Excalibur

Ah ha! Another great tip that had escaped me. AND, you know what, I have one of those 7-day pill thingies and was only using it while I was gone. I think I'll load it up this morning.

Hi Kaye, I've never been there either -- I live too far away, so use my local LDS Center. I totally agree with Ben -- check out the link he provided. You obviously don't need everything listed in that thread, but you can get some really great ideas and make yourself a much shorter list. As for what to do when you get there, wel-l-l-l-l, once you finish drooling , I would think you would approach it much like a local LDS Center. Ask questions to the "helpers" there ... I have always received wonderful help from every LDS Center I've been to. How do I use the computer which has many databases on it? How do I use the printer setup? How do I use the "readers?" How do I make copies? Where do I find this? Where do I find that? Do you have this? Can I do this? These are all good questions and I'm sure the "helpers" will respond as well as they can. I try not to disturb other patrons, BUT I've ALWAYS found patrons willing to help out! I've met little, old Ladies that seemed to know everything about everybody on the planet. HA HA HA HA By the start of the second day you will probably have a much better feel of things and be able to get right to it. Maybe someday I'll be as fortunate as you and actually get to visit the BIG Family History Library.

Teresa and Laura, It's done me a world of good to see your posts. We have strayed a bit off topic, but to see that I'm not alone in "staying packed" is simply great. I would like to believe there are more like us out there, but who knows. Here is typical fall time of the year scenario for me. My cousin, who lives 160 miles away, phones around 7 AM and say's "Hey, it's going to be a beautiful day out here. What do you think about us (him, his wife, and me) hitting a couple of cemeteries?" I answer with "Hm-m-m, well-l-l-l-l, I have so-o-o-o much to do. WAIT, I just cancelled all plans and will be there in about 3 1/2 hours." Around 10:30 or 11 AM I pull up at his place and off we go. At that point I already know that we will probably be gone until around 4 or 5 PM, so I'll spend the night (of course he already knew I would stay HA HA HA). The next moring we get up and decide to go visit some "relatives" and take in another cemetery that afternoon. So I spend another night. And it goes on like this. No hassle, no loading the car problems, no clothes problems, and the only thing I really check closely is making sure I have sufficient meds with me. If it looks like I'm going to stay on the weekend, my wife and/or daughter (both work) might drive out and join us on Friday evening. They might stay for a day or two and we all head back home in two vehicles. Um-m-m-m, speaking of cars. Mine isn't a Hummer either, but I take it everywhere! My daughter thought she'd die laughing last year when I was trying to reach a small family cemetery and drove through an unturned corn field.

HA HA HA HA I think that's why I have at least two copies of each map. I use one for marking in the car and another for reference only. The one in the car is normally a mess! Different color markings, folded improperly, and at least one or two seams starting to part. Laura, I'm glad to see that you keep stuff in your car. I thought I was nuts! I've even got a dufflebag sort of thing that I keep partially packed. If someone phones from another part of the state and wants me to go to a cemetery or court house with them, I can be on the road in less than 30 minutes. And, if they phone early enough I can be wherever they want me by 11 AM. I'm prepared to spend the night or spend a week, its all there.

I wish I could say the same Teresa. I lived my life away from the areas I research. Three hours from south central Virginia and two hours from the Eastern Shore, so I need the maps. The good news is that with my many trips I'm learning the roads. If they don't stop construction and expansion around here, I'll need a map to figure out where I live! In Virginia we have the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT). I don't know about other states, but many (all?) county VDoT "transportation sheds" carry maps for their work crews. Some have two types of maps -- one showing schools and churches, the other showing city layouts. I have been very fortunate when stopping and asking for a county map that shows churches. They have been very nice, sometimes will ask what I'm doing (which leads to conversation, which the person frequently tells me some places to look for), and having given me a map when they have one in stock. If people don't want to mess with that, the state has a package deal of all Virginia county maps for about $40 (I think). The maps are super for hi-liting and marking where you've been, churches, cemeteries, and the like.

Well said, Dick! A vast majority of web sites can ONLY be used as clues to what the actual information might be. I quote from several web sites that fall into a "trusted" category, simply because of their extensive use of sources and citations. Most web sites fall way short of providing "trusted" information because we have no idea where that information came from. Those web sites can provide clues, point us in a direction to look, or give us food for thought, but they fall short of providing truly useable information. Then we get to those web sites where the owner has done nothing more than copy someone else's work and done no research of their own. They tend to copy mistakes and all and really have no clue as to what their own genealogy really is. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all people posting personal web sites would provide the sources of their information and cite it properly! Then we could all find the record and see for ourselves what information it had.

