Jill Ball of GeniAus has had this meme since 2012 and I have discovered it today from Linda Stufflebean’s post. I shall attempt to answer some of these questions.
1. On revisiting some old research I found I realized I hadn’t written anything about that research. So, for my BCG renewal, I wrote up the research that helped me round out the family of John Gleeson of Ontario, Canada.
2. In 2023 I hooked up with a new (to me) living cousin. I did not meet a new cousin, but did reach out to an old cousin about some possible WWI military record that is available at the South Dakota Historical Society that only a direct family member can get. I haven’t heard back yet, but I hope she can obtain the record.
3. I'm pleased I replaced a tool I had been using with. I don’t use many fancy tools, but did discover some uses of ChatGPT after taking a course from NGS. It is very useful for sorting through text to give a summary.
4. My sledge hammer did great work on this brick wall. No brick wall solving this year. If I continue writing up my research as I did for the portfolio, I may end up breaking a brick wall.
5. I was pleased that I finally read four
books concerning California this past year: California at War by Diane
M.T. North, Gateway to Victory: The Wartime Story of the San Francisco Army
Port of Embarkation by James W. Hamilton, Guardians of the Valley: John
Muir and the Friendship that Saved Yosemite by Dean King, and Lincoln
and California: The President, the War, and the Golden State by Brian
McGinty. Someday, I want to read The Octopus by Frank Norris.
6. I enjoyed my geneajourney to Modesto with my friend, Jacqueline, where we got images of land transactions her father and mother made in Turlock. We have planned other trips for research (Texas and Kansas) but have not yet made them.
7. In 2022 I finally met Helen Smith from Australia in person. She loves birds and my stuffed dog got to meet her stuffed dragon. I also traveled to Maine and met my certification mentee, Angela, in person.
8. I was the recipient of genearosity from ... National Archives at Kansas City. They have been both prompt and courteous whenever I deal with the archivists there.
9. I am pleased that I am a member of ... the Applied Genealogy Institute team, which provides online, hands-on instruction in a small-class atmosphere. This past year, I taught two of the courses.
10. I made a new DNA discovery. No, I have not worked with my DNA seriously yet.
11. An informative journal or newspaper article I found were ... many of the articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and their magazine. I hope to have more time this coming year to read more of the articles.
12. A newspaper archive (Trove?) helped me. Newspapers have helped with many of my genealogical projects. I subscribe to Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com and use ChroniclingAmerica often. I use NewspaperArchive at the FamilySearch Center in Oakland, though we now have access to that database online from home through NGS.
13. I enjoyed my wander around ... cemetery with Jacqueline outside of Turlock on our trip to Modesto. It was fun searching for the markers of her family.
14. AI was a mystery to me but I learned ... see number 3 above. I have also asked it to comment on my writing and once it changed it so much with flowery words that I had to ask it to “use my voice.” Not sure I’m ready for it to write for me.
15. The best value I got for my genealogy dollars was attending IGHR class “For Land’s Sake” with Jerry Smith and Kimberly Powell. I got a lot of practice platting metes and bounds land. Second place was attending the BCG Education Fund’s course on writing Research Reports, which came just in time for my renewal project.
16. It felt good to contribute to ... two societies as a member of the board and to another as a member of the publication committee. I also volunteer at the archives of a local historical society and answer queries.
17. It was wonderful to catch up with genie-mates. I went to Salt Lake City twice this past year, once for RootsTech where I worked the BCG booth in the Exhibit Hall, and again in October for the Reisinger Lectures. It was great to catch up with so many other CGs.
18. I wouldn't be without this technology. My computer is a tool I use every day and the apps I use most are Chrome, Word, Excel, and Photoshop Elements. The websites I use most are Ancestry, FamilySearch, and Feedly where I read other genealogist’s blogs.
19. I wrote 171 blog posts across two blogs so far this year (not counting this one and the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun I will do on Saturday—unless Randy picks this theme to do), one article for Der Blumenbaum, two articles for the California Nugget, and two articles for Contra Costa County Genealogical Society’s Descendants.
19. I got a thrill from opening someone's eyes to the joy of genealogy ... This is the best part of teaching about genealogy and I’ve been doing that at the Adult School, but the past two quarters, I did not have enough students sign up to have the class run. I did get an email from someone in last Spring’s class who was very disappointed it was canceled.
20. Another positive I would like to share is ... I will have read the 50 books of the reading challenge this past year and I can say all books were not mysteries (many were). I hope to improve the non-fiction total next year.
You've had a very busy year with genealogy and your travels. Like you, I haven't done much with DNA because I've had no surprises to investigate and I actually know many of the distant cousins. Congratulations on completing your BCG study.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI'm so honored to be mentioned numerous times in this blog. We did a lot this year and need to really plan Texas and Kansas. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
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