Every weekend, Randy Seaver issues a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge. This past weekend it was A Survey of Genealogy Activities. I know I’m a few days late, but that was because I’ve been doing my spring cleaning this week. Yes, I know that is a couple of months late. However, with our cruise schedule this year, I wasn’t home enough to do spring cleaning. Then came summer yard work. . . . . right on schedule. That meant cleaning up thousands of pods that have fallen off the trees in our yard. It’s the desert equivalent of fall leaves.  However, all that is now finished, so I have time for the fun stuff – genealogy.

Anyway, here are my responses to Randy’s survey questions:

a. I use Family Tree Maker as my main genealogy software program. I am in the midst of migrating to Roots Magic. I have 6000+ scanned images to add to my family trees. When I finish that project, I will likely make Roots Magic my main program. I’m not familiar enough with it right now and don’t want to take the time for the learning curve right now. I also have Heredis and it’s come in handy for sharing ancestral information with my Swedish cousins.

b. I have four online family trees right now, two for the Sabo family and two for the Stufflebean family. One of each is an Ancestry member tree and the other two are housed on My Heritage. While I use universal collaborative trees for ancestor hints, I have not submitted any data to them. I am afraid I wouldn’t be quite as easy going and forgiving as Randy was when a lady contacted him AFTER she deleted his ancestor’s data and replaced it with her own, not realizing they were two separate men on a universal tree. I am happier knowing that I have control over my own trees.

c. Being retired, I watch where the genealogy pennies go and my subscriptions change as my research needs change. For many years, I was a consistent Ancestry subscriber. With their price increases in the last couple of years, I have an intermittent subscriber, which more than meets my current needs. I also have a subscription to My Heritage, which I am using more and more for European lines. I have also been a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society for many years. My last current subscription is with Arkiv Digital, as I have been deep into Swedish records. Their image quality is fabulous and I am hoping to locate a probate file for my Anders Molin, a master mason, who died sometime after 1786 and probably before 1812.

d. My first and foremost favorite free site is FamilySearch, which I use regularly for Slovak and Danish records. I also use Arkivalieronline.dk, the free Danish National Archives website. Another favorite is the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick for my Loyalist and Pre-Loyalist families. I love the Virginia Memory: Chancery Court Records for my husband’s Williams and collateral lines, which originated in Virginia. Lastly, I spend a lot of time in the Missouri Digital Heritage death records, as I work on the Stufflebean lines. My favorite free sites change as my research goals are updated and focus changes.

e. My actual genealogy research time online varies quite a bit from week to week. I would estimate that, on average, I spend about ten hours a week on actual research.

f. My time spent researching in a genealogical repository is much more limited now that we live in Tucson and not Southern California. My library time is pretty much limited to a couple of days before Roots Tech opens and a four or five day visit to Salt Lake City later each year. The Family History Library is about the only repository I have visited for the last several years.

g. Time spent adding data to genealogy software also varies quite a bit each week. I probably spend a couple of hours a week adding data, documents and photos as I work on blog posts. However, my “average” time spent is going to jump dramatically as my next goal is to rename all the 6000+ scanned images that I have waiting for me. As part of my Genealogy “Go-Over,” my goal is to have this done by the end of the year. Scanning was completed in April, all images and documents were back in archival albums last month and I am currently working on processing the images. It will be close to a full time job – at least 30 hours a week, or more if I don’t get too bored – until it is finished.

h. I belong to the Pima County Genealogical Society and attend meetings regularly once a month if we are not out of town. I also belong to two of their special interest groups and attend those meetings if I am around. That would average about six hours per month.

i. Genealogical education activities include RootsTech and at least one webinar a week, sometimes two or three. I probably spend 10 hours a week reading printed and online material related to WordPress and blogging and using new-to-me tech tools for genealogical purposes.

j. I spend about 20 hours per week reading, writing and commenting on genealogy blogs, websites and a bit on social media. My goal is to leave more comments on others’ blogs, as I enjoy reading many of the posts. I think we are all pleased when a comment appears because we know someone has actually read and appreciated what we have shared!

Thank you, Randy, for another fun challenge. At least I got this posted before next Saturday!