Tech Tuesday ~ Do Something Traditional With Those Photos!

For those of you just joining us, please check out my previous posts on Scandia Musings discussing how my family digitized our slides and photos and organized all our jpegs into a workable (but never ending) project of photo organization. Now onward to play with those photos!

It’s all well and good to preserve, protect and organize your images, but the whole point of this digitization and organization exercise (and the true test) is to be able find, use and share images with others. I maintain both a Family Media Library (all the images from our slide and print scan project as well as the more recent images received from my parents, siblings and extended family members) and a Personal Media Library (all my images relating to my travel and genealogy research) with Memory Manager. How I organize my Personal Media Library is a story for another day/blog.

• As a result of organizing in Memory Manger, I can quickly find, use and share our family images. Some recent examples include
• gathering images for a slideshow for a relative’s funeral reception
• poster boards for recent high school and college graduations
• scrapbook albums for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary
• scrapbook albums for our family vacations and reunions

Slideshow
When a cousin died a few years back her siblings contacted my father to ask if he had any slides or prints they could use to put together a slideshow remembrance at her funeral reception. They knew they had a few photographs but they were having trouble finding them. My father called me, I opened our Family Media Library, clicked on the extended family sort box, clicked on their family folder, dragged and dropped a number of jpegs into the work area, sent them to desktop folder and emailed them to my cousin – all in a matter of minutes.

• Suggestion – please take lots of photographs; save them, organize them and share them. It was sad to think that her family did not have more than a handful of photos. At the funeral reception, lots of extended family commented that they had not seen the images before or they remembered the holiday and vacation images from our childhood slideshows and they all wanted copies.

Posterboards

When family members graduate we make posterboards for their parties.  We use the school colors for background contrast, pick a theme or hobby that reflects their interests, gather images from their early childhood and school years, images of friends and family, as well as vacations, travels and activities.  We make a collage of sorts and add something unique and personal.  Examples of these posterboards are shown below.

Ashley’s Graduation Posterboards - All jpegs were found in Ashley’s family sort box and Ashley’s folder and printed locally. Ashley has collected favorite quotes over the years and we typed some of them into a Word document, printed them on parchment paper, attached them to scrapbook paper (in her school colors) and made individual bookmark size cards that we laid out along the table top.

Emily’s Graduation Posterboards - All jpegs were found in Emily’s family sort box and Emily’s folder and printed locally. Here we used Emily’s love of travel and photography as our theme and included several images and stories about the places she has visited.

Parents’ Anniversary Albums

We had a party for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. One of the things we did was ask everyone to provide a memory or comment together with a photograph to include in an Anniversary Album. We provided them with the paper and a return envelope. We received an amazing number of lovely letters and images which we made into scrapbook pages. These pages were interspersed with pages of my parents’ early years, their family, church and work lives, their travels, and pages relating to the anniversary festivities. At the time, we put this together traditionally (a few pages are shown below) but we also photographed each page so we now have scans and could print these pages as a digital album (it is amazing how far digital scrapbooking has come in the past few years).

We wrote up the story of how my parents' anniversary party came about.

In addition to having a simple two color scheme for the albums, 

we rounded all the photo and story corners.

Whatever you decide upon, consistency helps people focus.

We came up with favors representing both families and we wrote about them here

and also included family photos.

 Through the Years - we reproduced the centerpieces for these pages

Take advantage of shapes and page designs that are repeated 

throughout the album - we used my parents' favorite colors, 

purple and red, as our color scheme and picked a few complementary patterns

(it helps to focus attention on the photos and stories).

 Lots of close friends shared memories of their own weddings

and their long friendship with my parents.

 Be sure to get photos and letters to include in the albums.

 Too young to write a letter? Original art in the form of drawings is great!

Our parents' wedding reception in 1954.

Our parents' anniversary reception in 2004.

Family Vacations & Reunions Albums

Because my sister Karen and I are gluttons for punishment such wonderful daughters (and since we had jpegs in Memory Manager and the prints that related to our family and extended family), we decided to put together a Family Vacations & Reunions Album. This 2 volume set (we have a large family, we all vacationed together in the early days, and we have a big reunion every 5 years) contains images from each vacation and reunion as well as a 2 page story introducing the vacation or reunion.  These albums turned out really well. We also photographed each page and Karen had both albums printed as digital albums (my parents have the traditional albums). The digital album is a nice way to share with extended family members (none of whom take pictures but all of whom enjoy looking at them).

 Come up with a theme and complementary colors for your album pages.

 Here we wrote about specific vacations and family reunions. Get creative and have fun.

 Include photos and remember that a few comments will add to the stories.

Play with fonts and colors but make sure to not be too busy.

Also come up with a set number of page designs that you can then repeat.

Remember the focus should be on the photos and the stories! 

 Include maps and descriptions about the places you vacationed. 

(Google can be a lifesaver here but also remember to check out tourism sites) 

Be sure to add any postcards or ticket stubs.

 Have fun and be sure to get lots of candid shots.

People enjoy seeing themselves and sharing those memories.

 Be sure to include any special things your family does together.

For traditional scrapbooks, be sure to have pages made up and ready

for that next vacation or reunion. It is easy to add to the albums and you

won't be disappointed if the paper is no longer available!

And just for fun (and to make sure our projects have our signature on them) we made 3 inch decals to attach to them.  Use your imagination, lots of color and have some fun!  Ours read:

Another Exceptional Endeavor by Those Sensational Snappy Sisters

(we know who we are and we love alliteration)

I know that there is a variety of excellent photo organizing software available.  Many people use online or dedicated photo editing software (Google’s Picasa or Adobe’s Photoshop), or the photo software that came with their computers (Windows Live Photo Gallery for PCs and iPhoto for Macs).   However, I started using Memory Manager and StoryBook Creator in 2008, I like working with them, and the updates have been excellent.

Creative Memories has been in business since 1987 and they focus exclusively on preserving photos and providing excellent products (both traditional and digital) to share those photos. The Creative Memories’ website lists their products as well as several video tutorials and pdfs (for those who like to read and watch how to do something) that clearly explain step by step how to do a variety of things (backing up media, editing photos, organizing and printing & sharing your photos).  Check out their pdfs here. So, how do you share your family photos? What projects have you made that include your family photos and stories? Please share!

You Think My Software Is Ugly and Unfriendly!

