Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge : K is for...

This post may be more obscure than the norm but the biggest thing that stands out for me in my genealogy experience, that starts with the letter 'K' is keep.

Let me explain. When I was a teenager, running around footloose and fancy free without a care in the world, my grandmothers told me stories about our ancestry. How I wish I was better at remembering everything they said. I did keep an exercise book (which I still have today) in which I scribbled down things they told me, names and dates mostly. Birthplaces and occupations too. I'm still amazed at how much my paternal grandmother remembered. She was virtually spot on with birthdates and she knew who married who, where and when.

When I got more serious about genealogy, I pulled out that trusty exercise book and got busy. I went to every library, I scoured the internet, I poured over shelves of local history and social history books, I ordered reams of church records microfilms and I squinted for hours at a time at microfiche readers. Very soon, my exercise book filled to capacity and I had to go out and buy another, and another and...(you get the picture). They came in various sizes, colours, cover designs and brands. I bought pencils like they were going out of fashion. I wrote down everything I could think of, and more. I wrote down every source, page number, quotation....(Okay, no I didn't. I learned that lesson the hard way).

 The moral of this story is? I learned to keep everything. Even if I don't think it will be relevant later, it just might be, otherwise I end up kicking myself and turning myself (and my house) upside down and inside out trying to locate it. Through my love of genealogy I have learned to:

Keep track (of everything)

Keep all notebooks

Keep a pencil on hand at all times

Keep all sources

Keep lists

Keep searching (never give up, and leave no stone unturned)

Keep loose papers in a box (the key to this one is to remember that you do actually have that box of loose papers. Doh!)

Keep FHL microfilm numbers for future reference

Keep everything on file (or in a large - archival safe - storage box)

Keep duplicates where relevant

Keep backing up work on a regular basis (don't rely solely on technology)

Keep your bookmarked websites for at least 12 months and edit/delete as relevant

Before I end this post, I must make a special (afterthought) reference to Kelly's Trade Directories. Bless you! I tip my hat off to you. My ancestral journey would be stale without you.

More importantly,

Sorry, couldn't resist! ;-)