Treasure Chest Thursday - Death Record of Mary Jane Kemp (1841-1874)

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It's Treasure Chest Thursday - time to show another digital image of a treasured document in my collection.

This week it is the Death Record of Mary Jane (Sovereen) Kemp of Middleton, Norfolk County, Ontario, one of my second great-grandmothers.

Mary Jane Kemp's death record is on the right-hand page in the top left position ("Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947," online database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com), citing Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Deaths, 1869-1938. MS 935, reels 1-615. Archives of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1874, Volume B, page 103, No. 4105, Mary Jane Kemp entry):

The information on this record is:

*  Name and Surname of Deceased:  Mary Jane Kemp
*  When Died:  20th May 1874
*  Sex -- Male of Female:  F
*  Age:  33 years
*  Rank or Profession:  Wife of James Kemp; Farmer, Middleton
*  Where Born:  Windham County Norfolk Canada
*  Certified cause of Death, and duration of Illness:  Typhoid Fever ill Three weeks
*  Name of Physician, if any:  A W Sovereen M.D.
*  Signature, description and residence of informant:  A. W. Sovereen M.D. Delhi
*  When Registered:  29th May 1874
*  Religious Denomination:  Baptist
*  Signature of Registrar:  J.C.H. Herron
*  Remarks:  004105 [stamped]

I obtained this record image by using the Ancestry.com collections at the San Diego Family History Center.  I used the FamilySearch collection entry for this record to determine the microfilm number (1,846,471) and then looked in the Family History Library Catalog to figure out the Volume for the specific registration number in 1874 (see the record description here). 

Finding Census Records on Archives.com - Last Name Variations

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In my post Finding Census Records on Archives.com - General Search yesterday, I noted that First Name searches using partial names acts like a wild card (e.g., "jos" finds "joseph"but not "joe"), but the user has to use the "Exact" search box.

What about the Last Name variations - can a user use a wild card or a partial name?  Here is what I found:

1)  On the U.S. Census search form, the Last Name is a "Required" search term. 

I entered "Seaver" in the "Last Name" field, left the "Exact" box unchecked, chose "Massachusetts" in the "Location" field, and chose the "!930" in the "Census Year" field.

Here is the list of 363 Search results:

Even though I left the "Last Name" "Exact" box unchecked, the search returned only results for the surname "Seaver" - there were no variations of the surname in the 363 matches.

2)  To prove this, I checked the "Exact" box for the "Last Name" and saw 363 matches:

The search with the "Exact" box checked worked as I expected - it found matches for the exact surname.

3)  Someone might say, "well, were there any other last name variations on 'Seaver'  in the 1930 Census for Massachusettts?  One of the major spelling variations for "Seaver" is "Sever" - it has the same consonants and the same Soundex code.  Here is a search for "Sever" with the "Exact" box checked:

There are 15 matches for "Sever" with the "Exact" box checked or unchecked.  My conclusion here is that the "Exact" check box is currently useless as a way to restrict searches, and that the not "Exact" search does not use any sort of spelling variation tool for the last name.

4)  What about a partial name for the "Last Name" field?  I put "Seav" in the "Last Name" field and the "Exact" box checked (this worked with the "First Name" field!), and saw:

It says "Sorry, no results found for Seav in MA (census year: 1930)."

When I unchecked the "Exact" box for the last name, I got the same results. 

4)  A general search for all census years and all states said "Showing 2,000 most relevant Census Records for Seaver."  I'm not sure what that means - are there more than 2,000 matches?  If so, how many?  How do I find the others?  I did not scroll through these, at even 50 matches at a time, to see what was missing.

5)  The Lessons Learned here are:

* The "Exact" search results for last names are the same as the not "Exact" search matches.

*  A user has to enter a specific last name in order to obtain matches in a Census search.  A user will have to enter spelling variations if they don't find their target family.

*  There are no "wild cards," or "sounds like" matches for a last name even with the "Exact" box unchecked.

*  A user should search in a specific census year to avoid obtaining too many matches for almost any last name.

*  A user should limit their search to a specific state (or even county) for a common last name.

6)  My suggestions for Archives.com are to:

*  Make a non-Exact search just that - make it at least a Soundex search so that spelling variations of a last name are provided by the search matches.

*  Implement a "wild card" system similar to that on FamilySearch.org so that spelling variations of a last name can be easily found.