I enjoy reading reviews of genealogy products ~ software, websites, applications, subscription services, books, archives and libraries, tools and gadgets ~ anything that will assist me in learning how to "do genealogy" more efficiently with best practices and great results.  This morning Dick Eastman re-posted a press release from PCMag.com (in the Google+ Stream) of a review of Legacy Family Tree Deluxe 7.5 by Jill Duffy. As is often the case with these press releases, Mr. Eastman had no accompanying comment so I don't know if he read the review, agreed with it, disagreed with it, or had any thoughts on the matter. Within moments, Tamura Jones re-posted the review on Google+ and included his thoughts which were interesting and program-related.

Disclosure ~ I am a current Legacy Family Tree user. I have purchased and used two other programs: RootsMagic4 which has several features I like but does not feel as intuitive to me as Legacy, and Family Tree Maker which I stopped using because I got tired of the constant paid updates, freezing, and too close interaction with Ancestry.com ~ a subscription service I use but do not want syncing with my database. That said, I read the reviews and comparisons of all the major genealogy database software and add-ons and work with them for different purposes. Armed with my morning coffee, I went over to PCMag.com to read the Legacy review.  The full review can be found at Legacy Family Tree Deluxe 7.5 Review.

Following are some of Ms. Duffy's comments and my reactions:

• bottom line ~ Legacy has all the tools you'll need to record personal history, but the user experience could be better.
• how so ~ what did you find difficult and what steps did you take to learn
• pros ~ well structured and feature rich
• cons ~ ugly interface, has a learning curve
• user experience can be daunting, particularly if you are new to genealogy
• isn't most software daunting if you are unfamiliar with it
• "fine option if you are well versed in genealogy and/or you're looking for a piece of software to use for a long time"
• this is definitely a good selling point in my view
• not the most attractive design, ..."well organized beneath a layer of mustard green backgrounds and extra large sized tab fonts, with no proselytizing to be found"
• did you check out the customization tab which includes colors, sizes, wording, and backgrounds ~ if not, you should have if you were going to judge the program 
• proselytizing ~ really, that comment is a bit odd ~ does she normally find software contains proselytizing? I found this comment insulting and it was not directed at me. I have never met a genealogist who proselytized and I have been to the Family History Library on several occasions - I have found the LDS representatives at the FHL to be respectful of all researchers' beliefs, professional and super helpful.   
• "isn't an ideal piece of software to use if you're only looking to dabble in your family history"
• dabblers probably aren't going to purchase software ~ who are these reviews for?
• does have some powerful features that might pay off 
• she spent time working with Research Guidance
• interestingly this is the feature I use least
• she spent time working with events/facts
• good choice but I don't get the impression she really played with this feature
• upset that upon entering her name, Legacy "immediately opened up a slot for my non-existent husband" 
• this has never happened to me and when entering a person I usually get a prompt for parents (and we all have those)
• had trouble figuring out how to enter her mother's two marriages and assign children correctly
• this is where the help section and tutorials come in handy
• charting appears to be a program within a program and more modern appearance 
• "feature rich (myriad field for recording details, as well as suggestions for sources, enables you to do real and long-term research in a highly organized matter)"
• and this is a good thing!
• not particularly user friendly
• ah this hurt my feelings ~ I think Legacy is plenty friendly  
• seven screen captures highlighting her points 
• really odd choices 
• the chronology color bar ~ how about showing customization tab with several choices 
• how about showing a chart 

At the outset I always wonder if a reviewer is familiar with the subject matter of the review (i.e., beginner, intermediate, advanced user) and how much time the reviewer spends putting the software through its paces. Specifically as to this review, does the reviewer have any experience in genealogy, does s/he use a database management program for genealogy? Does the same person review all the products in the same category (here all the genealogy software)? What skill-set does the reviewer bring to the review? Does the reviewer make use of tutorials and/or help sections included with the software?

I do wonder if reviewers play around with the software ~ perhaps in this instance checking out the customize tab and working through setting up the software to fit a user's needs and wants. Ms. Duffy did show a customization screen but it was for heading colors in the chronology report ~ not a very good or representative example of customization in Legacy (or in any other program). I was surprised to read that she did not find Legacy user-friendly because I chose Legacy as my database software primarily because I found it so intuitive and user-friendly. This just goes to show that you have to test software yourself to find what works best for you. I was especially impressed with Legacy's well-designed help section available at every step of data entry. 

I freely admit that I am a reader and am willing to play around with software. I played around with the free version of Legacy, read through the help section and watched the introductory tutorial. After I purchased the software, I downloaded the Legacy User Manual, read it and highlighted areas of importance to me. I also made a point of playing around with software, clicking on every tab to see what it would do ~ I am not afraid that I will break something. I was not worried about the changes I made because I knew I could hit the reset to default button (no harm no foul). 

My approach to learning new things is to read, watch and do. In order to get the most and best use out of anything I either purchase or check books out from the library (i.e., Microsoft Access, Excel, and Publisher, genealogy research methodology, etc.).  I do not expect that I will learn everything about a software program or application in one sitting. I hope that a program will have enough features that it will grow with me and be capable of expanding to fit my increased needs over time. I realize that we live in a world where things are "dumbed down" for us, but I don't think genealogy is or should be one of those things. Do I expect my television remote to work without much thought on my part? Do I expect my washer and dryer to work without reading complicated user manuals? ~ Yes to both questions! Do I expect that my genealogy software should work with little or no thought? The answer is a resounding No! 

Genealogy is a process and it requires at least a question, some research and thought, analysis, data entry, source citations, report writing, and perhaps photos, charts and/or stories published in some format. In all aspects of this process I need to think about what I am doing, why I am doing it, how I am supporting my conclusions, and how I want to present my findings. In this regard, I think Legacy (and several other software programs) do a very good job. Like many things in life, effort is required to get the best possible outcome.  Take the time to play around with software yourself, find what is intuitive, and then spend the time to learn the ins and outs of your software and make it work for you. Ms Duffy's two main criticisms of Legacy can be easily resolved ~ customize your software program and take the time to learn how to use it. 

