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Research and projects - basic start guide
This project is designed to help the "new" researcher discover ways to build a family tree. We will also cover basic use of Geni and it's features, and include the My Heritage document add on available to Geni users, at a low cost for world document searching.
We will use a "real world" example in this project, and, if for any reason, this is a family member, please see how to request management of the profile/s and it will be accepted.
Does this page address your questions? Feel free to Start a new discussion for more assistance.
What is a Project?
A project is an informational page that, by adding a link to your profile, groups profiles in commonality and in a time frame to that page. it is ONLY a link, nothing happens to your profile. Please consider that your profile IS in fact relevant to the project request, and accept if it is.
Pointers and clues
Our ancestors wanted us to know them, and where they came from, there are often clues found in names and at grave sites. Middle names were of those of a grand parent, in fact, in Scotland they had a pattern of naming.
Example:
Jane Bookless Givens was the maiden name of a Great Grandmother. Mary Mills McIntyre was her mother. The "Bookless" was is still a mystery. What I did was as follows:
- Searched the Australian Cemetery Index for the name "Bookless", and found some results.
- Built a tree from that result, and then researched the person using My Heritage document search.
- Found a census form that matched the parents of the person, and built on to the tree from those results.
- Then continued looking at the many results on the page, found 2 more census forms, showing siblings and, further back, the grand parents... and built the tree further right back to the 1700'ds where I think, I will find that these people would have come from Scotland to England.
- In doing this sort of tree building, it may not be relevant to your own family at first, but, can assist others and also it builds the "world tree". There will have been a "First" bookless in Scotland, and, hopefully, once found and filled in, that ancestral line will be completed and joined to the "world tree", giving access to many ancestors. When your family connects to the "world tree" it is very exciting indeed.
* NB: !IMPORTANT and, there are differing views. The information used was a more recent person, and, care should be taken to show information in the 1900'ds, for people you are not related to "yet", on the tree. In this case, there will be many in England that will appreciate to see relatives graves and connect, and so few "Bookless" records or even on Geni. There were no migration records found to Australia, and searches were not retrieving any information on such a speculative link.
The Cemetery sites do not want there information duplicated (copied) but, would love links to their sites. They do often allow you to use this information for personal use, but on Geni, please provide links to their site.
These sites are looking for volunteers to photograph the graves and document them, while they are still there and legible. Some people travel Australia, camping, simply recording graves, I saw where one man had photographed 56,000. We have many projects on Geni, listing the links to cemeteries, for this work to be completed.
These records are said to be the most accurate, and, need to be preserved, they are there for us to use, and, to assist in preserving the heritage and family connections, just as Geni is designed to do.
Other Altenatives
- You can start the other way round, find and older grave, and, then build downwards, adding children and broadening the tree that way.
- Try using the search on My Heritage, and only enter the sirname, and, find a Census in the area your relatives may have come from
Where to start
- Start entering your family in the tree, do not be scared, and ask for help if you need it
- Click on the research this person link
- Drill down on the results
- Make selections on those results
Recording and Implementing
- You can record this in software
- Sometimes this is hard, as keeping 2 sets of records is complicated, but, everyone will work out there own methods of working, and recording.
- You can work directly in the tree
- Preferred method, the tree is there and benefits everyone, and, the work does not have to be repeated.
- You can keep notes
- This can be very confusing, if you want to do this, get organised first with folders set out, and name each document well.
Research links
Using Projects In Research
Projects are a way to group information in one place, to study an area of history, profession, common interest, events in time and also, to use for private family research.
Request to join a Project
Click on "Join Project" link from the drop down list
Then type a message and send request.
Adding the profile
From the Profile Page
* If you are manager
* Click on projects tab
* If the profile is already in a project
- Click on "invite to Project" link
* Selecting the project
From the projects page
You can request to join a project from here, as well as add profiles.
Request to be added as a manager of a profile
There are many reasons why you may wish to become a manager of a profile, for historical interest, or family connections are two of the most common. If you "merge" profiles in the tree, you will be added as a manager automatically. BUT, do not merge for this reason, a simple request is better, and usually it is accepted.
- Click on the Manager options tab and then request to be added as a manager.
Add a manager
Type in the name of the person you want to be added as a manager f the profile, and it should auto complete. Sometimes a drop down of many people may appear, select the correct person from the drop down, if more options are presented, and click add.
Searching Large Documents or Projects
In most browsers if you press CTRL and the F key simultaneously (at the same time) a search window will appear at the top. This also works in PDF documents.
In Internet Explorer it looks like this, it is on the left hand side and the number of results highlighted is shown.
In Chrome Browser it looks like this, on the right hand side.