Hm-m-m-m. Isn't that what the woods are for? Nope, not gonna delve any deeper in this particular line of thinking.

Thanks for the further clarification, Laura. Now I'm a happy camper ... well, except for one teeny, tiny, little, small thing. I want to dig up one of my great-great-grandfathers and find out what he was thinking when he allowed three, and possibly four, of his daughters to produce a total of ten or more children without the benefit of a spouse. I'm sure its all part of the popular board game back then, "Fool The Descendents!," but it would be nice if he would tell me that.

Wouldn't want to be caught without the ol' TP! HA HA HA HA HA And a box of those moist wipe thingies. Seriously, they are useful for a lot of things. Just wiping the ol' face down after its been beat with minor blowing dust feels good. But I forgot to say anything at all about paper, pencils, pens, hi-liters for marking maps, and all that good stuff. Eye drops are a real necessity if you suffer from any form of "dry eyes" like Laura and me. And then there's the lip balm -- for some reason, I can't be in a cemetery for more than 10 minutes and my lips are dry and cracking. Have we mentioned gloves? A pair of gloves for almost any cemetery that is off the beaten path. Thorn bushes, briars, sticks, pricklys, low branches, moving something that has fallen, um-m-m chasing a possum out of the way, keeping poisonous plants away from your hands -- all these things and many more are reasons to always have a pair of gloves. Not to mention that if you have to do any cemetery clean-up gloves are almost going to be required. YES! Copicards are the way to go for places that have them implemented. Convienent, hassle free, no pockets or purses full of change. My briefcase on wheels is more like a small suitcase on wheels. I found one that exactly holds the fullsize scanner on one side and the notebook computer (in case) on the other side. There is enough room on the notebook side to hold a few small items, like pens and paper and such. The other "bag" I take is one of those genealogical society bags -- kind of a canvas thing. It holds a ton of small stuff. For those wondering, again, it sounds like a lot of stuff to carry or haul around. Its not. Just a little bit of planning and you'd be surprised at the little space it really takes. Still have lots of room for suitcases and other stuff if I'm going on an out-of-town trip by myself or with the family.

Thanks for the explanation, Terry. After your statement, I went back and read Laura's post again. I see the source definition vs. CD now, but until you spelled it out for me I just didn't get it. I'm gonna blame it on Google Earth! HA HA HA HA I really should go back to bed.

Well now ... Laura, how about posting something like this before it's my bedtime! HA HA HA HA I figured I'd take a look at Google Earth a little after 10 last night. So I downloaded and installed it. At 1 this morning my eyeballs wouldn't take anymore, so I finally went to bed. At 3:45 AM I was up "playing" until 4:15, then back to bed until 5:15 and I've been at it ever since. Google Earth is hm-m-m-m well, it's fun, useful for something (I just don't know what, yet), shows the roads in an "overhead land" perspective, and the church/cemetery feature is really nice. I haven't entered anything ... yet. I only wish the focus was better at 500-600 feet. I'm not sure how, but it would seem to me that integrating with TMG would be something really nice. E.g., plugging a GPS coordinate into TMG and letting that entry populate "my" Google Earth map or finding what I want on the Google Earth map (a church cemetery) and TMG importing the information from Google Earth. Thanks much for the push to go and check it out.

Hi Ben, Yes, I would use the grandfather and I do use relatives as sources. The hard part is "filtering" the information they provide. Things like age, slightly faulty memory, hidden truths, things passed to them that they are relating as first hand, the passing of time, etc. all go into evaluating that source. Using my aunt as an example, she is 83 and sharp as a tack. Her general knowledge is tremendous about her childhood. The details, well they leave something to be desired. A birth date that is slightly off, a location that is and always was several miles from where she remembers, a name slightly incorrect, a documented event that slowly changed over the years in her mind, embellishments, etc. So the problem is that some of her knowledge doesn't quite hold up to scrutiny. This all takes time and effort to document. "Filtering" the spoken and even written word from a relative vs. obtaining hard sources. I think that Laura's approach, while it works for her, seemed to be overly simplified and a bit contradictory (although I'm not sure I wasn't trying to compare "apples and oranges"). Maybe all that was on my mind was trying to get across to newcomers that there is a lot of thought that goes into using a person as a source. Nope! I'm not gonna get into "lumpers vs. splitters!" HA HA HA HA HA

Sorry Laura. Patrick and I will speak to Sponge Bob about it first thing in the morning.