I decided to take a look at the comparison chart and found that Ms. Duffy reviewed Legacy, Ancestry.com, Ancestral Quest and Family Tree Maker 2012. Definitely take the time to check out those reviews and if you use those programs you might add a user review. I was surprised and disappointed that RootsMagic5 was not included and there might be other programs that should have been included. I don't really consider that Ancestry.com should have been in this grouping, perhaps it should be with online database programs. What do you think?

Perhaps for other genealogists (as well as myself) Ms. Duffy's top selling point for FTM is something that gives me serious pause ~ "There's no need to dig around libraries and county halls anymore because Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.com puts centuries of documents at your fingertips."  Oh no, another version of "you don't need to know what you're looking for, you just have to start looking." Another of her top selling points for FTM relates to the tight relationship between FTM and Ancestry.com. However, by doing this she skews her review of stand alone software (in terms of product and cost) and her review and editor's choice amounts to a comparison of apples and oranges. FTM earned the editor's choice with 4 of 5 points while Legacy earned 3.5 of 5 points. I could not find a review of RootsMagic5 which I expected if an editor's choice award was going to be given. There are only three user reviews on the site ~ I would love for more genealogists to weigh in with their reviews of the software.

So, what do you think of the recent software reviews in PCMag.com? What genealogy software do you use and love (or use and hate) and why?

Tuesday's Tip ~ Blogging ~ It Does A Genealogist Good!

A blog post, a Google search, some emails, and we have blast off 
(hopefully through that brick wall)!

Last week I had the great good fortune of connecting with a previously unknown relative (my second cousin once removed) ~ all thanks to the Internet.  I wanted to share the story with you and hopefully motivate you to make use of technology and get out there and blog!




Digital Photo by Filomena Scalise



• Last Sunday I received an email asking me about some family members who were listed as my relations on this blog (my monthly roll call for birthdays and anniversaries).  He mentioned some other relatives and asked if I had a listing for them. 
• That afternoon I responded with a few screenshots (using the Microsoft Snipping Tool) of my Legacy Family Tree database program showing our common ancestor and his family as well as my family.  I asked if the screenshots confirmed his information and waited to hear back.  
• On Monday he responded by confirming our "connection" and providing me with some more current family information and telling me his family remained in Nebraska.
• On Tuesday I responded by sharing some of my more current family information and also giving him a summary of information about the family members who moved from Nebraska to Washington.  I also asked him if he knew anything about where our original family in Ireland was from as well as possibly exchanging additional information. 
• He responded by sharing some more about his family and telling me ~
• "We still own land originally homesteaded by the Murphys in the 1870s." 
• He found my blog when he did a search of his name - which brought up not his name (living people consideration) but related deceased family as well as the particular towns and counties in Nebraska. 
• He shared more about family members who moved from Nebraska to Utah and Oregon 
• He mentioned that many Murphy family ancestors are buried in the town cemetery and that he was willing to check them out for me when the weather improved. 
• He offered to work on some dates and names and look up some addresses for me.
• On Wednesday (after checking out the FamilySearch Wiki, Wikipedia, NARA and the Nebraska Historical Society websites), I followed up on the "homestead" issue.  The sites mentioned that the original paperwork might provide some insight into James Murphy's place of birth, immigration and naturalization, all items that I have not been able to find.
• He responded by providing me the legal description of the land that his family owns and offering to check his title abstract!  He also informed me that certain of the families in our collective past were awarded Pioneer Farm Family Awards by AK-SAR-BEN.
• After googling AK-SAR-BEN (Nebraska spelled backwards) I found out about the Knights of AK-SAR-BEN Foundation and their various agricultural and civic deeds.
• On Thursday I offered to work with my genealogy database to prepare a report with the information I have entered to-date for his and other family members' review and comment (my work in progress).  What a great opportunity to fill in some blanks, confirm or dispute information, add to my knowledge of the family and hopefully gain lots more information and stories about our extended family.
• Later that same day, he sent me the first page of the title abstract for the property which lists:
• the legal description of the land;
• the original entry between the USA government and our original Ireland to America ancestor James Murphy dated in 1872 listing the land records office and the registration information; and
• the patent between the USA government (by President U.S. Grant) and James Murphy dated in 1873 listing the Act of Congress and the homestead certificate number.
• I went to the NARA site and downloaded the National Archives Order for Copies of Land Entry Files (Form 84).  The information required to acquire copies of the Entry Files consists of the following:
• Name of entry man
• State land located
• Approximate date of entry
• Legal description of the land by Section, Townland and Range
• Type of land entry
• Patent final certificate number
• Name of land office
• A completed NARA Form 84 plus $40 should provide me with the Entry File for James Murphy! The entire process can be done online and the processing time is between 60-90 days ~ what an unexpected gift!
• The abstract contained additional information regarding the land:
• James' oldest son later quit-claimed his interest in the farm to his mother ~ this was my great grandfather who later moved with his wife and young family to Washington.
• James' wife later quit-claimed her interest (except for dower rights) to her minor children ~ another way to identify and confirm family members and follow the land through the years.
• On Saturday I filled out the NARA form and sent a quick question to NARA about in person research versus online request for records.  I also worked on the draft family report which I plan to send off on to my Nebraska relative later today.
• This morning I received a response from George at NARA explaining the in person research process: 

 You are more than welcome to do land-entry research by visiting our facility on Pennsylvania Ave.
 Note that we prefer that records are requested in person and you are required to get a researcher's ID before we pull records; the second can only be done in person.
 We also have set time for retrieving records, at 10:00, 11:00, 1:30 and 2:30 five days a week, with an additional pull time of 3:30 Wed-Fri.  For the first visit we recommend that researchers show up at least 45 minutes before one of the pull times.
 Our research room is also open late Wed.-Fri. and is open from 9:00-5:00 on Saturdays (though there are currently no Saturday pulls).
 The cost for using our copiers in person is twenty-five cents a page, though digital photography is allowed in the research room.
 If you have any further questions fill free to ask.

• Since I have the choice and can easily travel to Washington, D.C., I may just make the trip to see the file in person.  Whether online or in person ~ what a difference a week makes!

