Revisiting my 2025 Genealogy Goals

It is time to revisit my goals for 2025 and see how well I did (see “Goals for 2025”). Looking back, my genealogy goals were:

• Organization. Continue organizing and reducing files. I have new archival boxes to store these items and I can donate the plastic bins.
• Writing. Create 2 books about my grandparents, Tom J Johnston & Pansy Lancaster, and William C Hork and Anna Sullivan. Do the same as I did the parent's book, using blog posts and photos. 
• Renewal. Decide on a subject for the KDP I can use for my renewal. I have played around with some starting points but have not decided yet.
• Presentations. Create 1-2 new presentations. One should have a case study within.

Revisit
I had these goals written on a bright yellow 3 x 5 card posted on the bulletin board above my computer. I do not think I ever looked at them the whole year. So, it will be interesting to see how well I completed each goal.

• Organization. I was to work through more surname paper files in my plastic bins and then donate them. I did none of that. The copy machine at the Oakland FamilySearch Center broke and I haven’t tried to use the new one yet. I did purchase archival boxes but have not opened them yet. I managed to scan some photos and six photo albums and scrapbooks this past December.  Grade: C for dealing with scrapbooks and photos.

• Writing. I did not create the books about my grandparents. I started to work on my maternal grandparents, the Johnstons, but discovered the photos I had previously scanned were too low a resolution to print in a book. So, I have begun the process of rescanning them. Grade: D for at least working on photos

• Renewal: I was to select a family to write a KDP on for my renewal. Since my renewal isn’t until 2028, this has not been a high priority. What I have done is 12 chosen couples to research and write a summary during each month in 2026 (see “12 for ’26: a New Meme for 2026.”). I believe this will help me decide on a family for a renewal work product. Grade: B- for at least coming up with a plan.

• Presentations. I would have had this knocked out by March if my federal land class at AppGen had run. It was cancelled due to lack of full enrollment. I created a talk about using the BLM website and presented it to four genealogy societies this past year. I also created a land record presentation specifically about German immigrants for the Sacramento German Genealogy Society. However, neither presentation is a case study. Grade: A- for creating 2 presentations but without a case study.

Future Goals for 2026
I need to reconsider whether I want to revisit any of the above goals. The future goals should be something I have a chance to complete. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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