Bullet Journals
Thanks to Dear Myrtle’s excellent Wacky Wednesday-Bullet Journaling hangout with Tami Mize I’m jumping in. The older I get, the more I
find myself forgetting the little things or even worse, duplicating my
research. Not good.
I decided to incorporate my research into the journal. So
much more fun than tracking if I exercised on a given day.
I’m hot on the trail of my maternal great-grandmother’s family in
Sweden, thanks to DNA. The only problem is I don’t know where she was born. So
now it becomes tedious.
Arkivdigital is my main source for Swedish church books.
There is a fee but it’s pretty reasonable for a short amount of time. I only subscribe for a week at a
time; around $15 depending on the exchange rate. After a week of trying to read Swedish, I’m
ready for something a little easier. You can also access their site from many
Family History Centers.
Since I confuse easily. I get lost in in a sea of patronymics and
forget where I am from day to day. Enter my brand spankin’ new bullet journal.
Isn't she pretty?
I set up a worksheet to track each family group on the DNA matches tree. Small bites, right? And I build the tree out to around 6
generations, easy to do with the household books.
You may want to print out a few reports to help you keep on track.
I created a full fan
chart of my match’s tree using Legacy Family Tree.
Then I printed out each
quarter of the tree and added it to my notebook.
Looking at a tree section
helps me remember where I am in the elimination process. Since I’m looking for
my maternal great grandmother I check to see if I have an X match. If so, I would
have just done an X chart. So much easier when you can eliminate half of the
prospects.
Print out a descendant report for each family in the outer ring . Cross off each family group as they are eliminated.
I track the research using my 4 Ws form. I set this up in Word and sized it to print half size and duplex. Then I just cut in half and insert in the journal.
Who is each child.
Who's Who is a list of Who's children. If the children have children, start another Who sheet.
When & Where is my mini research log. I list the titles of the Swedish church books I’ve
used.
What’s Next has conclusions, dead ends, and next steps.
Since I know my grandmother’s approximate date of birth, immigration,
marriage, and possibly her parents' names I can eliminate lines that don't fit the profile. I cross people off the descendant
report 6 generation pedigree chart I created and move on to the next group.
Wish me luck, fingers crossed. I hope this will help me find Grandma.
I’d really hate to have to start tracking fitness days.
