IIGS™ Newsletter - April 1999
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IIGS™ Newsletter - April 1999
The Frugal Genealogist first appeared on the Rootsweb list, GEN-EDITOR, on March 31, 1999. It is reprinted here with permission of the author. What follows is excellent, practical advice for genealogists, no matter the size of their budgets..
Take full advantage of the Family History Center or other local resources before making field trips. I've known people who made expensive trips only to have the clerk hand them a roll of microfilm that they could have read only a mile from home! Even though you will probably still want to make field trips if you can afford them, you can better use your time to visit cemeteries or to use records that have not yet been filmed.
Stay organized. If your records are a mess, stop gathering more until you have organized what you have. Then you won't order duplicate copies of things you forgot you had, or because you let some important certificate get too dog-eared in that pile that keeps getting knocked over and walked on.
Except for very special items, you don't have to own everything yourself. Use most reference works and genealogical magazines at the library instead of buying them yourself. Make copies of the three pages that refer to your family instead of buying the whole book.
Learn to write effective messages to post on Roots-L or other Rootsweb lists. You can often find someone in those distant places who will visit the library or courthouse for you and obtain copies much cheaper than if you paid the clerk or archivist to do it. But you have to write your request to show what you have done to solve your own problem, so you don't come off looking lazy or like a newbie who expects somebody else to do all the work for you. Offer to barter your services for the work you need if you have access to a particularly good archive.
As interesting as photocopies can be, if you're truly frugal you'll learn to make appropriate transcripts instead of buying photocopies of everything. Rather than paying 20 cents a page for census copies that probably won't be legible anyway, use the forms that are available in most big genealogical libraries. Make abstracts of land records instead of photocopying all the "reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues and profits" verbiage. (I know a lot of people will disagree with me here. But since this is a question of research *costs*, this is an option for people who have more time than money, who make careful source citations in case they have to look again after all, and who can distinguish between essential documents and mere information that is as useful in your handwriting as in the original image.)
Until you are ready to issue some kind of final (ha!) version of your work, don't be too picky about your storage media. Your binders don't all have to match; your file folders can be old ones that have been relabeled. (Again, there will be some who disagree. I'm not talking here about archival storage of original documents and photographs, just storage of your working notes and photocopies that aren't going to last anyway.)
When you request certificates from vital records offices, make it clear that you need them for genealogical purposes. Don't require that they be certified, either. Sometimes you won't have a choice and you'll be charged full price anyway; other times you'll get a price break for a genealogical version of the record.
If you can get the cooperation of your family, get photocopies of vital certificates they already have in their "important papers" files rather than ordering new official copies from the state.
If you like your genealogy database program, keep using it a while longer. Skip a version or two before you upgrade, unless the upgrade solves a specific problem that has really been giving you headaches. Save printing costs by not making paper printouts of every last little change you make in your database; minor additions or corrections can be made by hand on your last printout.
Although my aesthetic prejudices won't let me accept a photocopy or computer scan in place of a true photograph (unless that's absolutely the only way I can get the picture), some people without my personal biases find such copies to be an acceptable and frugal alternative to photo expenses.
When you write to people asking for genealogical data, include a simple homemade form with spaces only for the particular information you're requesting. Not only will you save money by not buying fancy charts, you're apt to get a better response from non-genealogist cousins who will put off filling out a form they don't understand.
If you have cousins who are requesting copies of your research -- and you're willing to share it -- don't think you also have to pay for the privilege of sending them your work. Ask for help with copying and postal costs.
And if you're REALLY strapped, sell the TV, sell the dog, get a second job. After all, what matters more than genealogy? <g>