Genealogical New Year’s Resolutions

We are all used to making New Year’s resolutions, but what about genealogical New Year’s resolutions? Can we set ourselves up for being more productive in 2024?

To make good genealogical resolutions, we need to approach the process from an informed position keeping in mind the skills and personality traits that make for good researchers regardless of the discipline.

I’ve been doing genealogical research for more than 30 years, but my “day” job is a marketing professor where one of my primary responsibilities is to conduct scholarly research. So, drawing on decades of experience publishing in the top business journals and consulting the academic literature for factors driving faculty research productivity, I have developed an inventory of the most important characteristics of a good researcher and adapted them to the world of genealogy (see below).

Characteristics of a Genealogical Researcher
Mastering genealogical research is about three traits: task proficiency, executive skills, and personal drive. Summarized in the list below and in the above image, good genealogical researchers possess the following characteristics:

• Task Proficiency refers to the awareness and understanding of basic genealogical concepts, research tools, and record groups. This includes both documentary and genetic research domains and other hard skills such as report writing, analyzing sources, and comprehension of the Genealogical Proof Standards.
• Executive Skills are the ability to manage time efficiently and oversee multiple genealogical projects simultaneously. It also includes other soft skills such as collaborating with others for genealogical mentoring, ideation, and problem solving.
• Personal Drive are intrinsic qualities related to personal motivation, curiosity, and sustained interest (persistence) to initiate genealogical research and see it through to its conclusion.

Translating Genealogical Skills into New Year’s Resolutions
An important quality of good researchers is their ability to objectively reflect on past performance and identify areas for future development. This introspective task is not as easily accomplished as it is to say, which is why I have spent considerable time developing a list of possible New Year’s resolutions organized by the Genealogical Researcher Skill Inventory framework.

The intent of the list is not to be exhaustive, but instead possible tasks to inspire resolutions tailored to particular needs. Readers are encouraged to adopt/edit per their unique situation and quantify a resolution to make it more accountable, e.g., read three books in 2024.

Task Proficiency Resolutions

1. Read a book or journal from one of the three types of research areas: conceptual (foundational elements of genealogical research), methodological (techniques and data used in genealogical research), and substantive (real world applications and events related to genealogy).
   • Conceptual. Learn about genealogical sources, evidence, and citation formats. Some suggested readings include the Board for Certification of Genealogists’ Genealogical Proof Standards or Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence Explained.
     
   • Methodological. Learn how to write a research report with or without using DNA. Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer have a series of books detailing both processes.
   • Substantive. Learn about record groups, geographic regions, or peoples to help you understand historical context and how to access and use different record types. For example, read a book about the first Scots in America or read case studies in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. If you’re feeling really bold, try reading a scholarly article at Google Scholar on topics ranging from genealogy, history, or any number of other academic disciplines.
2. Attend a webinar or a conference. The RootsTech conference and Legacy Family Tree webinars are obvious choices, but local genealogical and historical societies offer great programming, too, many of which can be found on the genealogy calendar of events site, ConferenceKeeper.org.
3. Attend an online or in-person training course, such as Research Like a Pro, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, or Boston University’s Genealogy Studies Program.
4. Write a proof argument or research report. One of the most successful strategies I discovered to break through brick walls is to write up my findings even when I think I don’t yet have the answer. Writing not only organizes your collected information but helps you analyze sources and correlate evidence. It can illuminate patterns that have always been there but were hidden by time, jumbled notes, and information-overload.
5. Learn a new research tool. Sometimes tools can be gimmicky or difficult to use, but there are several thought leaders who have made YouTube and blog tutorials making tools easier to use. I’ve chronicled some of my favorite tools in my blog posts, but here are others to consider. Some are free, and others have a cost.
   • Goldie May offers automatic research logging capabilities, citation assistance, easy access to online sources, and much more. As a Chrome browser extension, it easily integrates with your tree on FamilySearch.org. Check out some of Goldie May’s YouTube videos.
   • DNA Painter hosts a large suite of tools including some of my personal favorites: WATO (hypothesize how a DNA tester fits into your tree), Shared cM Project Tool, DNA Coverage Estimator, and many more.
   • DNAGedcom Client allows users to download DNA match information and generate reports and visualizations helping you cut through the noise in the data and view alternate solutions to genealogical research questions.
   • Gephi Network Graphs work with DNAGedcom to take data visualization to another level. It’s not for the faint of heart, but several researchers have created tools to guide you including Nicole Dyer and Dave Vance. Vance also published an article in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy about his process.

