Monday, April 26, 2010

Preparing for a Research Trip-Part I

In 12 days I leave for my first research trip in 9 years. Since I’ll only have 2 days while I’m there, I have to be very organized to accomplish all I hope to.

Over the past two weeks I have been working on spreadsheets for the cemeteries I will be visiting. Making this task much easier are a couple of volunteers ( v-f, OPPSheryl and tombstoner) on Find A Grave who have posted all the burials in Wabash County, Indiana. By searching for my Wabash county surnames I have been able to add each relative to the spreadsheet for each cemetery. Along the way I have found relatives I don’t, yet, have a connection too.

Unlike The Shy Genealogist who is a pro at using excel to organize her research, I’m a relative newbie in utilizing excel software in this way. My spreadsheet is very simple. I have a column for my ancestors name, their relationship, whether or not a photo has already been taken and who posted the memorial on FAG for transfer requests. In addition, for those relatives whose relationship I don’t yet know, I colored them in red. My hope is to do some research on Ancestry before I leave to see if I can make the connections. I’ve left room underneath each name to enter any notes I may wish to add.
A couple of these cemeteries are located on private land or way out in the country. FAG maps for the cemeteries give GPS locations and I have printed those off to enter into my GPS unit. I’ve also been reading blogs including  Western Kentucky Genealogy and  It's All Relative  to get ideas on what items I should have with me.

My “to do” list is getting longer by the minute but my excitement is growing by the second!

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