Learning Blog 6 – "Needle in a Haystack"

Learning Blog 6 – "Needle in a Haystack"

I still haven't found any luck with finding some of the family members but I also only have about an hour a week that I can look at the microfilm where the information lies.  It's really like finding a needle in a haystack. 

This analogy brings me to something that I have learned that I never understood before.  Many times I've been asked to help "index" for familysearch.org.  I had this idea in my mind that i would need to go to a special room and typed things. Yea, that's the extent of what i thought it was, and I obviously don't have time for that :) 

I finally understand what indexing is! Family search has millions of images of records. These records include documents such as birth certificates, death certificates, censuses, and marriage licenses from all around the world.  The documents are what everyone needs to make connections in their family trees.  The first step has been for family search to get the microfilms imaged to be available online.  (I'm still waiting for most of the records I need from Natagaima, Colombia.) Once the images are online it's wonderful....but the problem is that they are not searchable.  This means that a person can spend hours and hours viewing images to find their ancestors, hence the hunt for a needle in the haystack.  When people index they are viewing the images online and typing in the information such as names and places that they see in the image.  After the information is typed it now becomes searchable and wha la!!! The name that was a needle in the haystack is found within seconds because it could be searched. 

The amazing thing is that anyone can index from their home computer.  They just download the program from familysearch.org and type what they see.  Each person does a "batch" which is part of a larger "project".  A batch usually takes around an hour.  

I realized that I would be so much happier if my information was already indexed so I decided to join the cause! These are some of the statistics: 

I've joined a Colombia project for Baranquilla, which is the city where my husband is from. The hard thing is some of the records are VERY DIFFICULT to read.  Here's an example: 

 Crazy huh! I know that I've talked about it before but I still just keep going back to the zone of proximal development.  Genealogy is not most effective with just me doing it.  It's effective when thousands of people work together and get more done because they share their knowledge.  The more I read of Vygotsky the more I agree with him.  Most of my learning has been from my social environment when it comes to family history. I also feel like MOOCs have had a place in my learning.  It's been very helpful to be able to find instructional information online.  Technology had really brought our times to a new level when it comes to learning.  

Learning Blog 5 – “Branching Out”

This week has been fun.  I finally got the chance to look at some microfilm downtown at the Family History Center!   

Nathan was kind enough to lend his skills to the cause. He thought the lights on the microfilm machines were the best part.  I told him we were looking for great grandpa and he went around the building asking "Where's grandpa?".  

When i got to the library they handed my microfilms over.  When they handed the boxes to me I got all excited and then realized that I had no idea what to do with them.  I asked someone for help and they taught me how to set up a microfilm. It's pretty cool to use.  

Each microfilm is on a little wheel.  You have to get an empty wheel to hook up on the other side so that as you roll through the film it fills up the other reel.  Then when you're done with a film you have to roll it all back up.  At first I thought that I had to go slow to find each section but then someone came and helped me and showed me how each section is purposely in a black area so that you can quickly scroll through and easily see the marks that split sections. I just wish that there would have been more time to look.  I only got to look for about an hour. 

 I decided that the easiest way to find Marlon's grandpa would be to look through the death records of Natagaima.  I finally scrolled through and found 1953.  The problem is that i went through the entire year and couldn't find his name! We have double checked with his father and he says that everything is right.  It makes me wonder if Natagaima is like us saying Sandy UT.  Maybe he was buried at a close by place?

I was disappointed that i couldn't find the record that i needed but I got some good advice from my trusty friend at work.  He said that when he first started doing genealogy he focused on one line and that was it, but the real trick is to branch out using other relatives.  Most of the time the branches will lead back to the trunk.  My next technique is going to be trying to find great grandma instead.  Maybe if I can find that connection I will be able to link back into the truck of the tree and find great grandpa :)

I also think that i'm going to retake the first class that I took on doing family history for South America.  I thought that I understood what it was talking about but I think that I will understand more if I take a second go at it. It really reminds me of our readings about experts.  

In one of the studies they found that experts were better at recognizing features and patterns than novices.  Experts can also pull out the major principle whereas novices focus on what a problem looks like.  I think that i'm still in the "looks like" phase.  The interesting thing is that when i started to look at the documents on the microfilm I was reminded of the first training that I did.  It really helped a lot to make some connections back to the training.  Hopefully I will get some more by repeating the information.  I guess you could say that repetition will be my "strategy" this week! I'm hoping to go back and spend some more time.  I want to double check 1952 and 1954.  I also want to see if maybe I can find a marriage record.  My new focus will be great grandmother to try and loop back.  

Learning Blog 4 – “Vaults and procrastination”

It would be really great if i could say, "guess what, i found someone in my husband's family line." Maybe next week....

This week I learned an important lesson about procrastination.  I've talked the talk but haven't walked the walk. We all knew that I needed to make a trip downtown to the Family History Center.  The problem has been trying to figure out when I could go.  I'm pretty sure that many of us have the same problem.  It doesn't make sense for me to go home in Sandy, UT and then drive back north to downtown Salt Lake, so the obvious solution is to go to the Family History Center right after work.  I couldn't go on Saturday because I was out of town.  I conveniently put off going until this evening.  I had the great idea that I could go to the center find someone and then come home and write about it. 

