Gmail for Genealogy

If your efforts to discover new family connections are anything like mine, you get a lot of email. Messages from DNA cousin matches, distant cousins, lineage societies, repositories, conferences--not to mention the promotions and updates from a host of websites and blogs. Eventually, your hobby takes over your inbox. And once you've missed enough messages from your spouse, the day job, or from some other activity not related to genealogy, the need for a separate inbox for genealogy becomes apparent.

The prettiest thing about my inbox isn't my flower, but when it's empty!

I've been a Gmail user many years. As a result, I had messages related to genealogy stashed in every corner of my personal inbox. I know Gmail has tools to wrangle in all of these messages, in ways that would make them easy to access. So, I finally got around to setting up my genealogy inbox. Even though it took some time, I can see now it was time well-spent.

Gmail has tons of features, options, and even some bonus features to make your genealogy experience all the more stream-lined and organized. Let's take a look at some of them, so you can make the most of your Gmail inbox for genealogy!

The Sidebar

Because I've been a Gmail user for so long, I've seen many incarnations of the left sidebar. I remember when it was elegant and simple. I remember the introduction of Google chat, the abysmal failure that was Google Buzz, the endless head scratching of Google+, and the game changer of Google Hangouts. Because I don't use most of these features, especially when I'm not in the throes of answering email, I disable most of them.

To disable these features for your Gmail inbox:

Click the Cogwheel icon on the top right side of the screen > Settings > Labels > Check or uncheck the Circles, Labels, and Categories you don't use.

To disable the Chat/Hangouts window:

Settings > Chat > Toggle to "Chat off"

Eliminating distractions begins with removing them from sight. By clearing out this real estate on your screen, you make it easier to get in and out of your inbox with minimal distractions.

Labels, Folders, and Filters 

Labels make up the bulk of how I organize my inbox--whether it's my personal inbox, or for genealogy. Because I'm a paperless genealogist, I have an organizational system for my digital files in Google Drive I follow fastidiously. I finally woke up one day and realized the labels and sub-labels in Gmail will allow me to replicate this same system.

Folders and labels are interchangeable. If you create a label, your inbox creates an identical folder. You're then able to label single or multiple messages, or move them from your inbox into one or more corresponding folders.

To do this, simply open a message, click on the folder or label buttons, create a new one by typing the name into the box, or checking one or more previously created labels or folders from the list.

The system I use involves creating a new folder for every surname in my research, then creating a sub-folder for individual people. So for example, I have a folder/label for all messages related to the Fenity family. But I also have separate sub-folders for Catherine Fenity, Pomp Fenity, and Callie Fenity. Now when I want a specific message about Catherine Fenity, I don't have to rely on using the search box, and hoping I use the right combination of search terms. It's much easier to find the messages I'm looking for when I take the time to sort them exactly the way I would access them in any other place.

I can also set it up where the only labels that appear in my left sidebar are those with unread messages.

To turn on this option:

Click on the Cogwheel > Settings > Labels > Choose "Show if Unread" for all of the labels you want to exhibit this behavior

Filters enhance this functionality by automatically sorting messages into combinations of labels or folders, according to the parameters you establish. So for the Fenity family again, I can set up a filter that will automatically label any new messages mentioning the Fenity surname.

To set up a filter:

Click the Cogwheel >  Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses > Create a New Filter > Enter your desired criteria. If you have existing filters you'd like to migrate from another account, choose Import Filters.

With all of these features working together in an inbox dedicated entirely to genealogy, there's no way I will miss another important email with a valuable discovery just waiting for me to see it!

Contacts

Creating contacts for different repositories, family members, historical and lineage societies, and repositories, can make your research process more seamless. Because Gmail contacts also provide a Notes section, my contacts list has become the most natural place to track the various records requests, and my interactions with repositories and lineage societies. Where I have a specific contact name, the date of my last inquiry and its outcome, and any restrictions or payment requirements I should remember, are all at my fingertips. Instead of looking up that information for the umpteenth time on a website, I can go straight to my inbox instead.

If your personal email is a Gmail account, and you've been using your personal email address book to track your genealogy contacts, you don't have to re-enter each one manually to a new email address. You can export certain groups, or all of your address book. Because I had previously organized my genealogy contacts into a group, it was easy enough to export the genealogy group as a CSV file.

Setting up groups of contacts based on a common surname, research project, DNA group, or a variety of other applications can be incredibly helpful. If you send out email updates on a project, want to include family members on some of your current research, don't forget to include someone just because their name didn't come to mind when you wrote or forwarded an email. The time it takes to set up your contact groups is worth the investment.