Executive Skills Resolutions

6. Allocate a dedicated block of time and/or day of the week to do genealogy research and report writing. Turn off email, phone/text notifications, and close the door. If you’re like me, I’m easily distracted, and it’s difficult to pick up right where you left off when interrupted.
7. Use a research log. Despite my personal productivity, this is my biggest weakness. I keep research logs using Word and Excel, which work fine for me, but I get so excited during the throws of my research that I neglect to record my tasks. Consequently, I’m destined to repeat the same query. So inefficient for a so-called perfectionist! My most important genealogical resolution this year is to change this bad habit. Goldie May offers a research log that not only automatically captures the web pages you visit but also permits note taking and the organization of research notes by project (see its YouTube video). Its use is my top 2024 resolution.
8. Manage multiple genealogical projects simultaneously as it accomplishes several important tasks.
   • Increases Satisfaction & Motivation. Breaking through brick walls takes time. If you only work on one project at a time, it may take years before you come to a resolution. Mentally, you need a “win” to keep your motivation going. If you have multiple projects, you’re more likely to find success in at least one of them during the year giving you that much needed boost of dopamine. In academia, we call this a pipeline, which refers to working on multiple projects at various stages of development.
   • Fosters Creativity. We’re all creative, but some of us must work harder to harness it. As a marketing professor, I teach about creativity where I tell students that you cannot simply bang your head against the keyboard hoping creativity comes with greater effort. Sometimes you must walk away from the task, do something else entirely, and let your subconscious do the work for you. You could work on an entirely different genealogy project or go for a walk. Having multiple projects allows us to walk away from one and pick up another. When we return to a project, we often see the task differently and patterns that were always there are miraculously illuminated.
9. Join a social media or study group. Learning is lifelong, and interacting with other like-minded people is the best way to advance your genealogy skills. Often our family’s eyes gloss over when we talk genealogy, but fellow genealogists could talk (and listen) for hours. We need mentors and sounding boards to advance our genealogical thinking, ideation, and problem solving. There are plenty of niche genealogy and history Facebook groups like, County Fermanagh Ireland Group, but also many broader ones like Genetic Genealogy Tips & Techniques and Genealogy a la carte. Reddit also has helpful community groups like Genealogy, IrishAncestry, IrishHistory, and AncestryDNA to name a few.

Personal Drive Resolutions

10. Review and revise your genealogical resolutions every month to keep your motivation strong.
11. Find a mentor. As mentioned previously, a mentor can not only motivate you but also help build your executive skills. Surrounding yourself with other successful genealogists can help you become successful, too.
12. Trade “virtual people” for “dead people”. My family complains I spend too much time with “dead people”. I quip back that they spend too much time with “virtual people” scrolling through videos on Instagram or TikTok made by people they don’t even know. So, while watching mindless TV, I use my “scrolling time” more productively by revisiting my DNA matches, family tree hints, and records attached to individuals in my tree opting to learn more about my ancestral reality than a distorted and biased reality portrayed on social media. If I’m already half paying attention to TV, why not take another look at my research. If I discover anything needing more focused viewing, I add it to my genealogy to-do list. For 2024, set aside an hour or two each week to revisit research and hints already collected.
13. Don’t ask who, what, where, and when – ask why? As genealogists, we often become hyper-focused on identifying an unknown parent (who), determining their occupation (what), finding them in a census (where), and their vital statistics (when). Start asking why did they move from Pennsylvania to Ohio, why did they volunteer seven times for service during the Revolutionary War, why did they marry in the neighboring county, etc.? Being more curious about the why, can help you better identify the who, what, where, and when. Create a list of why questions to resolve during 2024.

Summary
Of all the skills identified in the Genealogical Researcher Skills Inventory framework, I believe the most important of them is persistence (personal discipline). While you do need to have some amount of genealogical smarts, it’s more critical that you persist despite momentary challenges.

It took me 10 years to identify the parents of my 3x great grandfather, James H. Wilson (1815-1885). To do this, I learned how to use Y-DNA and autosomal DNA (task proficiency) as well as simultaneously managed several other closely aligned research projects for my Wilson line (executive skills). This permitted my acquired knowledge to maturate until the evidence led me to the probate file for James’ father in Pennsylvania despite his father dying in Ohio. And when I found the file, it also listed his grandparents and provided an obvious clue that in short order helped me to identify his great grandparents!

When developing your own genealogical New Year’s resolutions, I recommend starting with no more than one or two resolutions per skill group, i.e., task proficiency, executive skills, and personal discipline. Next year, add other skill resolutions or amp up prior resolutions to increase the magnitude of your learning.

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