Fall Cleaning - Genealogy Style

September is here and while our South Carolina hot weather will still be with us for a while, I have decided to get started on my fall cleaning.  I know, you are probably picturing me with dust cloth, sponge, and bucket, scrubbing the woodwork which is what I should probably be doing, but I find it much more fun to "clean" the file cabinet as I revisit and scan the documents, newspaper clippings, and other items that have led me to all my genealogical conclusions.  As part of my so called fall cleaning, I have also decided to go family by family in my Reunion software and correctly source all my family data.  Huge job!!!

As part of the fall cleaning process, I am also throwing away the many old genealogy magazines that I have saved throughout the years, some of which are almost ten years old!  I decided to do this in response to some comments made by my husband that the reality show that gives America a glimpse into the lives of people who hoard possessions might be interested in my craft room!

I will admit that I do have trouble throwing some things away and this includes my genealogy magazines so I am going through those too before tossing, just in case something important is in them.  Most of what I am finding is pretty much useless as the technology has changed so much.  There is no mention of blogging or  smart phones.  Many of the articles told readers that using the computer meant purchasing CD's that contained information that today we are able to easily locate on the Internet, some of it for free.

Then, just as I think I should just toss the whole stack into the recycling bin, I come across something that is useful.  Like this morning, I read an old article in a 2001 issue of Family Tree Magazine by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.  The article is on the magazine's site, but you have to pay extra for it which is a shame.  She wrote of the virtues of keeping a Research Journal.  She suggested using a blank book, but mentioned that it could be kept on a word processing program and printed out.  That was years ago, but I thought how a blog could be used in the same way so that is what I am going to attempt to do.  This blog is going to be my research journal where I write out my thoughts, explain my thinking, and sometimes even vent my frustration with those elusive ancestors.  If I use my "Labels" carefully, I will even have an index so that I can easily relocate those thoughts that escape me more and more often.

We'll see how it goes.  I always wanted this blog to be of some help to others, but maybe someone can still gain some insight into their own research while I figure out mine.   Anyway, it's a new season and time for a change with this blog.  I hope it turns out to be a good one!