*  For general searches (all years, all states) on a surname, create a list of the years and states so that users can narrow their search. 

Disclosure: Archives.com provided a free subscription to their collection at the SCGS 2011 Jamboree which I appreciate. This did not influence my statements in this blog post, but it did enable them to be made!

ICAPGEN Mentoring Classes on Video

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Reading my blog list today, I noted that Renee Zamora and Angela McGhie had posted about the ICAPGEN Mentoring Classes that are now freely available on video on the ICAPGEN website at  http://www.icapgen.org/icapgen/resources.  The videos show the Powerpoint presentation and the speaker (in a format similar to the FamilySearch Research Courses).  Each video is 15 to 40 minutes in length.

The Mentoring Classes available on video include:

* Mentoring Class: Introduction to ICAPGen
* Mentoring Class: Application Forms
* Mentoring Class: Choosing a Four-Generation Project / Methodology
* Mentoring Class: Research Binder
* Mentoring Class: Working with Documents
* Mentoring Class: Citing Sources
* Mentoring Class: History, Geography, and Timelines
* Mentoring Class: Evidence Analysis, Part 1
* Mentoring Class: Evidence Analysis, Part 2
* Mentoring Class: Writing a Quality Research Report* Mentoring Class: Pedigree Analysis
*  Mentoring Class: Written Exam and Oral Review

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I reviewed the Citing Sources and Evidence Analysis class videos.  The "Evidence Analysis" classes are excellent, discussing the Genealogical Proof Standard and providing real world examples for evaluating evidence.  The "Citing Sources" presentation reviews the types of source citations, briefly describes several different standards, and provides some examples of typical source citations (but some of them do not follow the Evidence! Explained standards). 

These videos can be useful for genealogists wanting to be accredited by ICAPGEN or wanting more information about these subjects.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 186: James Richmond

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 I am posting photographs from my family collections for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday (you know me, I can't go wordless!).

This is a photograph of James Richmond (1821-1912), one of my second great-grandfathers.  I think it was taken between 1900 and 1912, since he appears elderly. 

The actual photograph was in the possession of Thomas Russell Richmond of Putnam, Connecticut in 1990, who allowed me to make a xerox copy of the actual photograph in 1990.

Russell Richmond is now deceased, and I don't know if the photograph is still extant. Perhaps, one of the Richmond family members will see this post and inform me of the location of the Richmond family photograph collection that Russell Richmond once possessed.

Finding Census Records on Archives.com - General Search

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As most genealogy researchers know, the United States Census records are available on the subscription site, www.Archives.com. 

I described the information available by census year in Archives.com has 1790 to 1930 U.S. Census Records, and did a general search in the census records in Searching Census Records on Archives.com. 

In the latter post, I noted that:

"A user cannot use wild cards for any name - the acceptable characters are letters, spaces and dashes. The user can select either "All" or a specific state for the Residence and Birth State fields. The user can add a birth year range of plus/minus 0, 1, 2, 5, or 10 years. An "Exact" check box produces only an Exact Match."

Julie Hill of Archives.com commented about my note that there are no wild card searches:

"Randy, thanks so much for your feedback. Wild card searches are an enhancement we’d like to add in the future – as we know this can be very useful. In the meantime, our search engine has several capabilities built in that are helpful. When users run a search, built in logic will look for name variants (like if you enter “Jo” we also return names like “Joe” “Joseph” etc), alternate names, and misspellings. We look forward to adding the rest of the census images, along with search functionality enhancements, in the coming months. Thanks!"

I wondered if they had added the wild card search capability, so I revisited the Census search.  There is not a wild card search capability at this time.  However, the search that Julie described, wherein a user can use any number of letters for a partial first name works fine.  For example:

1)  Here is the general search screen for "Fre" (not exact) "Seaver" (exact) with no other field entries:

There is a "?" next to the "Exact" box, which says:

"What is the "Exact" Option?
To help you find more results, we automatically adjust your search criteria for certain queries (for example, if you search for "John Doe born in 1950 in Nebraska" we may include results for "Jerry Doe born in 1950" or "John Doe born in 1950 in Kansas").
If you check the "Exact" box we will add extra weight to this criteria, but may still show other close matches to account for estimated dates, nicknames, and transcription errors. We recommend you use this feature when you are confident in the information you are entering."