Darn ... Laura's latest post just reminded me how good this thread really is! She mentioned things I didn't have on my list that I do take (and I bet Teresa does too) and things I should take, but never seem to think of when I'm packing. After seeing all the great information being posted about "The Genealogist's Toolkit" or "The Well-equipped Genealogist," I'm thinking about some kind of checklist. This would be especially nice for the novice, but would serve a good purpose for some of us "forgetful" ol' timers. If anyone can add to the list of items, please do it. (Um-m-m-m, no gourmet meals or Hummer's please. )

Hi Laura, There are several things you said that I could comment on, but I'll go with these first. In the first para. above you say that your "grandfather is a source." In the next paragraph you say that "you should cite to and record your sources in such a way that those who come after you will be able to find them." These two statements seem contradictory. If your grandfather is a source and he passes away, how can those who come after you find him? I agree that your grandfather is a source of information and that people who come after you should be able to find the source, but it seems to me that you have a rather simplistic approach to the whole idea of repositories and sources that will lead to trouble for those who come after you. I'm afraid that I also have to take issue with your statement that "All the formatting is window dressing, and doesn't really matter..." Are you saying we should just type a source willy nilly and not have some form of method to our madness? If we don't adhere to some kind of formatting standard we would end up with everyone doing it "their way." This leads to mass confusion, misinterpretation, and further complicates the problem for those that come after us. Maybe I just haven't understood or tied together what you wrote.

When citing a web site I send people to the "front door" of the web site, rather than link to a specific page. This normally takes care of the moving target problem. Some searchable web sites force the user to generate a new search even though it takes you to the same material specified in the URL. Other web sites are forcing the user to enter through the "front door," regardless of the specified URL. These issues are especially true of some of the more well-known web sites. I tend to stay away from web sites that I'm not sure will be there the next day, so a point-in-time copy isn't really necessary for me. With this in mind, I only make a printed copy of essential pages -- a will transcription, a birth certificate, a deed, etc.

Oh my!!! I was joking around about Spongebob (can't leave out Patrick, Mr. Krabs, Gary, Squidward, Sandy and the rest) and now I've got directions on how to integrate them into TMG. Just one more example of how flexible TMG really is. Thanks for the directions, Teresa, but I think I'll leave Spongebob in the shower for now.

Teresa, Like you, I would use it if I had it. I have no idea how hard it would be to implement. There are other changes I would put ahead of it if it was difficult or time-consuming to do. On the other hand, I would rather have this feature enhancement over a Sponge Bob Square Pants icon to replace the current Image icon. Well now, we know what I watch on TV!

I was sort of bypassing this thread as it didn't seem to apply to me ... until yesterday. Each of us has our own way of doing things and I was just chugging along with "my way." For some reason, I noticed that I was slowly creeping out of the 10 limit when I was working on one of my families. This morning I tried to see just how far past the magic "10" I was going. It ends up that I hit 14 with at least two more to add. Like I said, I know there are other ways to accomplish what I am doing, but it would be nice to be able to select a number and go from there -- perhaps 10, 15, 20, 25. Along these lines, I have often wanted to "clear" the history and have it start clean. This would be useful when changing family lines, especially if they lived in a different locale. So for me, I would like a user-defineable number with a "Clear all" feature added to it.

This hot weather made me almost forget something. Between early October and early May I carry at least 3 winter jackets, 3 flannel shirts, and a couple of sweatshirts along with me -- all are my size, so they will fit almost anyone. HA HA HA They get folded up and squished, and I put them in that little area in the trunk that's behind the backseat of the car. You would be dazzled at the number of folks I've had with me that forget to bring something to keep warm in if the winds pick up or if the temps drop. It's appreciated, takes no effort, takes almost no space, and always sitting there just in case it's needed. I also have a supply of those large, black trash bags just in case it rains and someone wants to cover up a bit. Again, I know this sounds like a lot of stuff to haul around. It really isn't that much. Most of it is small and fits into those nooks and crannies in the trunk of the car. Some goes in the glove compartment. I have a carrying case that holds both the notebook computer and the scanner. The rest goes in one of those genealogical society bags. It all works great.

