Tuesday, January 13, 2015

10 YEARS, OVER 150 RECORDS REQUESTED–HOW MANY DID I ACTUALLY RECEIVE?

The big Genealogy Do-Over is in progress.  Many of you have heard about it.  You can read about it here on Thomas MacEntee's website http://www.geneabloggers.com/announcing-genealogy-doover/


That got me thinking.  Without actually participating in the "do-over", perhaps I can review some of my research and tracking methods.
  
Back in 2005, I began a spreadsheet to keep track of records I had requested.  Prior to that I was keeping track on a copy of the request I placed in a binder.  I also track records by adding notes to each person's file in Legacy.
 
Here’s my spreadsheet.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)
Spreadsheet from records requested

NOTE:  Instead of creating a copy of the record request and placing it in a binder, I now scan and save it in Evernote.  I can annotate it in Evernote and it’s working very well.  My goal is to have only vital records I receive by mail, saved in my binders.  I am slowly purging all other copies, such as census records, WW I draft records etc.

Today, I was entering a date for something I received and I began scrolling back through the spreadsheet of records I had requested.
 
There are 151 names/requested items on my spreadsheet.
  Here are the questions that began to run through my mind:
  • How many records do I still not have?
  • Which records were located and not recorded? 
  • Should I try sending for any of them again? 
  • Are those records now online?
As you can see from the image of the spreadsheet, the records are easily tracked.  Records I receive are highlighted in GREEN.  The records I don’t receive, for whatever reason, are indicated by RED font.  I’ve made notes, on most of the entries, of why the record wasn’t received. I also keep track of the money I’ve spent.  I build a genealogy expense into our budget.  Sometimes I stick to it, sometimes I don’t.

This list goes back 10 years.  A lot has changed in that time.  I am going to review each of these requests and see if I can obtain the records by some means.  Or…there is that chance that I have obtained the record and haven’t recorded it.  Maybe I found it online and just entered it into my Legacy database and never checked this list?  There are 31 records I did not receive.  Out of 151 records that’s a failure rate of about 20.5%.  Or a success rate of  79.5%


RESULTS OF MY REVIEW
31 total records reviewed

9 records are in my database and just weren’t recorded
3 were duplicate requests to different locations
2 have now been found to have a different last name

That leaves me with 17 records still outstanding. Which improves my percentage to a success rate of  88.8%.

This has been a worthwhile exercise and I’ve discovered that I need to do a few things differently.

1.  Remember to look on this list frequently to keep track of records that I don’t have, or record them if I’ve located them by a different method.

2.  I’ve found that it would be beneficial to record the relationship of who this person is to me, and the date of occurrence of the record I’m requesting.  I am going to add those columns to my spreadsheet.

Do you have a list like this? 
Are there records you can go back and check for again?  Have you?

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
VITAL RECORDS - HOW TO REQUEST THEM & KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS

BIRTH RECORDS WITH INCORRECT NAMES - What would you think?

MICHIGAN DEATH RECORDS ONLINE - Where can you find them?

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2015   Diane Gould Hall
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

6 comments:

  1. Great posting, though I would probably have said I had an 89% success rate, rather than an 11% failure rate. :-)

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    1. Excellent point John. That's exactly what I should have said. Maybe I'll go modify it and add that success rate. Thanks for your input :)

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  2. I keep a list - I have a master genealogy spreadsheet with many tabs, with tabs for records ordered, microfilm orders and many other details.

    I also make a note on the profile of the individual, with the date I requested a record - obituary, death certificate, etc. And a 2nd note when it is received, with date. I then also attach a copy of the record to the person's profile.

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    1. Hi Ann,
      I also keep track in my Legacy database and now keep track in Evernote. Of course I too, scan and attach all the records to the person in the database. Aren't we lucky to have all this technology to help us? Thanks for leaving a comment and thanks for stopping by.

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  3. Diane,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2015/01/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-january-16.html

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.