The Ancestor Hunt
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Newspapers
  • Newspaper Links
  • Obituaries
  • BMD Links
  • Photos
  • Genealogy News
  • Contact
  • About




How to Have More Genealogy Fun - Genealogy Shorts

12/7/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
Are you having fun with your genealogy activities?  Has it become a drag and sometimes even a drudge to do?  I ask this as a serious question, because sometimes it can become more like work than fun. 





Here are a few reasons why it sometimes can seem like a drudge:

  1. You've hit a brick wall
  2. You are disorganized 
  3. You've lost your zeal for research because you haven't found anything/anyone lately 
  4. You are overly focused on a goal to increase the number of ancestors and relatives in your database
  5. You are overly focused on a goal to to prove that your ancestry goes back to a specific century
  6. You are intimidated by the experts and the requirement for detailed source citations and you are not documenting sources "sufficiently"

Here are a few solutions and most importantly one thing (#1) that can give you a positive kick start:

  1. Stop focusing on the ancestors you don't know and start focusing on the ancestors you do know
  2. First of all - if you don't have a family history website - build one
  3. Search for newspaper articles about your ancestors
  4. Focus on photos of your ancestors for awhile
  5. Focus on writing ancestor stories for awhile

I wrote more about this over a year ago: Why Aren't You Having Fun with Your Family History Research? You might want to check it out. 

Let's have some fun, OK?

___________________________________

Please Share!


6 Comments
Emily Schroeder
12/7/2013 10:00:03 pm

Yes, yes yes! Wonderful post, and I completely agree with your suggestions! There is no way I would have staying interested in genealogy as long as I have without my family history blog and website. I am also very big into finding out AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE about my more recent ancestors like my grandparents and great-grandparents - using photos, newspapers, probate records, tax records, yearbooks, etc. I honestly could care less about tracing my family back to the 1600s - because all I would probably get would be a birthdate, marriage date and death date, which isn't really all that exciting or engaging.

Reply
Jim
12/14/2013 12:17:02 am

In defense of 1600s ancestors, there are thousands of freely available family and local histories online. Many pertaining to my early 1600s ancestors provide entertaining and educational anecdotes about the lives of my ancestors, their families and communities. For me, reading and sharing them is a fun part of genealogy.

Reply
Kenneth R Marks link
12/29/2013 06:55:04 am

Thank you so much, Emily!

Reply
Jana Last link
12/13/2013 03:39:12 am

Mark,

I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/12/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-december-13.html

Have a great weekend!

Reply
Jana Last link
12/13/2013 03:40:38 am

Duh! I mean Kenneth, not Mark. Oops! Sorry! =)

Reply
Amy Cohen link
12/14/2013 12:23:51 am

This is a great post---I know that I have recently felt discouraged because I wasn't finding anything new. Some of your suggestions are wonderful, and I intend to follow through! Thanks!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Welcome Ancestor Hunters!

    Click for Popular Articles

    New Resources

    The Obituaries page in the Tab bar above has 1,010 free obituary indexes from the U.S. and Canada. And the  BMD Links page in the Tab bar has over 920 free birth, marriage, and death record databases

    Facebook Page
    Picture

    Search This Site


    Subscribe

    Enter Email Address


    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    November 2010
    October 2010


    RSS Feed


Home
Blog

Newspapers
Newspaper Research Links
​Obituaries
BMD Links

Photos

Genealogy News
About
​Contact
Picture
©2012-18 -Thanks for Visiting The Ancestor Hunt
By Kenneth R Marks
✕