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)


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

VITAL RECORDS–HOW TO REQUEST THEM AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE REQUESTS

Let’s take a look at how I go about requesting vital records and my process for recording what I’ve requested.

I was looking for two birth records and two death records.  I believed these to be located in the City of Buffalo, New York.  This was based on information from direct descendants, census records and cemetery information.

I began by using a search engine (I use Google) and finding a site for the City of Buffalo, Vital Records.  

(Click on any image to enlarge it)



As you can see they tell you exactly what years they have available for all the records.  

I knew I wanted birth records for 1893 and 1895 and death records for 1935 and 1950.  Looks like I’m in luck according to their website.

Next, I downloaded the application.  It looks like I will be able to submit all four record requests on this one page.  Here is my filled out form, redacted to exclude my personal information.

NOTE:  I always indicate my method of payment (in this case they wanted a money order) and the date that I mail my requests.  I scan & save a copy digitally in Evernote.  I used to save paper copies, but now do it all digitally.  Another thing I have always done is keep track of the records I send for on an Excel spreadsheet.  Mine dates back to 2000.




Here is a screenshot of my Excel spreadsheet for my records requests.  This sheet has 131 entries on it.  You can see that I can keep track of the cost and whether or not the record was received.  I highlight in green if I did receive it and use red font if I don’t. 

The title of the columns are:

• Date Requested  
• Name/s   
• Type of record   
• Requested from 
• Date Rec’d 
• Questions/Problems or not rec’d  
• Cost   
• Notes

TIP: Sometimes the city, county or state will want you to include a self addressed, stamped envelope.  In the case of the City of Buffalo, they did want one.  I always put an extra stamp on the return envelope and my own return address label.  If the record is large it could exceed the 1 oz. limit for a single stamp.  With my own return address label on it,  even if there is postage due, it will come to me.  

The cost of these records vary greatly from state to state.  I’ve paid as little as $5 for a Florida death record and as much as $36 recently for a death certificate from Michigan.  It’s a whole lot cheaper if we can find what we want online.  I will always exhaust an online search first.  However, we all know there are millions of records not currently online and millions that may never be.  I also take into consideration that sending for a record is much less expensive than flying or driving to a courthouse to get it. 

Your other option is to find the microfilm that would have these records on it and order it from your local Family History Center.  

So what have I paid over the years?  Since 2000 I have spent $2,107.  That’s $150.50 per year.  

More records are online now than back in 2000.  Let’s just look at the most recent 5 year span.  

2010 = $42
2011 = $125
2012 = $146
2013 = $32.65
2014 = 95 (so far this year)

This cost certainly varies from year to year, depending on what I’m looking for.

Now, we wait.  How long?  I have no idea.  I have waited days, weeks, months for a reply.  Sometimes the reply is “no record found.”  Always disappointing.  And other times it’s like opening a Christmas present.  You get exactly what you asked for.

I’ll tell you about the records I received from this request in my next post.  

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
Church Records - How they can help you with your research
SURPRISE - A birth record where it wasn't supposed to be

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

 Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION