The beginning of a brand new calendar year is a time when many people choose to make New Year’s Resolutions. It is a time to make a new start, to try something new, or to improve your life. Genealogists can make a genealogy related New Year’s Resolution that will help them to learn more about their ancestors, their research techniques, or their favorite hobby.
Typically, a New Year’s Resolution is phrased in the form of a goal. People decide that, in the new year, they will exercise more, eat healthier, and give up smoking.
Resolutions don’t have to focus on your health, though. They could be genealogy related instead. What would you like to do differently with your genealogy research in the new year? If you haven’t got a good answer to that question, then you could pick from the list of suggestions that I have put together.
Take a genealogy class. A great way to learn more about genealogy is to take a class that discusses an aspect of genealogy that you do not know very much about. Maybe you want to learn how to improve your research techniques. Perhaps you have been wanting to know more about where to find documents from a foreign country. There are plenty of online genealogy classes that you could take.
Sort that box of old photos! This could be the year where you actually take the time to sit down and go through that big box of old family photos. Label each photo with the names of the people who are in it, and the date it was taken. See what you can learn about the story behind the photo. Make some copies of some of the more interesting photos, and send them to your relatives, (perhaps as a gift).
Start working on your family tree. If you are new to genealogy, then your New Year’s Resolution could be to get started working on your family tree. There are plenty of websites that can help you find out information about your relatives and ancestors. Some of them will let you make a family tree on the website. If not, then there are plenty of free, downloadable, forms that you can use to get started.
Record those family stories. Most families have stories that have been repeated so many times that you might think you know them by heart. Now is the time to write them down, before they become forgotten. You could spend this year making audio or video recordings of your relatives as they tell you stories from when they were children, when they got married, or other interesting events.
Image by Shaun Dunphry on Flickr