For a cemetery visit I go loaded and it doesn't matter if it's a church, family or public cemetery. Let's see ... Notebook computer -- never know when I'm going to want to look something up or upload pictures to it Two 1Gb memory sticks Digital camera with 1Gb memory Battery charger -- one charger for AA and AAA batteries AA rechargeable batteries -- about 10 or 12 so I don't have to wait while they charge Small tape recorder -- preferably voice activated AAA rechargeable batteries -- about 6 so I don't have to wait while they charge Boots in trunk of car -- in case I need them instead of tennis shoes Bug spray -- more bug spray -- depending on the season, more bug spray Soft brush Gallon of water Pocket knife -- this fall I will purchase a machete to keep in the trunk Cell phone County map of each county I "might" go to Another person (wife, daughter, cousin, friend), although I've done cemeteries by myself Drinking water, snacks (including chips and candy), and at least one soda A small pack of any medications I might need -- band-aids too Basically I take the exact same items with me to the state and county library, state archives, genealogical societies, visiting people, etc. I didn't mention a full page scanner in the list above because I don't use it at cemeteries, but it's in the car in case I stop somewhere that it's needed. Maybe you think I'm nuts for having all these things available all the time; maybe, but catch this. I'll never forget the day I was doing a cemetery in Campbell County, Virginia. On the way back to where I was staying in Charlotte County I decided to stop by and see a very distant relative I had never met. Much to my surprise, Lenny pulled out an 1850 Family Bible with BMD information recorded! I began to drool. HA HA Needless to say, I was able to scan what I wanted on the spot. It looks like a lot of items to take with me, but they take up an amazingly small amount of room. Most of it always stays in the car or trunk, but at least its there if I need it.

Egad! Sorry, but I just had to respond to this one. There is an "Unnamed" County in Virginia that charges $3.00 per copy for any certificate, bond, bahn, license, etc. This fee is charged whether the copy is Certified or unCertified. The copier is old -- the last time I saw one, like this county uses, in the business world was c. 1999. Patrons generally are not allowed to make their own copies, yet employee made copies are often smudged, off center, and light to the point of unusable. Copier repairs are not always done in a timely manner and, because of the age of the copier, you stand a 50-50 chance of walking away empty handed for the day set aside to visit the court house. This particular court house comes nowhere close to 10,000 copies per day, but is closer to 100-200 copies on a good day. Camera's, scanners, and notebook computers are not allowed. Resident or non-resident makes no difference. Let's say they make 100 copies per day at $3.00 per copy. That's $300.00 per day, $1,500.00 per 5-day week. Using a 50-week year that comes to a whopping $75,000.00. In your case of 10,000 copies per day that would be an unheard of $150,000.00 per week and $7,500,000 per 50-week year! A more reasonable amount of $0.50 per copy is charged at other court houses, yet this still comes to $12,500.00 per 50-week year for just 100 copies per day. At either rate per copy I expect a class A copier, excellent reproductions, toner lining the walls, multiple sized paper trays, and employees that know their left hand from their right. Since most court houses do not provide those features I expect to be able to use a camera, scanner, and notebook computer. After all, part of my tax dollars go toward their salaries, the building, the equipment, and even down to helping me.

Let's see if I've got this correct. You have a picture and its on the horizontal plane. You add the picture to TMG as an exhibit on the horizontal plane. You have one place that you want the picture to be viewed on the vertical plane. You tell TMG to rotate that one instance only, using the exact same picture, but keep the other views as they are. You want SS to be able to display both the horizontal view and the one instance rotated view using only one picture. Is that close to correct? If it is, it would probably require a major code change to TMG and SS so that each program knew which instance to rotate, which direction to rotate and how much to rotate (90, 180, 270), and it would have to examine for those changes for each picture. I think I'd rather rotate the picture myself and use two different exhibits, that way I control what is seen and how it is seen.

Whatever is done, the original should not change. If the option to rotate the image is used, then the image should be rotated from the original, not a different saved version of the original. Maybe this is a case of less is more -- do ALL image editing/changing before putting it into TMG and TMG handles it the way it is with no changes.

Like Teresa, I rarely use the FGS because it is lacking. We spend a lot of time constructing sentences, sentences that would read very nicely on a FGS. Instead we get scattered pieces of information that often seem out of place and context.