Killing them off

Although I didn't take part in the Genealogy Do-over this year I made a concerted effort to go through my database and look for unsourced or unsupported assertions, sources in the notes field (from an earlier sotware program) , missing BDM data, typos and other odds and ends. The closer the relative is to me the more effort I put into adding to their records. If it's  somethone like a fourth cousin's husband I give him less attention. I am pleased to report that I have amended and added to hundreds of my records  but I still have quite a way to go.

One of the things I have been trying to find are death and burial dates for many of the people in my GeniAus database using The Ryerson Index, Ancestry, FMP, Heaven Address, Google and online cemetery databases.. Realising that many people drop off their perches before they hit 90 I have been looking for deaths for anyone who would be over 80 if they are still kicking. I feel quite guilty when I am trying to  Kill someone off  in my database.  

A few weeks ago I came across an elderly cousin of my Mum's who is in her late eighties; she is very sprightly and sharp as a tack. When I was chatting with her I felt quite guilty as I had recently been searching all over the place for a record of her death.

Do you get an attack of the guilts when trying to assign relatives to agrave?

Your Tree Needs Nurturing

Just as the plants in our garden need TLC so do our online family trees.

A benefit of online family trees is that they are not static documents like printed genealogies that cannot easily be edited. Online trees are dynamic documents that can be easily added to, corrected and maintained. As I come across Australian family trees on the web I add them to my list of FamilySites on my Delicious account.

How disappointing it is to find trees that were last updated a number of years ago, This morning I found a distant cousin mentioned in an online tree that was last updated in 2005!  Some of the trees I have bookmarked have not been updated for nearly ten years.

I find it hard to believe that once researchers publish their tree on the web they consider it a completed task. Families trees keep growing. As new resources are discovered, records digitised, children born, ancestors pass away and cousins appear from nowhere we are presented with new information to add to our trees. We should nurture our trees.

I try to update my online tree Geniaus Family Tree every fortnight or whenever someone shares a good chunk of information with me, I feel I owe it to those who share with me to publish their offerings promptly. I am not suggesting that everyone should update as often as I do but a couple of times per year or whenever a number of significant changes are made would be reasonable.

By adding corrections and additions to our trees we raise our chances of making new connections with other interested parties.

Trees that are nurtured will bear fruit.