~Five Final Thoughts ~





Digital Photo by Salvatore Vuono

 

1. Blog, Blog, Blog ~ Put some information about family members online.  My monthly blog roll lists birthdays and anniversaries of family members together with dates, RINs and MRINs (all from by genealogy database program).
2. Have an email address or account so people who visit your blog can get in touch with you.
3. Correspond with people who visit your blog ~ you may find some family, they may have information which will break down brick walls, and you will be able to do the genealogy happy dance! 
4. The Internet can open doors ~ I researched online with the Nebraska Historical Society, FamilySearch Wiki, NARA; all provided lots of information and additional links for:
• the history of the State as well as towns in Johnson County, Nebraska;
• migration routes between New York and Nebraska (and onward to Washington);
• record types at the Nebraska Historical Society;
• property records in Nebraska;
• land records research at NARA and the history of the Homestead Act of 1862;
• USGenWeb school, marriage and cemetery abstracts and transcripts for Johnson County, Nebraska; and
• a catalog of early Nebraska newspaper obituaries through O'Bits of Nebraska.
5. A road trip to Nebraska is definitely on my agenda ~ an opportunity to connect with family, see the original homestead, learn more of our history, hopefully get some stories and the opportunity to scan documents and photographs.

So, what are you waiting for?  Place some information online, share your family stories and find some additional family members.  Slainte!

SLIG 2011/Tech Tuesday - PowerPoint with Barbara Renick

Mea Culpa Barbara Renick ~ I Should Have Known Better!

SLIG is not for the fainthearted.  Personally, I find the the thought of four to five hours of lectures a day five days in a row a bit draining, especially because I try to get in at least a couple of hours of research at the FHL each day.

On previous SLIG trips I attended at least a few of the evening sessions because it is a good opportunity to hear a some well-known speakers (Thomas W. Jones, John Colletta, and Barbara Renick) as well as some less well-known speakers ~ at least when I first heard them (D. Josh Taylor and Debby Horton).  It is also a good way to learn something in an hour-long lecture that you may not be interested in or ready for with the week-long course.  The downside of evening sessions is that it makes for an incredibly long day and at times you feel like you have reached information overload!

This year, I decided to limit myself to one course and since I previously attended Barbara Renick's SLIG Internet & Technology Course, I signed up for her PowerPoint for Presenters presentation.  Her presentation focused on the logistics of a PowerPoint presentation (the slide projector, the differences between PowerPoint versions 2007 and 2010, the QAT, and navigating around your presentation) rather than how to put together a presentation.  At the time and in discussions with a few other attendees we were a bit underwhelmed with Renick's performance and thought it didn't match our expectations.  What I was expecting was more along the lines of:

• how to go from lecture concept to preparing slides
• how to incorporate jpegs or screenshots into slides
• ideas for theme colors and fonts
• how to update slides

The attendees did not receive a handout at Renick's presentation but at the outset she informed us that her presentation was available in PDF format on her website Zroots.com.  Her "energy level" was definitely not on high (which is her usual mode of operation) and that evening I felt that her presentation was "not all that."

Flash forward three weeks and I am happy to say mea culpa Barbara Renick for three reasons:

1. You coordinated one of the Courses and taught several additional sessions.  Attendees sometimes forget that the instructors are "always on" whether in the classroom, at the FHL, at the area restaurants and/or just hanging out around the Institute hotel.
2. You had one hour to speak.  Looking back the presentation was titled PowerPoint for Presenters not How to Prepare a PowerPoint Presentation.
3. I didn't have the opportunity to check out your "written material" during SLIG but upon my return home I downloaded and reviewed Advanced PP2007 Lab by Debby Horton & Barbara Renick.  This 47-page document is the roadmap for any PowerPoint presenter and discusses in detail the following areas:

• Creating 
• New Features 
• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Comparison of versions 2003 and 2007
• Design Elements
• Working with Slide Masters
• Reusing Slides and Other Elements
• Using Multimedia
• Macros
• Online and Offline Help
• Editing 
• Adjusting Backgrounds
• Adding Emphasis
• Adding Animation
• Adding Hyperlinks
• Practicing 
• Printing Slides/Notes/Handouts
• Quality Check
• Screen Capture
• Packing 
• Packing or Publishing 
• PowerPoint and Other Programs
• Presenting
• Working with Projectors
• Presenter View
• Navigation during a Presentation
• Pen/Pointer Options
• Using a Remote/Mouse
• What's New in PowerPoint 2010

Barbara and Debby laid out in a clear and logical manner (with screenshots) all the aspects of preparing and presenting a PowerPoint presentation.  A number of exercises that walk you through the process from start to finish are included as a bonus to put into practice what you have learned.  Advanced PP2007 Lab can be saved to your computer (I put mine in Microsoft OneNote) and highlighted, notated, and/or searched as necessary while you work through the wealth of information.  

Barbara ~ I stand corrected.  On the surface your lecture did not seem to meet my needs but you (and Debby Horton) blew me away with your "written material." I especially appreciate the ability to work through the exercises.  Looking back, there was of course no way you could have explained everything PowerPoint in one hour.  I didn't get that you were giving us some highlights but expecting us to take your full presentation and run with it (at our own pace).  Kudos!  

Just one little quibble ~ I think you should have shown us a few screenshots of Advanced PP2007 Lab to make it clear that you were providing us with a real treasure that we needed to download and noodle through. Just thought I would spread the word to other attendees and suggest to the rest of you that if you get the chance to hear Barbara Renick and/or Debby Horton ~ do so ~ you won't be disappointed.

SLIG 2011 ~ Is There A Genealogy Conference In Your Future?

So is 2011 the year you plan to attend a genealogy conference ~ good for you! 

What are your next steps? 

The first step is to give some serious thought and do a bit of reading and/or online research to decide where to travel.  One of the main reasons I enjoy attending Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) is that the Family History Library (FHL) is nearby and has a wealth of research materials and personnel to assist you in your research.  Salt Lake City hosts a number of research conferences and seminars throughout the year (or you can make the trip to the FHL on your own). 

Perhaps you want to start out closer to home or closer to local research facilities that are key to your family's history.  Throughout the year, there are conferences and seminars in a number of places ~ select one that is near research facilities that will be of use to you.  Check out Genealogy Conferences and Expos (a Google Calendar from GeneaBloggers) to find out about upcoming conferences and seminars. While you are there, why not also check out GeneaBloggers' Events and Daily Blogging Themes calendars.

The second step is spending some serious time thinking about what you want to accomplish with your trip. 

