Sunday, January 1, 2017

My Genealogy Database Statistics Update - 1 January 2017

I last updated my Genea-Musings readers on the "numbers" in my genealogy database in My Genealogy Database Statistics Update - 1 January 2016 (and before that in Genealogy Database Statistics Update - 1 January 2015 and Genealogy Database Statistics Update - 1 January 2014.)  I was curious to see how much progress I had made in the last 12 months.

Here is the family tree database summary from RootsMagic on 1 January 2017:



Here are the "numbers" from 1 January 2016 in my RootsMagic database (with increases from 2015):

*  47,194 persons (+ 1,805)
*  18,875 families  (+ 705)
*  152,092 events  (+ 7,470)

*  2,422 Alternate names (+ 1,849)
*  9,766 places (+ 904)  
*  1,452 sources (+ 140)
*  79,464 citations (+ 11,169)
*  1,130 Multi-media Items (+ 6)

*  3,114 Multimedia links (+67)

*  14,417 Persons matched to FamilySearch Family Tree persons

In the past 12 months, I've averaged adding 5 persons, 2 families, 20 events and 30 source citations a day.  I've been trying to work at least an hour in the evening (since baseball season ended) adding content and sources to the database, although vacations and the holidays intervene.  Consequently, I've  managed to improve my  citations/person from 150.46% to 168.38%, and my  Citations/Events from 47.22% to 52.25% this past year.  Obviously, I don't have a citation for every event, and in some cases I have more than one citation for an event.  At that rate, to reach 100% in citations/events will take about 20 more years!  

I added over 1,800 persons to my database in 2016, some in my 5th great-grandparent's descendant lines, some in my one-name studies, and some from further research on my ancestral families.  Some additions are the result of systematically "mining" online databases (notably vital records and newspaper records) using MyHeritage Record Matches, and Ancestry.com Hints (including 1910 and 1920 census records, Social Security Applications and Claims, World War I draft registrations, Indiana vital records, and more).  I also mine 
new Ancestry and FamilySearch databases for my one-name study surnames, and add content and source citations.  I have also corrected some relationship and date errors found while working on the database. 

I last updated my ancestral Ancestry Member Tree (AMT) on Ancestry.com in August 2014 with the latest tree information, and will add a new tree sometime in 2017 when RootsMagic is able to synchronize with it.  I do not attach "shaky leaf Hints" to that Ancestry Member Tree because I know that it will be replaced eventually.  I do review and manually add records from Ancestry Hints to my RootsMagic database manually to add content and sources to my family tree database.

Doing the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge for a third year in 2016, along with deciding to start with my great-grandparents and doing it by ancestor chart numbers, has greatly improved the events, source citations and notes for the ancestors I write about.  I am still in the fifth great-grandparents at the end of the year, doing them in ahnentafel number order.  I will continue this weekly meme because it helps me focus on one individual each week and improves my database and my family history.


My trip to the Family History Library in February adds more ancestral records to enrich my database - recently they have been probate records and land deed records for my ancestors found on FHL microfilm.  I am also mining the probate and land records now available on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and AmericanAncestors on a regular basis.


There are only so many hours in my genealogy day - usually 10 to 12 hours, but often only 6 to 8 hours.  I spend one to three hours each day reading blog posts and answering emails, one to three hours writing blog posts, an hour or two doing online research, one to three hours adding content and sources to the database, and the balance doing society support tasks, creating presentations, watching Hangouts and webinars, or working on other projects.  My genealogy life is varied, and definitely not boring (I gave up doing boring genealogy things like extended client research, or going  often to libraries and archives - with some exceptions!). 

My conclusion is:  I've made steady progress, and I'm still actively improving my database in both quantity and quality, but still have a long way to go to have a "fully sourced and accurate" family tree.  It's better than it was, but can still be improved.  It is a lifelong task, I think!  
I truly need a genealogy clone or assistant.


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Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. Seaver

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