Bonus Features

There are tons of other features you can access in Gmail. Sometimes it's worth it just to poke around in the Settings menus to see what you come across. One place you can look for some bonus settings is the Labs tab, where you can find some beta features.

Some Labs features I'm trying out:

• Canned Responses - "Save and then send your common messages using a button next to the compose form." If this one will let me set up a form message to my DNA matches, where I can add the interesting and specific bits, this could save me a lot of time!
• Mark as Read Button - Allows me to mark messages as read without opening them. When I already know what a message says, I just want to get it out of my inbox. Adding this one step to my inbox screen keeps save me time when I process a lot of new emails.
• Quick Links - "Adds a box to the left column that gives you 1-click access to any bookmarkable URL in Gmail." get back to your research faster by having your favorite sites bookmarked right in Gmail. If you're going to click away, why not get back to work, right? And if you like the look of an empty left sidebar, enabling this one comes with three little dots at the bottom of your sidebar. When you click on them, it hides the Quick Links section.

You can also check out the Themes tab, where you can use a ready-made theme, or add custom images to your Gmail background. Old family photos, maps, artwork, or even your own blog art can be a helpful way to differentiate your genealogy email from your personal email.

If you need to set a reminder to send some email, find or update contact information, or any other to-do list items, Gmail also has you covered. Click on the drop-down menu on the top left of your inbox screen (the same one where you access your Contacts) and click instead on Tasks. A small task list appears in the bottom left of your screen, complete with check boxes. Add your reminders in the place where it's most important to see them--the place that corresponds to the work you need to do--and you'll never forget to send another important email again!


So what are your favorite Gmail features? How are you using and adapting them to your genealogy and research needs? Let us know in comments!

Organization for Genealogy

So anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that I have been doing a massive genealogy overhaul. I have decided to organize myself and all of my digital goodies I have floating around on this computer.





It is not an easy undertaking. It has involved many random folders with unlabeled images scattered in various locations on both hard drives and flash drives, and the last two times I've worked on it have involved me sitting at the computer for 6 hours at a time.

(Including bathroom and Dr. Who breaks, of course. And spending a week out of commission because of the flu.)

But digital organization is important for the same reason that labeling and organizing real photos and records is important. How is someone (including you) supposed to remember/recognize an important document if they have no way to determine what it is?

What I'm learning now, as I'm organizing and labeling certain data I've had for about 5 years now, is that by the time you "get around" to this sort of thing, you no longer remember the things you might need to know in order to perform the task. Oops.

But hindsight teaches; regret only demotivates.

So the valuable question is: How should I label, organize, and store my digital family history data?

How should I label my family history data?

To give a suggestion of what I prefer to do, here is a file name of a census record from my collection:

"Loveless, William_1870 RockCo NC Census."  

Last name, First name_Year Abbreviated county name State Type of document

Just by seeing this file name, I know it's William Loveless and his family from the 1870 Census, in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Anyone who looks at it can probably figure out the same thing. They may not know who William Loveless is, but they would have a much easier time figuring it out if they had to do so.

Come up with a system that works for you and makes sense to you. Then stick to your system. If you do this every time you download a digital file, you never have to go back and figure it out again later. Unless you're like me and you only label census records.

So, I think the important emphasis for this question is how you SHOULDN'T do it.

1. Do not do nothing. If your file labels are the same tags they received when you downloaded them from the web or uploaded them from your digital camera, they are totally unsearchable. As helpful as the file name "DSCN1027" is of a digital scan of 5 obituaries from the Keatts line, it could certainly be improved. Something as simple as KeattsObituaries1 (in the event of multiple pages) can be more helpful than random numbers and letters. This is identical to a shoe box full of old photographs with absolutely nothing written on the back and no one who remembers who they are. Tragic.
2. Beware of shortcuts. Once we understand the importance of labeling our files, the realization sets in that it becomes a boring task. We find ways to abbreviate and cut corners to make it easier. But is your system possible to follow by someone other than you? Is it consistent? Is it searchable? And perhaps the most direct question of all: Is it a fat hot mess? If yes, What are you gonna do about it? (That's where I was about two weeks ago, FYI)
3. Deal effectively with delegation. Do you have multiple family members working from the same family tree, or different lines? Are they working off of at least a similar pattern as you? Because if you ask a beloved niece/granddaughter/cousin/brother to help you and you do not give them specific instructions in regards to organization and labeling, it may end up being more of a hassle than a help. Simple instructions of how you would like them to label their documents and photos can help tremendously.
4. Be aware of how you plan to organize the information. There are a variety of ways to organize family history information--everyone has their preference and what works for the way they think and their family. But however you choose to do it, your file labels should help you organize. If you label all of your photos and documents by geographic location and you want to organize them by the first and last name of the people to whom they apply, that information won't be readily available to you just by glancing at the file name. This is exactly the kind of inconsistency we want to avoid because the time I spend trying to figure things out is time I will never get back.