• If You Fail to Plan ~ Plan to Fail!
• What do you want to accomplish?  What is/are your research question(s)?  Write out your Research Plan(s)!
• How do you intend to accomplish your goals?  Find out what resources are necessary to help you answer your research questions. Use your Research Plan to help you accomplish your goals.  Oftentimes the process of putting it down on paper shows the strengths and weaknesses of your current research and points you in the right direction to break down those brick walls.  If you spend a bit of time and effort now you will save a great deal of time and effort later.

The third step is spending some quality time planning your trip.  Whether you use pen and paper or your computer, you need to focus on the following areas and keep copies (either on your computer, mobile device, or printed out on paper) of all reservations, receipts, outlines, course materials, packing lists, travel information, as well as any legal and medical information.

• Budget
• Do you plan to attend a seminar?  If so, how many days is the seminar and what are the costs associated with it (course fees, travel arrangements, accommodations, meals) as well as research costs (photocopies, local travel, other purchases)?
• How many days do you plan to research on-site and what are the costs associated with the trip (any additional travel, accommodations, meals, or research costs)?
• There are simple template budgets in Microsoft Word and on Google Docs - draft and revise your budget throughout the planning stages and there will be fewer surprises during your trip!

• Pre-Trip Planning
• Make use of AAA services, go online at Trip Advisor, contact the local genealogical societies, archives, libraries, etc., to check out the logistics of your trip.  Find out the hours of operation, what is going on in the community, possible places to stay, interesting sites to visit, restaurants to try, how to get from one facility to the next (the nuts and bolts of the physical part of your trip). 
• Give yourself plenty of time to check out a variety of websites and follow up with telephone calls and/or emails to staff (the nuts and bolts of the research part of your trip). 
• You don't want to plan your trip when the facility is closed or on shortened hours. 
• You want to make sure you have checked out any online research catalogs in advance (a real time saver)
• You want to get as much done in advance to make the best use of your time once you are on site.
• Save your web page searches using Microsoft OneNote (a truly great program), EverNote, copying and pasting the web pages into your word processing program, or printing out the applicable information. 
• Whether you save the information to your computer or print it out, make sure to update the information as your trip nears.

• Course/Seminar Sign up
• Check out the early bird deadlines (usually a big cost savings) and make sure you are on any mailing list or blog that the sponsoring organization has set up to keep attendees apprised of news and events.
• Google the coordinators and instructors so you have some idea of their areas of expertise and see if they have any materials online, at the library (or bookstore) to get a feel for their teaching style. 

• Travel Arrangements
• Make use of any of the travel services online (AAA, Trip Advisor, Priceline, Kayak, specific airline portals) to get an idea of travel costs (keep in mind you may be driving, taking the train, or flying to your destination).  Use a mapping program to check out the area (Google is great for this).  Watch prices and determine the best days for travel to save costs.

• Accommodations
• Whether there is a conference hotel or not, always determine what housing arrangements best suit your needs.
• Keep in mind that distance will make a difference with all day conferences (especially if you need to make local travel arrangements).  Keep an open mind and be sure to check out bed & breakfasts, inns, hotels, university summer housing, and staying with friends and/or family.

• Packing Lists
• Start making your packing list both as it relates to the standard travel items as well as your genealogy related travel items. 
• What will the weather be like?  Why not put the weather gadget for the city in question on your iGoogle page to start getting a feel for your trip.
• What is the dress standard for your conference or research trip?
• Think comfort and keep in mind that at conferences, rooms can be drafty, too cool or too warm ~ think layers!
• Make sure you know what the research facility will allow you to bring in - notebooks, binders, pens & pencils, computers, cameras, scanners, etc.
• Make sure you know how much copies cost ~ most facilities require cash and prefer small bills. 
• What about your Virtual Research Toolbox?  Why not register to listen to some expert advice from Thomas MacEntee when he gives a Legacy Webinar on "Building a Research Toolbox" (scheduled for April 6, 2011).  

• Research Plan
• What do you hope to accomplish?  Repeat after me ~
• I won't get it all in one trip 
• I will not be at the research facility from dawn to dusk (trust me you will burn out!)
• I will focus my research in advance of my trip so I make the best use of my time
• Spend some time writing up your Research Plan(s) and have a plan of attack! 

• Travel Research Binder
• What do you need/want in paper format to make your research trip organized, timely, helpful and useful?
• Pedigree Chart(s)
• Family Group Sheet(s)
• Copies of any applicable records (vital records, religious records, censuses, emigration/immigration records, land records, tax records, city directories, and military records) used in your Research Plan(s)
• Master Location List
• Master Source List
• Full citations for sources already used in your Research Plan(s)
• Pages from Maps and Gazetteers of the areas in your Research Plan(s)

There are a couple of great webinars that do an amazingly in-depth job of explaining research plans, travel research binders, Research Logs Part 1 and Part 2, and taking a genealogy research trip ~ all found at FamilySearch.org.  Be sure to check out all their research courses as well as their research wiki.  Don't forget to check out Wikipedia for Country and region information.

Additionally Professional Genealogy has two excellent chapters dealing with research plans and analysis (Mills, Elizabeth S. Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co, 2001. Print.) Be sure to check out Chapter 14 - Problem Analyses and Research Plans and Chapter 15 - Research Procedures for some excellent tips.  (More on Research Plans in a separate post!)

You can watch the webinars in the comfort of your own home and check Professional Genealogy out of your local (or genealogy) library. Find the closest library at Worldcat.org.

Have you recently taken a genealogy research trip?  Do you have any tips, tricks or suggestions to add?  Please share!

SLIG 2011/Tech Tuesday ~ Microsoft's OneNote For Research Trips

I have mentioned before that I really love Microsoft's OneNote program which comes with all of the iterations of Microsoft Office.  I don't know why Microsoft doesn't market this program more because I think it is tremendous.  I especially like it for research trips, gathering research citations and lookups, and keeping track of my ancestry.com shoebox. 

Today I thought I would focus on how I used OneNote for my most recent research trip to Salt Lake City for SLIG 2011. 

I have set up a Travel Notebook with sections for all types of trips ~ for our purposes the section for Salt Lake City Seminars is shown.  The tabs at the top of this Notebook Section show the following:

• SLC Seminars
• Journal 2009
• Journal 2010
• Journal 2011
• Research 

I have enlarged the tab section (at the right) so you can see the titles of the various pages - in this instance "Packing List for 2011 Trip."  You can add pages yourself, link a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet, or grab a page from a website and "print" it to your Notebook (which is what I did with my airline reservation/confirmation, hotel reservation, and SLIG Course outline).  I also sent emails from my ProGen Study Group to my Notebook.  Anything from the Internet is easily sent from Windows Internet Explorer with a one click "send to OneNote button" and can also be done from other Internet browsers with a "print to OneNote button." 

