Month In Review: My last 30 days

Way back in February I posted a monthly goals agenda. Ironically, one of those goals was to write a monthly goal list for every month. Don’t bother to look for March – it’s not there. As you can see, I didn’t get very far in that endeavor.

I have decided to change the objective. Certainly a list of goals to work towards during the course of a month is a nice thing to have, but I already have a lot of lists. My husband calls me, “the lister”. It’s a kind of illness, actually. So, I’m not sure that I really need another list. What I need is obtainable goals that are fluid, because you have to be able to adapt in this world. Change happens fast.

This then, is my first “month in review.” I do think that one of these roughly every thirty days would be beneficial, but I’m not going to choke on it. If it doesn’t get done, then it doesn’t get done. It’s my blog; I can do what I want, right?

Here’s what happened in late April and early May. It was actually a very exciting month for me, certainly the best I’ve had as an aspiring genealogist and personal historian. Really, it was a very busy last ten days or so. Either way, it was a great month for me, and for Ancestral Journeys.

On the 23^rd, it was officially announced by the editors at The In-Depth Genealogist, a new and exciting digi-mag, that I would be a regular contributor. I will be authoring a monthly column, entitled Family Atlas, along with two guest blog posts each month. My first column will appear in the June 2012 issue. Family Atlas will be focusing on research opportunities on a state-by-state basis, highlighting resources and the “unknown” genea-bloggers. Alongside this endeavor, I will also maintain the Featured Genealogist column, which will coincide geographically. 


(If you have a resource or genealogist you would like me to feature, please feel free to comment or email me.)

http://www.indepthgenealogist.com/

I started writing as the Breckenridge Genealogy Examiner, and my first article went up on the 26^th. Writing about anything history or genealogy related in, around, near, or related to Summit County, Colorado. This might be challenging as time goes on, but I’m game.

For the first time, I was invited to be a guest blogger on someone else’s site, and my first post on Michelle Nahom’s The Power of Photos, entitled “Telling Your Family Story” went up on 1 May.  Michelle is a training specialist for the Association of Personal Photo Organizers, or APPO. We met on Twitter, and she has been incredibly interesting to get to know. Please make sure to visit her blog. She also posted a guest blog for me, Making A Case For Printing Your Photos was published on 10 May.

My second chance at a guest blog happened the next day, when The In-Depth Genealogist published my Quick Source: JSTOR. A review of the amazing research opportunities available through the JSTOR site, much of which you can access for free. Apparently, it was one of the top blog posts of the week for them. *Insert pat on the back here.*

I got a job. Yep, a real life, out of the house, paying me a check job. I’m really very excited about it, though. Over the summer, I will be working for the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance, and for the first time I feel like the work I will be doing will actually be contributing something to society. I will be helping to expose others to the vast history of the Town of Breckenridge. There is also excitement for me in that this may lead to other opportunities with the organization, which would be wonderful. Be sure to check out their website, and if you decide to visit Summit County, Colorado any time of year, make sure you save yourself time for a walking tour, historic snowshoe hike, or the one I'm hoping to lead: the cemetery tour.

To top it all off, this was the last month of “The Puzzle of Your Past”, a family history research project I have been leading with the Leadville Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts of troop 840. (You can read about this project throughout my blog, as I have posted updates along the way, but also here.) It has been a wonderful year of discovery, and the girls are just putting the finishing touches on their projects for their May 20 “Court of Awards” annual ceremony. In the next few days, I will be working on finishing my end of the project, conducting as much research as possible in the time allowed and presenting a pedigree chart and CD-ROM to each participant for them to take home to their families. I hope they have enjoyed it as much as I have.(By the way, its the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting this year. You should check it out. No cookies without Girl Scouts!)

Along the way, I have been mentioned, retweeted, and linked by numerous “Big Names” in the genealogy field. That is always such a great moment for me; to have someone I respect so much recognize my work as useful and valuable enough to promote. It’s really mind blowing. I have never thought of myself as a writer, and yet, here I sit, eagerly committing to a steady stream of writing projects. It’s quite a surprise. Oh, and my blog? Yes. I am now up to 42 followers, so thank you so very much for supporting me. I greatly appreciate you as an audience, and value your feedback and commentary.

I’m so looking forward to seeing what the coming 30 days has to offer me, though I cannot imagine it will bring the changes and deadlines that the last 30 did. I guess we’ll find out soon. 


Hopefully it will be less snowy and filled with more lovely wild mountain flowers. 

Photo copyright Jen Baldwin,
Ancestral Journeys, 2011.

Guest Blog: Making a Case for Printing Your Photos

We don’t print our photos anymore.  Now that we have digital technology, we don’t have to.  We can keep our photos on our computer, share them online and on the cloud.  Times have changed…printing isn't crucial anymore.  We can get anything we need right off the internet, right?

Why You Should Print

I’m going to make a case for printing.  While I believe photos are for sharing, and I love sharing online as much as the next person, I also believe our photos are for remembering.   There is no better way to remember and re-live your memories than printing your most important photos and keeping them in a place where you can view them and enjoy them!

Digital has created a “disposable” mindset in our society.  Over 85% of all digital images taken never leave the camera and are never seen again.  We delete pictures on our memory cards to make room for new ones.  Many of us fill up memory cards, and simply buy a new one and put the old one in a drawer for storage. 

What’s more, people tend to forget about their photos after they post them online.   We’ve become a “live in the moment” society.

Why Your Digital Photos Won’t “Survive”

We take a lot more pictures these days than in the days of film.  But there will probably be more “hard copy” photos that survive into the next century from the 1920’s than from today.  It’s hard to imagine that, isn’t it?  But consider these facts:

·         Technology failures are inevitable.  Computers crash, external hard drives crash, and memory cards fail.  It’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN.

·         Hosting services go out of business.  They also make mistakes.  Accounts do get deleted by accident. 

·         Technological obsolescence is a fact.  Technology changes quickly, and we’re constantly moving on to the latest and greatest.  If you saved your photos to DVD for backup, don’t count on computers being able to read them 30 years from now.  You need to re-record as technology changes.

·         And when your time on earth comes to an end, chances are your relatives aren’t going to save your old computer, and with it, all your digital images.

The printed photo, unlike the digital photo, isn’t subject to computer crashes or technological obsolescence.  And it doesn’t lend itself to out of sight, out of mind.

 Leaving a Legacy

Of course, with everything stored on the internet these days, chances are future generations will be able to find out quite a bit of information about us and our daily lives.  However, in most cases, the photos saved on the internet aren’t saved in high resolution.  And more importantly, what will be missing are the solid pieces of your story, as told by you.   Your printed photos, coupled with your stories, is your legacy to leave behind for future generations!  So please consider printing your most important photos…the ones that have stories that go with them.  Preserve those stories alongside of your photos, preferably in an album, or at least in an archival photo storage box.  The next generation WILL thank you. 

Michelle Nahom has been working with people and their photos since 2003, offering photo management services.  She currently works for APPO, the Association of Personal Photo Organizers, building a network of independent business owners who provide solutions to those who are overwhelmed by their printed and digital photos, memorabilia and old home movies.  As a photo organizer, her favorite project was a WWII military memoir for a client.  She blogs about photos and memory preservation at www.thepowerofphotos.blogspot.com, and you can also find her on Twitter @CPhotoSolns.