Clicking the "Search" button provided 558 matches in all of the U.S. Census years.  The first entries were:

Since I left the "Exact" box unchecked, the first name list starts with name variants starting with the "F" initial, and eventually gets through many names that start with "F" like Fannie, Florence, Frank, Fred, etc.  While the first names seem to be in nearly alphabetical order by specific census years, but the years are not listed separately.  It is very difficult to find a specific person in a specific year with a general search.  I could select a specific census year and obtain all matches for that year.

2)  What if I check the "Exact" box for the first name?  Here is the search screen with "Fre" (exact)  "seaver" (exact) and no other search field entries:



There are only 116 matches for this general search in all of the census years:

The search above found only first names starting with "Fre" like "Fred," "Freda," "Freddie," "Frederick," "Fredrick," etc.  If a user is going to do a general search in all census years, then making the partial first name "exact" works well.

3)  What does the search match look like, and how can a user navigate it?  On the screen above, I clicked on the first match and saw:

The census "record" for this person lists his name, age, gender, race, residence, other family members, NARA microfilm, roll and page number, etc.  For the 1850, 1870, and 1900 through 1930 U.S. Census records, the page image is available, courtesy of www.FamilySearch.org. 

4)  When I click on the "View image" or "View the original image" links, The census page appears:

In the lower right-hand corner, the portion of the census image in the window is shown.  The census image pages open as shown above, with most of the page shown at the minimum magnification.

5)  The magnification can be increased using the Zoom slider control on the left-hand side of the line below the census title.  I magnified to about 50% and saw:

The image takes a second or two to refine the resolution and then shows the image.  The user can navigate around the page by using the "magic hand."  The image brightness and image contrast can be changed using slider controls.  The image can also be inverted using the "Invert colors" check box on the line below the census title. 

6)  On the top line with the Archives logo, the user can navigate to the "Prev Image" or "Next Image" or can "Print" the image, "Download" the image, or "Save to Tree" the image (that's the online family tree on Archives.com. 

The user can go back to the Record summary screen by clicking on the blue "Back to Record" button in the census title line.  On the Record Summary screen, the user can change any or all of the search criteria.

7)  Lessons learned: 

1)  It is advised to search in specific U.S. Census year databases rather than do a General search in all U.S. Census years.

2)  Using a partial first name without the "Exact" box checked results in many matches for names that don't match the letters provided.

3)  Using a partial first name with the "Exact" box checked results in matches that start with the partial letters. 



Disclosure: Archives.com provided a free subscription to their collection at the SCGS 2011 Jamboree which I appreciate. This did not influence my statements in this blog post, but it did enable them to be made!

SDGS Seminar on Saturday, 14 January Features Thomas W. Jones

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The San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) Family History Seminar on Saturday, 14 January 2012 features Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS.

The seminar is at The Handlery Hotel and Resort, 950 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, CA 92108. The seminar starts at 9 a.m. and will end at 3 p.m. The seminar cost is $40 per person for SDGS members or $45 per person for non-members. Registration includes a seated luncheon. The Handlery Hotel and Resort charges $3 for all day parking with event validation. The registration deadline is 7 January 2012. You can download the registration form here.

Thomas W. Jones will make the following presentations:

* Five Proven Technologies for Finding European Origins

* Finding "Un-findable" Ancestors

* The Jones Jinx: Tracing Common Surnames

* Planning a "Reasonably Exhaustive" Research

Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS, works full-time as a genealogical author, editor, educator, and researcher. A past president and former trustee of the Board for Certification for Genealogists, he has co-edited the National Genealogical Society Quarterly since 2002. Tom teaches "Evidence and Documentation" in Boston University's online and classroom-based genealogy certificate programs, "Advanced Genealogical Methods" at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy," and "Writing and Publishing for Genealogists" at Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research.

I will be attending this seminar, and I encourage all San Diego area genealogists to attend it - Tom Jones is one of the top researchers, teachers and speakers in the United States at this time.

Tuesday's Tip - City Directories on Fold3.com

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This week's Tuesday's Tip is to:  Search and browse the "large city" City Directories on the Fold3 subscription site (www.fold3.com). 

In my opinion, City Directories are one of the least used resources in genealogical research.  Names, relatives, neighbors, addresses, occupations, and places of business can be determined by tracing a person year by year in City Directories. 