In any event, this is a great place to keep all kinds of information about the "nuts and bolts" of my trip all in one place.  In the top right-hand corner you will notice that there is a Search function - just put in the word or phrase you are looking for and OneNote will search a particular Notebook or all Notebooks and provide you with a list of pages to help you find what you may have "misfiled."  You can keep your Notebook private, email it (either by page, section or Notebook) or share it online.  It has lots of bells and whistles, but even using just the "send to OneNote button" and keeping articles, web pages, etc., is a real boon.

The above screenshot shows the outline for the course I signed up for at SLIG 2011.  Note that the page goes into OneNote with the hyperlinks so you can always go click on the hyperlink and go directly to the website for updated information (really great when you have done research and did not keep track of where you got it from for your research log!).

In the first section for all SLC Seminars, I keep general information like the TRAX (trolley) information, restaurants that have been suggested to me, and various articles.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly) is the Research Section.  This is the place where I keep FHL catalog entries that I want to check out during my research trip.  I send them directly to OneNote so I have the film or book numbers as well as any specific information that may be of use.  I might note the family surnames I'm looking for, the time frames in question, and the priority of the research.

If you have Microsoft Office on your computer and have never checked out OneNote, why not give it a try before your next research trip.  Microsoft has some excellent tutorials on using OneNote (either version 2007 or 2010 ) ~ there is also a free version "in the cloud."  Microsoft recently published an iPhone app for OneNote which can be used with your iPhone or iTouch ~ I haven't gone there yet but I am on my way ~ oh yeah!

If you already use OneNote and have any tips or tricks to share ~ please leave a comment.  (I know I have only scratched the surface so feel free to share with the rest of us).  Thanks.

Family History Month - WEBINARS

~ Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter W~

There are many ways to learn ~ you can read all about it by checking out a book, you can listen in and learn by checking out an audio podcast, you can travel locally or nationally and attend lectures at a conference or seminar, you can teach yourself by noodling around with a genealogy program or playing around with a software program, or you can "watch and learn" by attending an online webinar. 

Webinars contain the best of both worlds ~ you can watch the presentation (ususally a Powerpoint or slide show) while listening to the presenter.  In the early days of webinars sometimes the presentations were not all that smooth.  Today, many organizations have tweaked their presentation models and provide quite professional webinars for your viewing and listening pleasure! 

Have you checked out any webinars lately?  With hosting sites like GoToMeeting, the audience has the ability to attend a presentation and, in certain instances, direct questions to the presenter live and have them answered in real time (this live mic option gives you the ability to follow up on your questions and/or interact with the presenter).

Last Wednesday I attended DearMyrtle's webinar "Blogging for Beginners" brought to the genealogy community by Legacy Family Tree.  Not only did Myrtle present her Powerpoint slides and give her lecture live, but the audience was able to ask questions and the answers were provided in real time (at least for me, within moments of typing my questions into the query box I received answers).  At the conclusion of DearMyrtle's presentation, Geoff Rasmussen opened things up to live questions with the assistance of the GoToMeeting's sidebar (it is equipped with a space to type questions as well as a tab for "raising your hand.")  Once called on, your computer's mic is live and you can ask your question and have it answered in real time.   Very cool and a real boon ~ fitting your genealogy education into your schedule via webinars. 

A suggestion for all Genealogical and Historical Societies ~ webinars are a great way to include those who cannot attend your meetings and open up a wealth of opportunities for distance Societies to increase their memebership and/or attendance at meetings.  How many times have you seen a great class, lecture or course offered by a particular Society but because of distance or time you could not attend?  I would happily pay for a lecture or course offering if I could attend via computer ~ how about you?  Perhaps we can move our Societies forward into the brave new world of webinars! 

Check out FamilySearch.org which has several of their Saturday morning FHL lectures available online ~ this is perfect as you can attend the lectures in the comfort of your home when it is convenient for you (pjs and all!).  Some other choices include NEHGS and Legacy Family Tree.

Now if you will excuse me, I have an 8:00 a.m. webinar with Karen Clifford entitled  "Evidence Analysis" offtered in conjuction with Legacy and ICAPgen ~ it is taking place in Salt Lake City and in addition to the actual class attendees, several hundred are attending from all over the World (I'm in my pjs with a large cup of coffee - cool!).  It will be available for the next 30 days at Legacy's site.  Cheers!

Family History Month - SOURCES

~ Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter S~

Performing genealogy research is quite a bit like working on a school research paper.  You have to determine what you plan to write about, read some general knowledge texts for background, develop your paper's theme, check out possible books and articles for research, read through your source materials and draft your bibliography, perform the actual research and, finally, write your paper and cite your sources. 

With genealogy (as with most other serious research) we need to cite sources for each piece of information we add to the (research paper) story of our ancestors.  Often we are in such a rush to get the names, dates and places that we sometimes forget or haphazardly cite our sources.  Then we leave our genealogy for weeks, months or years at a time (real life has a way of interfering with genealogy research).  When we get back to it, we are left to wonder ~ where did I get that piece of information, what does that "shorthand" source citation mean, is it reliable and/or accurate, do I have conflicting information and if so, how do I resolve the conflict.  If we have not clearly and accurately cited our sources for our information, we have to go back and do the research over again.  Does anyone want to reinvent the research wheel?  

How do you keep track of your sources when you research?  Is your method different when you research on-line, or at a library or archives?  If you use a genealogy software program, how does its source function work for you (both in theory and in practice)?  Do you regularly review your source citations and make sure they comply with accepted practice?  An excellent handbook/bible in this regard is Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  Additionally, several websites provide source citation assistance for articles, books and online materials (check out ProGenealogists' Citations Guide and WorldCat's Citation Guide).

Today pick one family group sheet and review the information you have entered for that family (names, dates, places and events).  How many of these pieces of information have sources?  Do you need to do some clean-up work? 

