More Genealogy Books In My Personal Library

The other day I wrote a blog about which books I would grab (if I had the time) in the event of an emergency. That got me to thinking about the books I have in my personal library (genealogy books that is) and which ones I love. Though I may use some of these books only occasionally, others I use all the time; so I thought I would share a glimpse into my library.

These books fall under the category of books I think everyone should own. I don't use them all the time but I have learned a great deal from them and occasionally will pull them out and take a "refresher" course by reading them or looking up a detail I have forgotten.

The Handybook for Genealogists Published by Everton Publishers
Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920 by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide
Courthouse Research for Family Historians Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures by Christine Rose
Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry

If you are just beginning to amass your very own "genealogical library" I highly recommend these books. They have proved very valuable to me over the years.

Every month or so I will post more information on my books. Let me know if you also have these books and if so what did you like about them or what did you not like. Tell me if you have any books you would recommend.

Happy Reading

RootsTech Recovery

Well, the party is over, and I am sort of recovered. RootsTech was one heck of a good time. I made a ton of new friends and attended some really great classes. I hung out in the vendor hall and spent way to much money on a whole bunch of new stuff that I just had to have. 

"Party Boy" Thomas

Of course, like any good party there is the "morning after."  It seems like I needed a lot more recovery time this year. I may have been because I spent about 10 days prior to RootsTech in Salt Lake City attending SLIG and doing research. I for one am glad that next year the two events (Salt Lake Institute for Genealogy and RootsTech) will be separated by about a month.

I think my cousins Tina and LouAnn should think about joining me next year. We'll make it a "family affair." How about my cousin Eric? Or my brother Rick? Those are the only folks in my family that are working on the genealogies. How about you? Do you have siblings or cousins working on the family genealogy? Why not have them join you at RootsTech. Sharing with family always makes it even more enjoyable. I wonder how many family "units" we could get there? Prizes for the most folks from one family? I see endless possibilities.

See you next year, and bring the family.

Motivation Monday - March Goals

Well, first the confession. I didn't post my February goals. That doesn't mean I didn't accomplish anything. Just that "the plan" didn't get posted.
So here is what I did during February:
The first week of February I was in Salt Lake City with about 2000 of my closest friends attending RootsTech. (This meets some of my educational goals for the year.)
During the second week of February I attended a local society meeting, gave a presentation at the Second Life chapter of the Association for Professional Genealogists, and met with a client.
The third week of February I had a couple of doctors appointments and left on Thursday for a retreat so not much got done that week.
The last week (plus a few days) left in February I recovered from some bug I picked up (probably due to being overly tired) and tweaked my presentations that I presented the last weekend in Feb. (Out of 29 days in February I was gone 13 of them.)
I wrote and posted six blogs (when the month is all said and done.)
Not great. But not bad either.

So on to March:
I am having surgery on my shoulder in late March so I need to get extra done before I am out of commission.
Business Goals:

1. Finish paper work for new Biz License 
2. Work on new web site (be ready for the big reveal in April)
3. I speak once (One presentation) in March on the 21st. 
4. Send out letter to genealogy societies advertising my presentations (mailing 3 times a year for two years)
5. Develop topics for 8 more presentations
6. Complete development of 2 presentations (make the Power Point Presentations and write up notes and handouts)

Education Goals:

1. I ordered and received some new books: Acadian-Cajun Genealogy by Timothy Hebert; The Canary Islands Migration to Louisiana 1778-1783 by Sidney Louis Villere; and The Canary Islanders of Louisiana by Gilbert C. Din. So I hope to get through these books during March. I may save them for the first week of recovery. 
2. Also in March I will be attending the all day seminar produced by my local genealogy society "Root Cellar." They are hosting George Morgan.
3. Work on my NGS Home Study Course
4. Work on the four classes I'm taking from National Institute for Genealogical Studies

Writing Goals: 

1. I took on the challenge of writing a letter, note, postcard or some other written type of correspondence every day for the month of March. So all my sisters, brothers, cousins, and friends will be getting a note of some kind. 
2. Write and post 6 or more blog posts
3. Write a first draft of a magazine article
4. Do an interview for my blog

     
Organization Goals:

1. Update to Roots Magic 5
2. Clean Office (again) and sort files
3. Participate in a scan fest
4. Bring my "resume" up to date

Research Goals:

1. Work on the Parker family line (specifically determine the wife of Peter Becker)
2. Work on my CG work (Theaux line) (Specifically: order two or more succession records (whatever the budget will allow)
3. Develop Time lines for all family lines
4. Research work for my clients
5. Finish transcription on the succession record of Irma Domingues

Other:

1. Check and double check that all the speakers that are booked for the rest of the year for the Second Life Chapter of APG are confirmed.
2. Gather photos for my personal genealogy
3. Order table cards for NGS Ohio for SL APG

So that's it for March, I think. I've probably forgotten something...if you think of what it is let me know. 

That Old Get Up and Go, Got Up and Went - Motivation Monday

"I don't know what happened to my get up and go. Have you seen it? It seems to have abandoned me right after Roots Tech. I've been trying to catch up and work on projects that needed my attention but I seem to be running on my reserves. I've let the blog slide and I've not worked on my web site or new biz brand at all. My clients are clammering about their jobs and I'm not giving the time to my presentations that they deserve." 


So started my e-mail to my friend Caroline. Being the good friend that she is, she pointed out that I don't have to do everything at once. That I should pick one project and chip away at it and in doing so my "goal Goddess" status would be returned to me. Then she cracked the whip and said, "get to it." 


It worked. I decided I would use this example as my Motivation Monday post. 


Sometimes it is the excitement of a new project that gets my energy up. Sometimes it is a looming deadline, and I trudge through the work and "get it done." But every once in a while you just need a pep talk from a friend who has been there and can be the extra person at your pity party. 


Thank you Caroline for being my inspiration. 


What gets your engine running? Do you have days where you just don't want to deal with the laundry, dishes, blog, work, kids, pets, deadlines, commitments and responsibilities? What do you do to get out of the ditch? What gets you back on track? Does a break (vacation, day off, etc.) make you lose your groove? Did you have trouble getting back into the swing of the day to day after SLIG/RootsTech? Let's compare notes.

Genealogy Books in my Personal Library

What would you grab if there was a fire? I would grab my photos and my computer. I'd also make sure that my animals were safe. But if I had a few hours to prepare for a disaster I would pick out some of my, probably not replaceable, books that I use for genealogy.

I am a book addict. I probably have more than 300 cookbooks alone. Then there are the mystery novels, how to books, craft books and the genealogy books. Most of them can be replaced if need be. But I have a few genealogy books that I don't think I could get again. They have long ago gone out of print. Books like, The Gerron Family Descendants of Solomon Geron. Or, Marriage Records from 1810 to 1910 in Meigs Co., Ohio. 


They aren't the books I turn to over and over but they probably can no longer be found.

It would be tempting to reach for The RedBook and The Source. Two books that should be in every genealogist's library. But I know I can still get a hard back copy of them and RedBook (if not both) is available digitally.

What books would you grab and which books would you be tempted to grab?

What's in your library?

OOOOPS, I Did It Again

Years ago there was a pop song that had a title something like oops I did it again. Well, that's what's happened to me. I did it again. I pre-posted (scheduled my post to run at  a certain time on a certain day) because I would be away. Then promptly forgot to write the post.
Life just gets in the way...you know?
So forgive me dear Le Maison Duchamp readers. I will write the RootsTech Recovery post in just a couple of days and tell you all about how I am putting all that new knowledge to work.
See you then.
~Kim