To Blog or Not to Blog, That is the Question!
By Jan Edwards
When Robin first talked to me about blogging, I wondered why in the heck she would want us to do that! I wondered if it was okay to just be “ME” or did I have to put on some kind of a “professional” type face.
Blog is such a funny sounding word. It is interesting that it evolved from “web-log” (blog being an online journal or newsletter). Blogging is really exposing who you are; that is pretty scary!
Will people like what I write? Will my style be professional enough? Should I worry and care if it is? Will I spell wrong? Will I use the wrong words? Is my punctuation correct? Yep, really exposing yourself to being critiqued or oh, having people find fault is SCARY!
I decided to just be me, it is far easier and so much more fun, relaxed and enjoyable.
When I got past all the SCARY though, it dawned on me that Robin may be right. If a person could get a big enough of a following, you could really teach a lot of people at one time how to do research!
So today is just a little taste of the fun things to know!
Did you know if you click on the CTRL and F on your keyboard it will bring up a search box? You type in the word you are seeking in that text document, and it will search the document for you!
Did you know to locate what collections have been updated on FamilySearch? You click on the word search. Click on Browse all Published Collections, and then click on last updated!
When on a website, always look for the words “advanced search.” It will allow you to pick and choose a few more search fields. Like the Missouri Death Certificates.
Most people just fill in the blanks, but under the word search are the words Advanced Search, click on those.
Now you can “filter” who you are looking for. This helps when the spelling of the name is off.
Always look for advanced search!
Did you know you can search FindAGrave.com by cemetery?
Instead of clicking on search 121 million grave records click on Search for a Cemetery.
I like to NOT put the name of the cemetery in but click on the drop down arrow and select the Country, United States. Select the state, Illinois. Then select the county, Pike.
Click on search; this will bring up the cemeteries on Find A Grave for Pike County. They will be in alphabetical order!
One final little tip is:
Are you using the Snipping Tool? This little gem is priceless! It lets you clip out of the page what you want. All of the images above were snipped out with the snipping tool. The icon looks like this:
Windows computers have it built in. Go to the search window and type in snip; it pops right up! It’s easy and fun to use. You can save the image, or you can copy and paste it right onto a document or in Skype.
Thanks for taking time to read my thoughts. I’m green in blogging! I’d like to promise they will get real fancy, but hey that just isn’t me! One thing I am not green at is online research! If you have a question… Just ask!
