Lofty goals?

Over the past few days I have read several blog posts from genimates in which they outline lists of lofty goals for this new geneayear. While I admire these genies for their commitment and organisational skills I won't be joining them.

Last week I responded to a tweet from Daniel Horowitz who asked about goals for 2022 and, with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek, I replied "Have fun". 

On reflection I realise that while fun is an element of my goal I needed to qualify the fun so my goal is now "Have fun and find stuff". 

I just finished writing the President's newsletter report for my local family history group, a committed mob of amateur genies like me.  

I wrote "Many genies on social media have been setting ambitious and rigid geneagoals for the coming year and I applaud them for their commitment. I have decided to take a loose approach with one goal to “Have fun and find stuff”. Family history is a hobby for me, I don’t want to put pressure on  myself by setting lofty goals. I need to have the flexibility to change direction and go off on tangents when I find something new and interesting."

As a fan of rabbit holes, BSOs and Tangential Genealogy I don't want to have lofty goals hanging over my head, I'm opting to hang loose and follow whims. I want to track down that new DNA match when it automagically appears on my desktop. I want to help that friend who reaches out for help in starting her genealogy journey. I want to feel free to put a project aside when it starts to bore me and go on to something else until some BSO ignites my interest once more. 

I may end up with gaping holes in my research and too many projects on the go but that doesn't bother me, I need to leave some holes for future researchers to fill! I'll revel in the feast the serendipitous finds in my carefree approach reveals. 

Am I alone in my approach or are there other Genies who just want to have fun? 

Genies having fun at Rootstech London.

Ouch - It's Report Card Time

On New Year's Eve 2010 I posted my (genealogy) plans for 2011 which I will paste below. As I can't remember what I had proposed to do in 2011 there will be some revelations for me as I read through and comment on the list.


Here goes:


 * Put the living before the dead - when family members visit make them the focus of my attention; I think I've done pretty well here. As well as spending lots of time with the grandkids I have taken or planned trips with my children and their families.

* Take advantage of serendipity moments eg actively listen to the Aunts at family gatherings, take photos of family members/groups at gatherings; record notes of information shared on my smartphone, scraps of paper, serviettes - just get it down; Use my new Android Tablet for this purpose

* Use web 2.0 technologies to promote genealogy in Australia, eg Blogger, Twitter,GenealogyWise Australian Group - Special emphasis on using other people's blogs for conversation. Have added Genealogy+ to my stable of tools, have a morning routine for connecting with my Android tablet.

* Be patient with fellow researchers who do not share my enthusiasm for technology; Practising this when I visit the two societies I joined this year.Coming to the realisation that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for technology.

* Get organised - Try harder. Getting there. My fling it in the folder system is working well.

* Go through ancestors records one by one and properly record sources for all information- Still at the beginning of the alphabet

* Digitise all certificates, wills etc. in my posession - Ongoing but could do better

* Scan and tag my family history photographs - Finish project - Not quite finished but organised into family folders as part of Fling it in the Folder project

* Respond to emails from fellow genealogists in a timely manner; Improved - but communicating more via social media

* Become a more active member of The Society of Australian Genealogists; Presented a couple of workshops for them that I think went well but haven't been invited back - Did I blot my copybook? Would attend more of their talks but have to choose wisely as, at $20 a pop, the cost mounts quickly.

* Attend and Present Genealogy workshops/lectures; Retirement has given me lots of time to work on my Continuing Genealogical Development - have done well in this area. Attending Rootstech was the highlight of the year.

* Prepare for the 2012 National Year of Reading - Promote this event to genealogists, Read for genealogy and add to personal genealogy library. Have only tweeted a couple of times about NYR - need to blog about it. Have added a number of titles to my genealogy library - haven't read all of them yet.

I certainly strayed from my plans in 2011 but, as genealogy is something I do for pleasure, I am not going to castigate myself severely.

A few other things that happened in 2011 that pleased me were:

• Finally retiring from a real job so that I have loads more time for family history related activities
• Falling in love with my Android tablet and exploring its uses for genealogy
• Being invited to be an Official Blogger and being accepted to present at Rootstech 2012
• Being published in Inside History Magazine with the prospect of more articles on the horizon
• Joining and being made welcome at two local family history societies and being asked to write for a society newsletter
• Noting the growing readership of my Geniaus blog
• Setting up a Geniaus site with Weebly
• Connecting and sharing information and photos with new cousins found via the internet
• Finding and reading the writings of genealogists new to me via social media
• Having opportunities to research ancestors in places like the National Archives at Kew, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the New York Public Library

I am one very satisfied amateur genealogist. 

Connect, Learn, Share

As I can't seem to remember them for more than a day after I write them I am giving up on long shopping lists of genealogy goals for the future, taking a leaf out of Amy Coffin's book (not the one on blogging) and having just three genealogy goals for 2012:

Connect  - Learn - Share


I figure that most of the goals (except getting organised but it could fit into learning) I wish to achieve fit into these three categories. My chicken and egg problem was that I couldn't decide which should come first so I resorted to my library training and selected good old alphabetical order.


Connect - Learn - Share - That is what I will do in 2012.