---

Education at HQRL is moving forward into blogging. Do I know what that means or looks like for us…Not yet! But you know something, LET’S GIVE IT A SHOT! 

Our goal is to increase Heritage Quest Research Library ‘s visibility on Google, provide education information as we learn and practice what we learn, bring more people into our library and onto our website, and to enhance and continue to build a community of family history learners. This is no small task as we learn how to most efficiently use this format. We are learners and researchers and problem solvers. I know that we can jump in and do our best. If we wait until we are “experts” we may never start. That means that as this blog moves forward, it may change as we learn and grow both in the content and in the structure of the blog so be patient and watch us grow. Better yet, grow with us. 

This whole idea was sparked by a class by DearMYRTLE on January 16, 2025. She spoke to us about 7 Habits – 7 Months. The 7th Habit that she gave us was to share what we learned. There are a lot of ways we can do that in family history but as an organization, a BLOG seemed appropriate. Guess what! We have a Blog on our website already that isn’t used frequently. We want to change that.

Myrt’s challenge to us was to take each of the 7 habits that she taught and work to increase our efficiency with each one, one at a time, one per month. As our group discussed what this might look like for each of us, we (at least I) was thinking, “start with any of them and give yourself 7 months in improve on it. WRONG! One per month and in 7 months you will be better at each of them. I will uncover other habits as we go.

I am starting with 2 for myself as this Blog is part of Habit 7 – Sharing what you are learning. That thread will be the foundation of our whole Blog as we see it now. Kind of like – what habit am I working on, what am I doing to progress, and how is it going. There is a phrase I used as an educator and I am still an educator, “current level of awareness.” This just means that as we each progress through these habits, where we start will not be where we end up because as we learn, we grow, our awareness changes and we modify our actions a bit. That is learning isn’t it.

The 1st Habit – Document Everything, is the other habit I am going to work on. Do you already document everything you look at as you do your family history? I don’t and then when I need to go back and see it again for whatever reason, I can’t find it, or I spend all my precious time looking for it again. So, I am committing to doing better at documenting by doing the following.

1. Identify a clear research goal – ex What is the birth date of my 5 times great grandfather. Why do I want or need to know it? One problem at a time.

2. Gather all that I already know related to his birth date.

3. Identify 5-8 sources that might lead me to that information

4. Find the sources and cite them on a note page (paper and pencil or computer), leaving room between each for notes.

5. Research that one research question and put the information I learned under the citation for that resource. If I found nothing, I won’t remove the citation / resource but instead note that I looked and found nothing. By doing that I won’t look again because I forgot that I already saw it.

6. When I have looked at all 5-8 sources, I will summarize what I learned that told me when his birthday was. If I still don’t have the date, I need to reassess. Do I need to go further back and start with a different question? Do I need to look at different sources, perhaps I Don’t have the right state or county. Maybe I need an Education Question. What was the state like in the year that I am looking at? Were the boundaries different at that time?

7. Continue the process, each time citing or documenting what I have used, how I have used it, what I found until I get the answer to my question. When was my 5x Great Grandfather born? Citing before I begin to research so that I don’t get sidetracked in the fun stuff and forget to do the citation.

These ideas come from YouTube: Genealogy TV with Constance Knox, DearMYRTLE, and Essential Skills for the Occasional Genealogist by Jennifer Patterson Dondero.

My questions to you again:

1. Do you document all your research, meaning citing the source and what you found?

2. Do you start with a specific research question so that you can stay focused?

3. What strategies do you already use? What new strategies are you going to try to increase your efficiency with the habit of “Documenting Everything?”

If you want to share, contact me at education@hqrl.com. Tell us what you are doing to “document everything.”

In the meantime, see you at HQRL or in classes. The next one is Feb 6th at 11am Pacific Time. The class will be “Mapping Your Migrating Ancestors,” with Tina Beaird followed by a 1 hour work study for those that participate in the class to discuss our new learning and how we will apply it to our work.

Happy Hunting,

Heidi Geise

HQRL Education Coordinator