Things I Learned By Participating in the Genealogy Do-Over

I thought I had made my post for the Genealogy Do-Over but I was wrong. Over the last few days I have been reviewing what I have learned over the last 13 weeks in the Genealogy Do-Over with Thomas MacEntee. 

First and foremost is that genealogy with Thomas is FUN!!! 

Here is what I am taking with me from participating in the Genealogy Do-Over:

1. Tracking research is VITAL for every genealogist!!
2. Time management is a must!!
3. Learning the proper way to write citations, source lists and end notes using Elizabeth Shown Mills book, Evidenced Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. 
4. Evaluating the evidence - the process by which we ask questions, collect all information from the item (such as documents, books, files and photographs) and then write up an analysis in order to determine the next step.
5. Collateral Research and Conducting Cluster Research - using the Friends+ Associates Neighbors (F.A.N. Principle) to find elusive ancestors is both my "bright shiny object" (BSO) and my rabbit hole because I have to know what happened to everyone in the family that I work on.
6. Organization is the KEY to everything in Genealogy!
7.  Backing up our data in the form of flash drives, cloud storage, hard drives etc. is a MUST do for every genealogist.
8. The advancements made in DNA testing is an important tool for genealogical research. It can not only help find other family members or researchers. It can tell you what your ethnic background is and can trace back both maternal and paternal lineages too.
9. Social Media and Networking are vital aspects in today's world of genealogy. We as genealogists have so much more to work with than genealogists of generations past.
10. Preserving and "future proofing" our genealogical research is a must.
11. I AM DETERMINED to become a certified genealogist.

Source: Family Tree Silhouette Clip Art, www.bing.com (http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Family+Tree+Clip+Art&FORM=RESTAB&qft=%2bfilterui%3alicense-L2_L3_L4_L5_L6_L7#view=detail&id=0234A072F8DACA2DF6EA3D8334A84E86458F3B55&selectedIndex=27 : accessed 3 April 2015)
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