On that note...

How should I organize my family history data?

The answer to this question is truly different not only for every family, but for each genealogist at their phase in the process. When I was a novice, I organized everything geographically because it was easiest for me to differentiate between my father and mother's families. My mom's family was from Maryland and Tennessee, and my father's was from Virginia and North Carolina. But as my mother's family grew in terms of the information I uncovered, I discovered many people who were also from Virginia, and my system fell apart. Because of that, my suggestions are:

1. Be adaptable. If something doesn't work anymore, change your approach. Something else I used to do that I found ineffective was keeping documents separate from photos. That created a mess in which all of my family history data is strewn between My Documents, My Pictures, My Downloads, My Desktop, and my flash drive. By being adaptable, I can change this. And by being determined despite my current fever coming and going, I will vanquish too!
2. Keep it simple. I have found the simplest way is to organize by last name. I started out with folders for entire lines by last name. Within that folder, I have begun creating individual folders for people by first and last name. I'm not sure that this will work for me in the long run--sometimes I want to scan over all of the documents for a line quickly so I can find any unfinished projects of mine. I have quite a few digital copies of cemeteries I have never touched because they take time. If I shove them into a folder within a folder, I may never get back to them again. My desire to be organized cannot further contribute to my weakness for procrastination.
3. Make time to organize. I honestly don't think my organization issues would have gotten as bad as they are had I just done it little by little over time, especially during dry spells when I had no new data coming in. Had I seen organization as a part of what I have to do as a family historian, I would have treated my data much differently.

How do I store my family history data?

There are no long-term data storage options when it comes to digital media. There is no such thing as a hard drive or a flash drive or a server that will last forever. I am terrible at losing flash drives, and they have a relatively short lifespan. External hard drives can live even less time, as I just discovered. Because mine, you know, BROKE!

So, I want to get away from constant fussing with storing things on a flash drive and a computer. I'm willing to let someone else do the heavy lifting on storage for me at this point. In order to get a more maintenance-free digital storage, I recommend online data storage. There are quite a few options available. Before you choose yours, keep a couple of things in mind.

1. Do your homework. Family history data isn't just your sensitive data--it's the sensitive data of other people. Before you start using just any data storage service, find out if it's secure. How long has the website been around, or likely to be around? Do they have a free storage option? Do you prefer a paid service? How much storage space do they offer? How much space do you need? Do they cancel your account for inactivity? Do they allow other people to see and download your data by default? Decide what features you want, and determine who is able to give you those features for the right price.
2. Make sure it's something you can/will use. This was why I ultimately decided to go with Google Drive. Everything I own and use is Google-based. And even though Google Drive only offers 5 GB of space, they don't count any Google Docs from that limit. So if I convert my data into a Google Docs format, I can potentially have unlimited space. The fact that Google Drive comes with a desktop app that allows me to open it almost as a folder on my computer allows me to work seamlessly with my other files and programs. Google Drive also has an Android app which will allow me to see and access that data on both my Kindle Fire and my phone. That accessibility was impressive, and something I really want to see played out in how I do family history work.
3. Alternatives to Google: Here are a few of the other options I explored. If you are a Windows/Hotmail user, you already have access to online storage in Windows Live Skydrive. They offer you 7 GB of free storage. The interface for it is similar to Windows 8, which may give it a certain learning curve. The largest free storage limit I have found so far comes from MediaFire, who offer a ridiculous 50 GB. The interface looks very straightforward and easy to use. Set your files to private if you don't want the whole world to be able to download them though.

From this experience I have learned a fundamental difference between true organization and cleanup. Cleanup is when a mess has been created, and the mess is put away the same way it always has been. Organization in the actual change in behavior that keeps the mess from happening. My goal for my family history endeavors is to be organized so I can avoid the hassle of cleanup. I know that as I achieve that, my productivity will only go up, as well as the satisfaction I find in genealogy done right the first time.