I really hate it when I decide I need to do a bit of genie surfing and I end up not really finding anything. Usually that happens because I end up chasing down way too many rabbit holes.
You know what I mean, you do it too, you just haven't admitted it... yet. Chasing down rabbit holes is when one leads to another, leads to another and soon you have 42 windows open and you really didn't find anything, and none of it was really what you wanted anyway.
Today's tips are quite simple actually. Both have to do with those rabbit holes.
First - Always keep a word doc or some sort of notepad (electronic preferred) open when you are surfing. When you find a link that you think you might come back to, copy & paste it on your notepad. Then you'll never have to worry about closing the page or not being sure what was where.
Second - When I get in the mood to do online research, whether I'm using Ancestry or Mocavo, I always print off one or two group sheets on the family that I want to work on. If the rabbit hole doesn't have that family, I don't go there. No exceptions. Staying focused by using the group sheets really helps keep you on track so that you don't just go off chasing any rabbit down the holes, searching for whatever comes along.
Hope these two tips help!
Karen
Showing posts with label Mocavo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mocavo. Show all posts
08 April 2011
Sometimes...
I've been hearing alot about the new genealogy search engine Mocavo, gotten quite a few bits of feedback, some good some bad. SO being the inquistive person that I am I just had to go and try it for myself.
Some say that it doesn't cover enough of the "other" genealogy stuff like blogs etc., but after my experience last week, its already proving itself. I do ALOT of genealogy surfing, both for my personal research and for the clients that I have. So having a search engine that focuses only on genealogy seems like a very good idea.
So I surfed on over just to check it out. Putting in a few of my surnames of interest I came up with quite a few good hits. As I see it, having a search engine that puts it all in one place and I don't have to go spend my time weeding thru all the stuff to get to my surnames is a very good thing.
One of my brick walls has been the ancestry of Martha Boyette who married Lewis Griffin in Georgia. I can't say that I've spent tons of time in searching for this lineage but it was on my wish list. Putting Martha's name in Mocavo quickly provided me with multiple hits, which I immediately began to follow and read. I came across a post by a woman named Lynne Cashman. Lynne's post was of most interest to me. She had actual good dates and places, seemed like she knew what she was doing. Only problem was, her post wasn't what I would call recent. I decided to go ahead and write anyway, hoping that she hadn't changed her email.
A few days later I got an email from Lynne - boy was I excited! She told me of her connections to Martha Boyette & her family. We are cousins! Better than that, a few days later some real documentation came into my email in the form of three wills, two tax lists and a few articles on the ancestors of Martha Boyette. This takes my Boyette line back at least three generations and Lynne's got the documentation to prove herself! Thank you Lynne! What a great find. I've also gotten hits on several other lines and I'm waiting to see what happens!
Sometimes, you just have to step out and try things for yourself. Maybe it wasn't a good thing for others, but personally I think you'll find me hanging around over at Mocavo - now to get thru the end of tax season and I'm good!
Happy Researching!
Karen
Some say that it doesn't cover enough of the "other" genealogy stuff like blogs etc., but after my experience last week, its already proving itself. I do ALOT of genealogy surfing, both for my personal research and for the clients that I have. So having a search engine that focuses only on genealogy seems like a very good idea.
So I surfed on over just to check it out. Putting in a few of my surnames of interest I came up with quite a few good hits. As I see it, having a search engine that puts it all in one place and I don't have to go spend my time weeding thru all the stuff to get to my surnames is a very good thing.
One of my brick walls has been the ancestry of Martha Boyette who married Lewis Griffin in Georgia. I can't say that I've spent tons of time in searching for this lineage but it was on my wish list. Putting Martha's name in Mocavo quickly provided me with multiple hits, which I immediately began to follow and read. I came across a post by a woman named Lynne Cashman. Lynne's post was of most interest to me. She had actual good dates and places, seemed like she knew what she was doing. Only problem was, her post wasn't what I would call recent. I decided to go ahead and write anyway, hoping that she hadn't changed her email.
A few days later I got an email from Lynne - boy was I excited! She told me of her connections to Martha Boyette & her family. We are cousins! Better than that, a few days later some real documentation came into my email in the form of three wills, two tax lists and a few articles on the ancestors of Martha Boyette. This takes my Boyette line back at least three generations and Lynne's got the documentation to prove herself! Thank you Lynne! What a great find. I've also gotten hits on several other lines and I'm waiting to see what happens!
Sometimes, you just have to step out and try things for yourself. Maybe it wasn't a good thing for others, but personally I think you'll find me hanging around over at Mocavo - now to get thru the end of tax season and I'm good!
Happy Researching!
Karen
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