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Family Tree Database Update

I am working hard to get an updated version of the family trees onto the website as soon as I possibly can. There is a lot of work going on at the moment with additional information being added to the database that I have. There are now over 15 000 names in the database and some 4750 marriages – so you can see the extent of what is going on behind the scenes. I still have a lot of work to do and the names in the database will probably reach about 20 000 or so by the time I’m finished (it may even get to 25 000) and about 10 000 marriages.

It is possible that I’ll be able to add the family trees corrected to what I currently have in the very near future – however, an update for the book is some way off.

Have a peek at the new site at:
http://tracingourhistory.com

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Extended Break from Family History

As followers of my site and Blog would know, there hasn’t been much activity going on of late. Even behind the scenes it has all been a bit quiet. Family History and I are a bit like that. I will go for a period of time where I hardly do any, simply because I’ve had enough of it – at least for that period of time. I sometimes just need to have a break from it – which is where I am at just at the moment. I think I’d be lucky to get much more done this year at this stage.

Why is that? To be honest I’m probably a bit annoyed at the family – or at least some members of it. There seems to be a lack of cooperation in some sections of it – all they want to do is take and argue. I’m over all of that rubbish. I have even been thinking of closing down my Geni site or at least not bothering to do anything else with it. It has failed to unite the family or encourage useful dialogue and interaction. Maybe one day there will be a time for it – for now it is just the wrong time and they aren’t ready for it.

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Break is Over … Now Back to Work

I have always found with genealogy that it is hard to stay on mission as it were. Every so often I just seem to have this need to take a break from it all and then find it difficult to get started again. This is where I have been over the last few months.

Once I get started again, all moves along well for a time – usually 12-18 months, before I need to take another break – which will end up going for about 6 months and then the cycle begins again.

I now have a desire to get back into the work and to make some changes to the way I do genealogy. These are changes that have gradually been worked out in my mind (during my break and before it) and I now feel it time to implement. These are changes that I hope will prove far better in the long run for all concerned.

So what are these changes going to involve:

  • I hope to put the family tree itself (and the book on our family history) behind the secure walls of a password protected web-based genealogical application. This will allow the information contained therein to be more private and secure.

  • I also hope, by placing the family tree into a web-based genealogical application, to open up the possibility of increased interaction between relatives that barely (if ever) see each other and to allow a process of collaboration on our family history – after all, it is not just my family history that I am seeking to preserve.

  • I am also hoping that by doing the above, our family history will ‘be owned’ by many more individual members of our family than it currently is. There are just so many ways that we can work together to preserve our family history for our own families and for generations to come. I don’t think family history preservation should be left at a family tree, a book and some photos – it can also include documents, individual stories, local history, etc. All these things can come together and complete our family history, making it more meaningful for those who are yet to come.

  • I am hoping to further develop the Grou.ps community that I have already established, and also to eliminate the old Yahoo mail groups that I once used in conjunction with the website.

  • I would also like to get a family history newsletter for our family going again.

These are just some of the things I’m keen to get working on.