: "To Be Scanned" Folder

1. Digitize
2. Save using "My File Naming Convention"* into "Document Holding Area"
   

Third: Enter the data into PAF (I enter data into PAF and copy it to Legacy and TNG). Move those files into the "Entered in PAF" file folder.

Fourth: When there are a number of files in the "Entered in PAF" folder, it will act as a signal for further action. This will be the point in time to copy the files to their final folders (see step 5), the off-site location, to Legacy and the website.

Fifth: Hard copies go into the file cabinet by type of document, electronic file folders correspond to this convention under the "Genealogy Records" file folder. They will be filed under the following titles:

1. Adoption
2. Baptism
3. Birth
4. Burial
1. Cemetery Records
2. Funeral Memorial Cards
5. Census
1. Census US Year
2. Census British Year
   
6. Church
1. Confirmation
7. Correspondence
8. Cremation
9. Death
1. DB
2. Certificates
10. Directories
11. Divorce
12. Education
13. Emigration
1. Travel papers
14. Estate Probate
15. Histories
16. Immigration
1. DB
2. Manifests {Ellis Island, Castle Gardens, New York}
17. Land Records
18. Living People
19. Marriage
20. Military
21. Naturalization
22. Obituary
1. DB
2. Newspaper Copies
23. Occupation
24. Other Researchers' Documents
1. Gedcom Files
2. Reports
3. Books
25. Probate {Not Birth, Marriage or Wills}
26. Religion See Church
27. Residence See Land
28. Social Security
29. Wills

Sixth: Create a standard backup file or an incremental file. Copy the backup file to the off-site folder. Load PAF to Legacy and the TNG website.

There is one more major folder for generated reports, gedcoms and charts. This is to keep track of what I send out to other researchers.

I'm going to give this a try and see if this doesn't help me keep it together. I hope I just need to tweak it from here.

* My File Naming Convention:

• SURNAME
• (MAIDEN)
• Given & Middle
  
• Type of Document
• {Optional} year

Trip to the Local LDS

I had to put the server stuff on hold.

I had ordered microfilm from Salt Lake and it arrived last Wednesday. Thursday night and Saturday are the only time I can go to the library without taking time off from work. It was very fruitful as I was able to break one of my brick walls. I have not been able to find my great-grandfather Ernst Myers prior to his marriage in 1872. But, the marriage record from the church in Toledo, Ohio said he was born in Lintorf, Hannover. So I ordered the film from Lintorf. There are actually three films from this church, but, I only rented the one that I could predict he was on.

He was there, and all his brothers and sisters. It's amazing the name changes that went on. I also found his parents and their parents. I'm back into the late 1700's.

My MySQL

The following posts are over several days. The cable to our cable modem had been eaten by squirrels (that's what the repairman said, honest).

I got my first comment. I will take a look at Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian the next time I go to the library. It is recommended by in the help screen of PAF (my software of choice) and I have been using Family History Documentation Guidelines 2nd Ed. by the Silicon Valley PAF Users Group. I like this book because it has tons of examples and it is PAF specific. My main lament was that I was goofing and not concentrating on my main goal which is....

My number one goal is to have a website up by the end of February. I have selected the software and am trying to prep for it.

This is probably an unnecessary step, but I want to setup my PC to have MySQL, PHP and Apache. This is for the TNG software. I would like to get it up and running prior to getting a server service. I am having trouble getting MySQL to configure on a reinstall. I'm going to start again, clean the register and see if I can't get a clean install.

Well that worked, that is, I un-installed the new version, deleted the left over files in the 'Program Files' directory, ran CCLEANER to pick off the most obvious registry problems. Then, just to be safe, I burned MySQL folders off the registry with regedit. Re-installed it, and re-configured it. The only tough part is the book I'm using is for 4.0.x and I'm on 5.0.27. But, I'm done with that and installed Apache HTTP. So for tomorrow, it's HTTP and PHP.

I don't mind this too much, but I do this kind of stuff all day at work only to do it at home, oh well.

The Next Generation Web Software

I talked to Brit Baubie (brother of my boss) and he said that TNG was easy to use. He also gave me good advice on research for Michigan. I still have issues with the JungleDisk's diacritical folder name problem. Hopefully, they will fix that.

Before I take the TNG plunge, I need to setup MySQL, PHP and an Apache server on my machine.

Next topic: I found death certificate info for Ohio on Ancestry.com. There's a gap from 1944 - 1958, but I'm finding stuff I've been missing. I need to rethink the sourcing on this. I can't use the vital, because this is from Ancestry.com. I'm flailing again. Got to go back to to do log.

JungleDisk from Amazon

Problems abound. It took 12 hours to upload 808M of data, with error messages all over the place. Disconnect, 404, folder not found. The good news, it only cost me 17 cents. But I need something reliable. Also, when it tries to copy a folder with an umlaut in the name, it can't build the folder on the server side. I've written the message boards. Let's see how my "information" is treated.

On another topic...I've been wanting to start my own web site. I've looked at "The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding" software, and have contacted Brit Baubie about his experience with it. Once I have enough information, I'm going to have some sort of site...

Getting Organized 1/23/2007

The following was written yesterday, but the server was done. This does not bode well...

I've put tasks in my PDA. Yet, I want to go on to GoogleEarth and see if I can pick out my Great-Great-Grandfather's farm. I did that, it's funny, the land looks like it's divided the same way it was in the 1860 Landowner Atlas!

I'm ready for the LDS microfilm for Lintorf, Germany.

I still need to find a backup site for my data. I've decided on using Amazon's S3 backup at 15 cents a gig a month and 20 cents a gig a transfer. Now after signing up, I may be over my head. There's a lot to read...

Continuing from yesterday...

OK, come to find out I have very little to do, becuase a product called JungleDisk will manage this S3 account for me. So wish me luck.

First Posting

I wanted to create a Genealogy Journal using a database. But after goofing around with OpenOffice.org database app, I discovered that the product was not ready for prime time. I said "OK, I'm thinking old school." So I'm trying to use a blogger to keep track of my research progress.

I keep forgetting if I've researched something already or what I would like to do next. Also, what was my thinking at the time? When did I have that ah-ha moment.

I'll backup a little, because I did have an ah-ha moment last Friday the 19Th. After looking up my Great-Great-grandfather J. Andreas Heinrich Schroeder in the Federal Census, (who should have been located in Sandusky County, Ohio in 1860) I've come to the conclusion that the enumerator could not understand German immigrants or was just disorganized.

The ages were correct for the family. The names were right for the parents, and even the fact that the parents and the first born child were born in Germany. But then the problem starts where the 5 children's names are mixed up on the list as to who's age is who's. And there's a child's name of Aaron who I believe should have been Ernst (sounds like?). But once I could confirm that they lived just west of Hessville in Washington Township, I new I had a match with one of the children, my great-grandmother. On here death certificate filled out by her husband, he said she was born in Hessville. And she would have been 5 years old in the 1860 Census. I was also able to match up their location on an 1860 landowner atlas from Sundusky Co. Kin Hunters.

I want to prep for a LDS session on another family: Myers or Meyer. I've had a hard time finding them prior to when Fred Myers was married in 1871 in Toledo, Ohio.

I'm going to look for a place to backup my history data. That's all I need is to lose that!