One of the largest collections of City Directories is on the Fold3.com subscription website (formerly Footnote.com).  The key feature of this collection is that there are long year to year runs of the directories, often from the first year up to about 1923, when copyright protection kicks in.

Fold3.com currently offers these City Directory collections (not every year, but most years):

*  California: Los Angeles (1873-1924)
*  California: San Francisco (1861-1923)
*  Colorado:  Denver (1862-1923)
*  District of Columbia: Washington (1822-1923)
*  Illinois: Chicago (1843-1923)

*  Indiana: Fort Wayne (1861-1923)
*  Indiana: Indianapolis (1857-1923)
*  Iowa: Des Moines (1866-1913)
*  Kentucky: Louisville (1861-1923)
*  Louisiana: New Orleans (1861-1923)

*  Maryland: Baltimore (1863-1923)
*  Massachusetts: Boston (1789-1926)
*  Michigan: Detroit (1861-1923)
*  Minnesota: Minneapolis (1865-1923)
*  Minnesota: St. Paul (1863-1924)

*  Missouri: Kansas City (1865-1923)
*  Missouri: St. Louis (1863-1923)
*  New Jersey: Newark (1861-1923)
*  New York: Brooklyn (1862-1913)
*  New York: Buffalo (1828, 1861-1923)

*  New York: New York (1786-1922)
*  New York: Rochester (1861-1889)
*  Ohio: Cincinnati (1861-1923)
*  Ohio: Cleveland (1861-1923)
*  Ohio: Toledo (1864-1923)

*  Pennsylvania: Philadelphia (1785-1922)
*  Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh (1861-1923)
*  Rhode Island: Providence (1861-1924)
*  Texas: Dallas (1878-1923)
*  Wisconsin: Milwaukee (1861-1891)

*  Miscellaneous City Directories - There are also a few miscellaneous years for some New England towns

You can see which cities have published, microfilmed and online City Directories at http://www.uscitydirectories.com/. 

Miriam Robbins has listed many Online Historical Directories at http://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/.

Top 25 Posts in 2011 on Genea-Musings

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Like many other genea-bloggers, I'm curious about which posts on Genea-Musings are "popular" - and why they might be.

Here are the Top 25 blog posts that had the most page views in 2011 (from statistics on Google Analytics). Of course, with almost six years and over 5,400 posts, they were not all written in 2011:

1) World records for number of children (posted 21 July 2006) - 7,007 views (it was #1 in 2010, 2009 and 2008 also)

2)  Family Tree Maker 2012 is in a Public Beta Test (posted 1 August 2011) - 4,429 views

3)  Family Tree Maker 2012 News (posted 13 May 2011) - 3,459 views

4) John Tyler's Grandson is still alive! (posted 20 February 2007) - 1,970 views (it was #3 last year)

5) How rare is your personality type? (posted 20 June 2007) - 1,694 views (it was #4 last year)

6)  Social Security Death Index Gone from Rootsweb.com (posted 12 December 2011) - 1,585

7)  Exporting a Tree from Ancestry.com (posted 9 July 2009) - 1,565 views  (it was #12 last year)

8)  Merry Christmas to All! (posted 25 December 2011) - 1,319 views

9)  The Genealogy Crystal Ball for 2011 (posted 2 January 2011) - 1,193 views

10)  Want a genealogy job? FamilyLink is hiring! (posted 15 April 2009) - 1,019  views  (it was #6 last year)

11)  Tombstone Tuesday - Nathaniel Grigsby (posted 19 May 2009 ) - 773 views  (it was #5 last year)

12)  The "Where I'm From" Poem (for SNGF) Compendium (posted 25 July 2011) - 742 views

13)  Genealogy Source Citation Templates (posted 17 November 2008) - 723 views

14)  Family Tree Maker 2012 Pre-Sale (posted 22 September 2011) - 721 views

15)  The Seaver Source Citation Saga Compendium (posted 16 February 2011) - 710 views

16) Family Tree Maker 2011 Announced (posted on 6 August 2010) - 709 views

17)  "Geni Pro Just got a Whole Lot Better." But what about Geni Free? (posted 1 August 2011) - 701 views

18)  Tuesday's Tip - find Online Historical Newspapers (posted 4 January 2011) - 698 views