Today, make the decision to work with your sources on a regular basis and clean them up as you go along with your research.  Focus on both the information and the sources when you perform genealogy research.  Future genealogists who make use of your work product will thank you for taking the time to do it right.  They will be able to carry your work forward and not have to "reinvent the wheel" when they pick up where you left off.

Family History Month - QUERY

~Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter Q~

Oftentimes genealogy is a solitary experience.  We sit before our computers in the privacy of our homes and research on Ancestry, FamilySearch, Footnote or perhaps perform Google searches.  Perhaps we research at the local library or archives.  We may discuss our genealogy with others but many of us work on this passion alone.  It doesn't need to be that way.  In the short time I have been doing genealogy, I have found that it can also be a very social experience.  We can volunteer at a genealogical or historical society, attend a local library's "genealogy afternoon" or society or technology meetings or conferences, and we can connect online with others who share our passion. 

One of the easiest ways to move our genealogy forward and engage other potential family members is to post a query on a genealogy site.  There are several genealogy sites to choose from ~ rootsweb, local or distance genealogy societies' web pages, Ancestry's connection service, CousinConnect, Facebook's surname or locality pages, to name a few.  Today why not check out a few different query sites, read up on the terms and conditions, spend some time drafting a few clear and concise queries, post your queries, and then make a note to follow up on them.  While you are at it, read through queries from other posters.  Perhaps there is interesting information regarding your surname or locale, perhaps one of the posters is a long lost relative, or you may find a query format that you would like to use with your future queries.  Make sure to update your email address or other contact method if anything changes (you will often find people respond to a query months or sometimes years later and if your contact information is incorrect that is a connection missed).

(image by digital artist Michelle Meiklejohn, made available by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

Some tips on getting your query noticed ~ There are many queries out there so make sure your query gets noticed - provide:

• Surname, Given Name and a Timeframe 
• Locale
• Concise Information You Want
• Concise Information You Have
• Contact Information 

I have had especially good luck with FamilySearch (translating Genline's Swedish documents with the assistance of FHL volunteers) and local genealogy sites (a Ward County, North Dakota volunteer looked up my greatgrandfather's obituary and sent me a transcription via email - I had the newspaper citation and provided that in my query).  Today, give it a try ~ you may be amazed at the results!

Family History Month - NUMBERS

~ Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter N~

Genealogy consists of names, dates, places, events, stories and photographs.  A big part of the data entry associated with genealogy involves numbers ~ birth, baptism, marriage, death & burial dates to name just a few.  The generally accepted method of entry for dates is day-month-year (the European method) with the first three letters of the month spelled out (i.e., 01-Oct-2010).  Is this the number system you are using?  Why or why not?  Have you ever received a family tree or chart and not been able to determine the date of an event because it was put in all number order (01-10-2010) - is that January 10th or October 1st?  Perhaps the year was listed with only two numbers (07) - is that 1807, 1907 or 2007?  Granted you can spend some time with the information and usually figure it out but why not enter it clearly in the first place? 

Most genealogy programs (both computer database and paper-based) assign a number to each person and each marriage in your family tree.  GEDCOMs number individuals based on the family group to which they belong.  Articles and books go into great detail on the numbering systems in genealogy (the ahnentafel or Sosa-Stradonitz numbering system, the register system or the modified register/ngs system).  One excellent article discussing the various numbering systems is Genealogy Numbering Systems. 

Whether you use one of the systems mentioned or make up your own, have you made an index of your numbering system that shows the individual and the number(s) assigned to him/her?  I use Legacy Family Tree and have assigned RINs (record identification numbers) and MRINs (marriage record identification numbers) for every individual in my database.  These numbers are part of my computer and paper-based filing system.  I make sure that the I do not reassign abandoned RINs and MRINs and that I do not renumber my RINs and MRINs.  In addition to backing up my genealogy database on a regular basis, I also save an index of my numbering system so that if anything goes wonky I can recreate my numbering system.  For those of you who use a software program, on the off chance that some gremlin wreaks havoc with your database, have you backed up your database and your numbering system?  For those of you who use a paper-based system, how do you keep track of your numbering system?

Today, spend a little time reviewing your numbering system and making sure it works for you.

Family History Month - MARRIAGE

~ Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter M ~

How many marriages do you have in your family tree?  How do you keep track of these marriages?  Is your marriage information standardized? Do you have marriage certificates, newspaper notices and photos either scanned into your computer or in paper based files?  Besides putting the marriage information into your genealogy database do you make any other use of it?

(photo by digital artist Salvatore Vuono and made available by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

There are many reasons why I use a software program (my choice ~ Legacy Family Tree) ~ to put my data in a standardized format, to be able to manipulate the data for research purposes, to help make my data easy to use and publish to others. 

I use the RIN (record indentification number) and MRIN (marriage record indentification number) in Legacy and I file both on my computer and my paper based system with the individual's name and their RIN and (where appropriate) MRIN.  On a regular basis I go through a "potential problems" and a "missing information" search to make sure that I have included a complete date, location, officiating priest/minister, source(s), and witnesses.  I make sure to look for church marriage registers and county or town marriage registers.  Finally, I take a look at newspaper indexes (either at the local library or on-line) and see if there are articles or notices of my marriages. If there are articles about my marriage couple, I make the trip to the local library or genealogical society or request a copy from the distance genealogical society or library.

So many times, the newspaper article in a local paper helps you learn about the marriage couple, their faith, their education and occupation, their parents, extended family members and friends (usually there is some mention of those in attendance), and their social status.  The "mother lode" so to speak is when photos accompany the article.  These photos really give you a picture of the times due to the style of the wedding dress or groom's attire. 

Today, take a look at you master marriage list and see where you have missing information or potential problems.  Then make a search list and see if you can find the information you need either through your local library or genealogical society look-up (for local or distance locations).  Cheers!

Family History Month - LOCATIONS

~Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter L~

Do you use a database program for your genealogy?   A great reason to use a database program is that you can standardize information.  One of those key pieces of information is locations.  The first statistics we look for in genealogy are name, date, event and place (or location).  Being able to correctly determine and plot location is important in terms of knowing where to search for additional information about ancestors.  Learning the locations is important to help us place our family in a geographical chronology. 

How do you keep track of your genealogy locations?  How do you check to make sure your information is correct?  Do you have misspellings of town names or counties?  Do you have a county listed at a time when it did not exist?  Today why not spend some time going through your master location list (whether in your genealogy database or your paper based program) and clean it up where necessary. 

