Aspirations and goals for 2012: PROWLS

First and foremost, Happy New Year/Happy Hogmanay to my readers. I hope 2012 brings you an abundance of discoveries and excitement in your family history.

Having felt a tad unfocused in 2011, I’ve been giving some thought to want I want to achieve with my family history in 2012. So here it is – my goals and aspirations…maybe they (and you!) will keep me “honest” over the year. I’m hoping my acronym will help keep me focused on these points.

PUBLISH

Seems a bit cart-before-the-horse putting this first, but it’s at the head of my list because it’s the thing I most want to achieve. I have a draft history written for my Melvin family which needs gaps filled, research added, and editing done. It’s possible it may even need a re-write as I’m undecided about the style I’ve used….sigh.

A lower-priority “wish list” publication is a small book for my grandchildren about their ancestors.

RESEARCH

Somehow in 2011 my research felt like it took a back seat. Did it in reality? I’m not sure, but either way I want to get down and dirty in the records more often in 2012. I’d love that to be in the archives but if that’s just not possible geographically, then it will have to be online or microfilm.

This is the year when I decide whether I do more detailed research on the east Clare immigrants to eastern Australia, and if so, what I do with that. I also need to leave time for evolving research opportunities.

ORGANISE

More scanning of documents and (tagging of) photographs … I have lots of “stuff” from pre-computers that I really need to digitise.

Monitoring of what I’m actually doing and staying focused is important also.

Genealogy Program: I’ve mentioned before that family history computer software makes me feel like I’m hobbled. Perhaps it’s time to revisit this attitude and perhaps try a new program in lieu of Relatively Yours which I’ve had for years because of its holistic information approach (atypical in those years). Can’t decide whether to upgrade my copy of The Master Genealogist to Version 8 or try Family Historian.

WRITING

I much prefer to write up my findings than to put them into a genealogy database. It feels less confining and enables me to add the background story and pictures as well as the data and source references. It also lets me highlight the gaps in my information and where I need to dig deeper.

In an ideal world I’ll keep a running file on each family to which I add. Note, this is my ideal but I’d like to get back into this habit in 2012, with greater clarity and focus.

LEARNING

Once again I plan to do some more Pharos courses while the pound is weak and the Aussie dollar is strong.

I’ll also be following blogs on Google Reader throughout the year to learn what everyone else is up to, as well as listening in to some RootsTech presentations and webinars.

SHARING

Blogging will be the key component of my sharing strategy in 2012. I hope to continue writing about my own research but thought I might use some of the items from my Beyond the Internet geneameme to highlight different resources (off line and online) and how they’ve advanced my family stories. This may or may not tie in with the new 52 weeks of Abundant Genealogy series by Amy Coffin & Geneabloggers.

My thoughts have been skirmishing around setting up two more blogs: one exclusively for my Dorfprozelten research and one which will be updates and new research on my Kunkel family history since the 2003 publication of Grassroots Queenslanders: The Kunkel family. I’m particularly undecided on the latter and whether it’s best served by being split off from Family History across the Seas.

I’m looking forward to 2012 in the genealogy world and learning and sharing with my online mates.