19)  Family Tree Wallpaper (posted 17 September 2008) - 695 views

20)  Was Daniel Boone an Ancestor of Pat Boone? (posted 31 August 2007) - 687  views  (it was #13 last year)

21)  My mtDNA is in the K Haplogroup (posted 30 September 2008) - 680  views  (it was #14 last year)

22)  Using Google Earth to find land location in the Public Land Survey System States (posted 14 September 2009) - 668 views

23)  First Look at Mocavo - A New Genealogy Search Engine (posted 16 March 2011) - 649 views

24)  More Genealogy-related songs (posted 9 November 2007) - 641 views

25)  Obtaining my dad's WWII service record (posted 4 August 2006) - 632 views

Fourteen of these top 25 posts are "oldies but goodies" - posts that people find by using a search engine, and the traffic is fairly steady for them. The others are more recent posts, and the traffic for most of them peaks right after they are posted and dies down quickly. 

Of course, all of my blog posts are viewed by many more readers - those who read on the Genea-Musings home page, those that read them in an RSS reader, on a mobile device, and those that receive them via email.

Another measure of popularity or readership might be in the number of comments generated by each post.  I don't think that is a reliable measure of popularity because of the proliferation of RSS reader usage, email usage, and mobile device usage, each of which require one or more click throughs to get to the comment box.

It certainly seems like readers search for pop culture topics or for genealogy software topics and find my blog posts.

Previous "most popular" posts on Genea-Musings are:

*  2010:  Genea-Musings Top 20 Hits for 2010
* 2009: Genea-Musings Statistics for 2009 - Post 2
* 2008: Genea-Musings top posts - by page views

GenSoftReviews 2011 User Choice Awards Announced

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I received this press release from Louis Kessler yesterday:

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GenSoftReviews 2011 User Choice Awards Announced

GenSoftReviews, the site where genealogists go to rate and review their programs, announces their 2011 award winners.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 31, 2011

In the three years that the GenSoftReviews website has been in operation, genealogists have posted over 1000 reviews and ratings of the genealogy software they use. Each year, GenSoftReviews tabulates the highest rated programs, and awards any program achieving a score of 4.00 or more out of 5, a Users Choice Award.

The programs winning a GenSoftReviews Users Choice Award for 2011 include:

Ancestral Quest - 4.89 out of 5
Family Historian - 4.63 out of 5
My Great Big Family - 4.62 out of 5
Personal Ancestral File - 4.61 out of 5
Ultimate Family Tree - 4.59 out of 5
GenSmarts - 4.52 out of 5
WikiTree - 4.48 out of 5
Genbox Family History - 4.47 out of 5
The Next Generation - 4.45 out of 5
RootsMagic - 4.45 out of 5
Brother's Keeper - 4.42 out ot 5
Reunion - 4.36 out of 5
Family Tree Maker - Up to Version 16 - 4.18 out of 5
Legacy - 4.06 out of 5

Congratulations go to all the 2011 winners.

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About Louis Kessler

Louis Kessler has been a genealogist and a programmer for over 30 years. He developed and maintains the GenSoftReviews site. He is also the author of his own genealogy program known as Behold that can be found at www.beholdgenealogy.com

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Congratulations to the developers of all of the programs listed above.

The program that is conspicuously missing is Family Tree Maker (2008 and after), which is rated at 2.51 overall,  2.53 for 2011 and 2.49 before 2011. 

I have worked with Family Historian, WikiTree, RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker (up to version 16) and Legacy Family Tree on the list above.

Have you visited the GenSoftReviews website recently?  Have you added your opinions about genealogy software and online family trees to the site? 

Goals and Objectives for 2012

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At the risk of sounding like a broken record (by using the same template as I did in 2011), here are my stated goals and objectives for 2012:

1) Genealogy Research

* Go to the local FamilySearch Center and local/regional libraries more often in order to pursue ancestral information.
* Go to at least one major genealogy repository (e.g., FHL, ACPL, NEHGS) and do research over several days.
* Keep up-to-date to-do lists for research challenges and up-to-date research logs for significant research tasks.
* Focus on brickwall ancestors, especially the Elizabeth Horton (Dill) Smith line, the William Knapp line, the Thomas J. Newton line, and the Benjamin Pickrell line.
*  Continue to find family history information for known ancestors of myself and my wife in traditional and online resources.
*  Mine the 1940 U.S. Census for my ancestral families of interest.

