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Wednesday 21 September 2011

Falling Short on The Tech Savvy Genealogists’ Meme

I thought I would add my contribution to  The Tech Savvy Genealogists’ Meme from Geniaus.   (I must admit I don't know what a Meme is and first read this as Memo).

 As you will see from my responses below,  I am in no way a technocrat, but on the other hand I wouldn't be here on the computer blogging if I was a total technophobe!

In bold - Things I  have already done or found
In italics - Things I would like to do or find
In plain type -Things I  haven’t done or found and don’t care to
  1. Own an Android or Windows tablet or an iPad
  2. Use a tablet or iPad for genealogy related purposes
  3. Have used Skype for genealogy purposes
  4. Have used a camera to capture images in a library/archives/ancestor’s home
  5. Use a genealogy software program on your computer to manage your family tree.  (Legacy)  
  6. Have a Twitter account  (I associate Twitter with Triviality. Perhaps this is an unfair judgement, given  I have never even looked at a Twitter page, but I just cannot see the point in writing  in spurts of 140 characters  and everything I have read about it puts me off finding out more.)
  7. Tweet daily
  8. Have a genealogy blog
  9. Have more than one genealogy blog
  10. Have lectured/presented to a genealogy group on a technology topic (Presented a workshop on using www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk)
  11. Currently an active member of Genealogy Wise
  12. Have a Facebook Account (I set it up purely to access photographs of my granddaughter, but like my view of Twitter I am not a convert.  I dislike the site and if I am contacting friends prefer e-mail or the telephone.
  13. Have connected with genealogists via Facebook (put something on it initially but never got a response and now rely on Geneabloggers)  
  14. Maintain a genealogy related Facebook Page
  15. Maintain a blog or website for a genealogy society (contribute to a work-based local history blog)
  16. Have submitted text corrections online to Ancestry, Trove or a similar site
  17. Have registered a domain name (www.dansonfamily.co.uk - not yet functional )
  18. Post regularly to Google+
  19. Have a blog listed on Geneabloggers
  20. Have transcribed/indexed records for FamilySearch or a similar project (for local history society and local archive centre)
  21. Own a Flip-Pal or hand-held scanner
  22. Can code a webpage in .html
  23. Own a smartphone (happy with my basic model for phoning and texting - I don't need anything else)
  24.  Have a personal subscription to one or more paid genealogy databases
  25. Use a digital voice recorder to record genealogy lectures
  26. Have contributed to a genealogy blog carnival  (Sounds interesting but something I don't know about)
  27. Use Chrome as a Browser
  28. Have participated in a genealogy webinar
  29. Have taken a DNA test for genealogy purposes
  30. Have a personal genealogy website (my daughter is setting one up for me as her final assessment in a website design course - so watch this space!)
  31. Have found mention of an ancestor in an online newspaper archive (would love to!)  
  32. Have tweeted during a genealogy lecture
  33. Have scanned your hardcopy genealogy files
  34. Use an RSS Reader to follow genealogy news and blogs
  35. Have uploaded a gedcom file to a site like Geni, MyHeritage or Ancestry
  36. Own a netbook
  37. Use a computer/tablet/smartphone to take genealogy lecture notes
  38. Have a profile on LinkedIn that mentions your genealogy habit
  39. Have developed a genealogy software program, app or widge
  40. Have listened to a genealogy podcast online
  41. Have downloaded genealogy podcasts for later listening
  42. Backup your files to a portable hard drive (Backed up on an external G drive &  memoy stick)
  43. Have a copy of your genealogy files stored offsite
  44. Know about Rootstech [very vaguely from the interest shown by other bloggers)
  45. Have listened to a Blogtalk radio session about genealogy.
  46. Use Dropbox, SugarSync or other service to save documents in the cloud
  47. Schedule regular email backups
  48. Have contributed to the Familysearch Wiki
  49. Have scanned and tagged your genealogy photographs
  50. Have published a genealogy book in an online/digital format
And so the score - 17 out of 50 - a lowly 34%. So yes, perhaps I am a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to technology  Backing up is probably the area I most need to address. 

I work part-time and have a difficult enough time keeping up with e-mails, research, and blogging/reading blogs, so in no way am I I going to take on Facebook and Twitter.    I enjoy what I do and the level I am  at with my family history activities and Geneabloggers is giving me huge pleasure - even when  I fall short here!

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad I'm not the only one with a rather low 'tech savvy' score! My list is on Genealogy Leftovers. If new technology will save me a significant amount of time or make me a better family historian, I am happy to use it. If it won't, or if it is beyond my budget, I make no apology for sticking to traditional methods!

    Until quite recently my feelings about Twitter were the same as yours... but I've decided that it can be a great place to read (and share) genealogy tips. For example - see JudyQld and HicksShauna.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan,

    Thanks fof your contribution.No-one falls short on this meme. I would be worried if people scored 40/40 on this list. That would probably demonstrate that they cannot discriminate and select the tools/resources that align with their needs. If you have learnt about some new things then your participation has had a positive result.

    The big win is that I have found your blog - my husband has ancestors who lived at 1 High Street, Hawick and some who are buried in Wellogate (found them one cold January) - I'll be adding it to my RSS feeds. We've visited Hawick twice in search of ancestors.

    Co-incidentally my first degree is in librarianship.

    ReplyDelete

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