• Check out the master location list that is part of your genealogy database program - really spend some time learning how to make the best use of it. 
• A helpful site that can operate as a check of sorts in this regard is Standard Finder by FamilySearch.  You can use this program to determine proper spellings of locations, to check if locations exist, as well as to determine alternate name spellings and variants of those locations.
• Once you have your locations in good order, there are several mapping programs that will read your genealogy database program and map or plot your location information for you.  Check out Map My Family Tree or Family Atlas.  Both programs are relatively easy to use and can give you a new perspective on the various locations in your family tree. 
• Two programs that will provide a bit of historical context with your locations are Animap Plus (for North America) and The Centennia Historical Atlas (for Europe & the Middle East). 
• Finally, don't forget to check out Google Earth which has a wealth of information, a free download program and tutorials that explain how to use the program.  

(photo by digital artist Salvatore Vuono and provided by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

Family History Month - BACKUP

~Today's prompt is brought to you by the letter B ~

Everyone who uses computers for their genealogy knows the mantra ~ backup your work and your files.  It is a fact of life that hard drives crash, flash drives go missing, software programs go wonky on you, and a host of gremlins (both machine and human error) can cause us hours of frustration and lost work. 

Today's activity and prompt is ~ backup, backup, backup!  If you are like me you know that you should do it but you may be unsure of the nuts and bolts of how to do it.  If this describes you, check out the How-To Geek's recent article What Files Should You Backup On Your Windows PC?  This blog is a great resource for all things technology-related and I found this article especially helpful in making sense of data protection.

(photo by digital artist Salvatore Vuono and made available by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

Happy 100th Episode to Genealogy Gems!

Five Seasons of Genealogy Gems Podcast Episodes ~ if you haven't already, take a look at Lisa Louise Cooke’s website and podcast series. I think Lisa is the most interesting, informative and enthusiastic genealogy presenter out there! She has several excellent podcasts on organization (both computer and paper based systems), preservation of genealogy materials, and publishing your family stories (her most recent podcasts take you step by step through the process of publishing at Lulu). I consider myself relatively tech savvy but Lisa’s Google series really opens your eyes to what is available on the Internet and how to harness it for your own personal use. You can search her Podcast Show Notes from her home page to find particular show topics.

I previously mentioned her series Family History Made Easy which is a great resource for the beginner (and even those with more experience can learn something new as well) and both her regular Genealogy Gems podcasts and her Genealogy Gems premium membership are well worth your time and investment. Each of these three podcasts can be found at her website (or on iTunes).

I have emailed Lisa on a couple of occasions either with a question about how to do something or why to do something – each time I have received a timely and thoughtful response. In a few cases she mentioned the question on her podcast as well as the solution in an effort to assist other listeners.  Lisa is on a mission to make sure that we learn best methods with the experts she interviews and technology she explains, spread joy in the genealogy community, help us think about genealogy in new and different ways, and encourage us to share our knowledge in a collegial atmosphere. She is quite simply a Genealogy GEM!

Genealogy Gems’ 100th episode is coming up soon – HAPPY 100TH

(photo by digital artist Francesco Marino and made available by FreeDigitalPhotos.net ~ thanks)

On a personal note, Lisa is the reason I started my blogs and her step-by-step instructions on how to blog using Blogger helped me noodle around with my blogs and finally go public in August. My hard drive organization is a variation on her suggestions and one day soon I will need to take a look at Lulu for publishing that first section of my family history. So, happy 100th episode Lisa and please keep those podcasts coming!

Connecting with Long Lost Relatives

How do you connect with a place you have never been before? How do you find family members who don't know you exist? Can you go home again - if you have never been there before?

Part of the reason I went to Newfoundland to research the Keough side of my family is because my grandfather left Newfoundland for the United States in 1916 and never went back. Although he stayed in written contact with his father and siblings, as was the case with most immigrants he had neither the time nor the funds to travel back home. In the 1960s he wanted to make the trip back for a visit ~ however when he finally decided to brave "air travel" health issues put the trip on hold. Sadly he never made the trip home.

Although one Aunt went to Newfoundland in the 1980s, she did it rather spur of the moment and kept most of the information and photographs from her trip among her family. Flash forward twenty-five years later with my cousin’s and my fledgling interest in genealogy and we were operating in the dark as far as possible family connections in Newfoundland. Happily there were a few excellent Newfoundland websites including Newfoundland GenWeb, Newfoundland's Grand Banks, and Bonavista Bay's Mailing List at Rootsweb that got us started making contact with our long lost relatives. We posted to the sites and were able to contact some extended Keough relatives who provided us with family tree information as well as a few potential contacts in St. John’s and Plate Cove, Newfoundland.

Even more amazing (and instantly gratifying) was my niece's suggestion to Google it and check out Facebook to see if there were any websites or group pages for any of our family names or locations. I have to admit I was never a big fan of Facebook as there is so much extraneous stuff but, much to my surprise and delight, both Google and Facebook came through for me in a big way!

Reminders for Finding People and Places

• Use a combination of local genealogy sites and more general information sites to get a feel for the area ~ Grand Bank’s gave an excellent overview of Bonavista South ~ the region where my grandfather originated. I also make use of Wikipedia, Trip Advisor, local archive and library websites, local genealogy and historical society websites, and tourist information sites to gather location area information. It is important not only to learn the geography but also the history of the area.
• Map your areas of interest (either using your genealogy database, a software mapping program or a web-based mapping program ~ I use Legacy Family Tree software as well as Google Maps to map the various locations of my ancestors’ migration.
• Google the various locations to find any web pages devoted to your region and/or community ~ Open Hall and Bonavista both have great web pages.
• Use Facebook to find group or location pages ~ the Plate Cove group page is a great site and helped me connect with potential relatives.

Once in Newfoundland, I contacted several people I had previously “met” through my email and Facebook connections. I traveled to the various communities and spent time visiting with them. People were happy to tell me their stories, share any information they had, allow me to take photographs of their family history papers and family photos, give me tours of their communities, share a meal with me, and suggest additional people to meet or places to check out.

A final thought ~ the Internet has made it quick and easy to connect with long lost relatives as well as learn about our ancestors' homelands. Take advantage of the numerous sites that help you "meet up" with family ~ you can go home again!