2) Data Organization

* Complete the conversion of digital records to couple-based file folders, including photographs and documents, using systematic file naming protocols.
* Continue weeding out extraneous paper from bookcase binders, and enter useful sourced data into genealogy database.
*  Create more surname notebooks for ancestral families containing pedigree charts, family group sheets, narrative reports, vital record certificates, published material, and correspondence.
*  File all of the "to be filed" papers into the bookcase binders and/or surname notebooks.
* Sort the Carringer/Auble/Smith and Seaver/Richmond paper photograph collections into useful and accessible albums, determine if photos have been scanned and blogged, and scan the ones that haven't been scanned before or were poorly scanned previously.

3) Genealogy Database

* Update the Seaver/Leland family database using recently added/updated data collections on Ancestry, FamilySearch, Fold3, Archives, GenealogyBank, etc.
* Continue adding source citations for unsourced information in my database (with author, title, publisher, date, page, comments, etc.).
* Add specific page numbers to existing source citations without citation details.
* Critically evaluate genealogy facts for ancestral families relative to authoritative published material.
*  Modify text notes to summarize rather than parrot copyrighted material.
*  Add Research Log information to the database for selected ancestors to help me, or other researchers, understand the work performed to date.
*  Invite daughters, siblings and cousins to add to the online Ancestry Member Tree and to add the free Ancestry.com app to their mobile devices.

4) Education

* Attend at least three genealogy conferences (or cruises) in 2012. I'm hoping for RootsTech in Salt Lake City in February, SCGS Jamboree in Burbank, California in June and the Legacy Cruise in May.  I'm not sure about the NGS and FGS Conferences.
* Participate in more webinars.
* Obtain or borrow genealogy resource and how-to books of interest.

5) Society Activities

* Attend CVGS, CGSSD and SDGS society programs and seminars.
* Lead CVGS research group effectively.
* Be an outstanding editor of monthly Chula Vista Genealogical Society Newsletter.
* Keep the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog full of news and information helpful to CVGS members.
* Contribute articles to SDGS and CGSSD newsletters.
* Respond to research queries received by CVGS and CV library.
* Help society colleagues and friends with their research if requested.

6) Speaking and Teaching

* Speak to at least ten different local and regional genealogical societies in 2012
* Teach three adult education "Beginning Computer Genealogy" classes for OASIS (4 sessions each, 8 hours total each class)
* Teach at least one "Genealogy 101" beginners class (4 sessions, 8 hours total) for CVGS
* Speak at local libraries and service groups about genealogy and family history.

7) Writing

* Blog a bit... on Genea-Musings, The Geneaholic, the South San Diego County Graveyard Rabbit, and the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blogs. 
*  Move Genea-Musings from "old Blogger" to "new Blogger" or even a Wordpress platform.
* Produce four "Genealogy 2.0" columns for the Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM magazine.
* Produce four "Digging for Answers" columns for the Online Graveyard Rabbit Journal.
* Publish Volume 25 of the Seaver-Richmond Family Journal (16 pages) in December for the extended family.
*  Try out self-publishing a family history book.

8) Real Life

* Take my wife on at least one long vacation trip - perhaps the Legacy cruise, or another cruise, or to New England in late summer to visit cousins and research at NEHGS.
* Visit our daughters and grandchildren, our brothers and their families, and our cousins and their families, more often in order to make more family history and spread the joy of genealogy research around [yeah, right... they might even read the yearly Family Journal].
* Exercise more! Lose weight! Eat fewer goodies! Dream on...
* Limit genealogy activities to no more than 10 hours a day... [who put that in? Linda, do you know how to edit this? At least it doesn't say 3 hours]

More of the same, eh? It's a full plate. Who knows what life will bring in 2012. Stuff happens. I'll adapt. Or not...

The beauty of goals and objectives is that they can be changed at a moment's notice. I am not chained by these goals - they are only guidelines. You can be sure that if I have a major, unplanned breakthrough through hard work, serendipity or the kindness of others that I'll follow that path.

I look forward to 2012 - to celebrating my sixth year of genea-blogging, to meeting many more Genea-Musings readers and geneablogging colleagues, to talking with representatives of genealogy companies, and sharing my knowledge and expertise with the genealogy community.