Allow me to first show you a couple pictures:

 These are pictures of the Granite Mountain Records Vault.  I like to refer to it as "The Vault" (using an authoritative voice).  It contains the largest collection of genealogical records in the world! It contains over 3.5 billion images on microfilm, microfiche, and digital media! (If you want a video tour of the vault go here.) The only problem is that the Colombian microfilm that I need is found in "The Vault" and hasn't been digitized yet. I had to order it and it won't be here until Monday or Tuesday.  

Let this be a lesson to all: DON"T PROCRASTINATE! 

Here's the good news.  I did learn a better way to find microfilm that i need by using the family search website.  It only took me 10 minutes to learn because an "expert" sat next to me. As I sat down at a computer this 19 year old missionary, holding a dowel with an eraser on top, pointed on the screen and said things like:

"Click here." (as he pointed with his stick)

"Now click here."

"Type Colombia."

"Click on the county."

"Now click on the city."

"Ohhhh, yep, the ones you need are in The Vault."

The good thing is that I know what to do online now and can order materials from home and then have them there when I show up at the Family History Center. He taught me how to think about what years I need based on the birth of children.  Next week I'm gong to learn how to look at microfilm I'm pretty excited.  

In our readings we read about how experts learn to make sense of everything around them and recognize patterns. The family search website has previously been hard me to figure out how to search in their catalog. After sitting with someone that has being doing it over and over and over (an expert) it began to make so much more sense.  I'm thankful that someone knew what they were doing and were able to help me see the patterns and connections.  Maybe one day I will be the expert with a stick pointing and saying "click here".  :)

Learning Blog 3 – “Enlist everyone!”

This whole week I have spent hours and hours on the internet trying to make headway with Marlon’s family tree.  I’ve been sick so I haven’t been able to visit the Family History center in downtown Salt Lake.  I’ve been dreading writing my blog because I feel like I don’t have anything to show for it.  As I was dreading it last night I had an epiphany.  I’ve been thinking about learning in the wrong way.  Just because I don’t have a new name on my family tree doesn’t mean that I haven’t learned anything. Sometimes we tend to think that if we don’t hit some amazing milestone we didn’t learn anything, but we are wrong.  We learn new things every day of our lives.

So what have I learned? I’ve learned that a group of people thinking is better than one person thinking.

I’ve been very focused in on what “I” need to do in order to find Marlon’s ancestors.  This week I’ve learned to enlist others for help.  First of all I have enlisted Marlon.  He has been contacting his cousins down in Colombia through Facebook.  In just this week I have been able to find out the second last name of his grandpa on his dad’s side.  I’m also having him reach out to other cousins and see if they have any type of documents that were given to them.  Some of them living in Colombia have got to know where his grandparents are buried.  I think with a little more time and patience I should be able to gather more information. 

Currently I’m teaching a training class at Zions.  One day as an opener I told them of my crazy entrance into the genealogy world.  They laughed and you know what they got interested.  We brainstormed ideas of what I could do.  One of them has a friend that is from Colombia and loves family history.  She texted a message to her friend and her friend is currently looking for information on Marlon’s grandpa.  We decided that I need to figure out what search browsers are most common in Colombia.  Maybe my searches will produce better results.  One googled some information and found out that the name of the town in Colombia was different back in the 50s which is the timeline I am looking at. 

My coworker brainstormed and gave me the idea to contact some LDS wards in the area and see if any of the youth wanted to do some service projects of taking pictures of graves! What a great idea!

I would never have come up with any of these ideas on my own.  This is exactly what the Zone of Proximal Development refers to! The concept developed from Vygotsky’s theory.  We always want to measure ourselves individually but we can do more as a group.  My ZPD has expanded as I have expanded my resources.  My ZPD is the difference between me working alone and me working with the ideas of all those surrounding me.  I should be able to achieve much more by including many more people in my search.  They spark ideas and give me encouragement. Go team!!

So maybe I don’t have a new name to fit on my line, but I do have more resources and ideas than I ever did a week ago!

Learning Blog 2- "Maybe I should just pay someone..."

Well my friends it has been a somewhat depressing week.  Okay so actually...really depressing might be a better word for it.  First of all let me explain with a picture: 

Apparently, no one in Columbia does family history he he he.  Now have no fear, not everything was depressing this week.  I started out the week by taking an hour and half long online lesson on how to do Hispanic family history work.  I have to say it was a very helpful lesson.  In fact I recorded several pages of notes.  

Step #1: Gather as much history as you can from the living.

I had my husband call his mother with instructions to get as much information as possible.  I stood next to him prompting him what to ask.  

• Marlon: "Hey mom, we're trying to do some genealogy."  
• Mami: "Okay, what can I help you with?"
• Marlon: "I need to get the names of your mom and dad."
• Mami:  "Sure....." (She then proceeded to give the names. Now this was a good thing because we actually had incorrect information.)
• Marlon: "Now I need the names of your grandparents and where they were born."
• Mami:  "I don't know."
• Marlon: "Do you know where they came from?" 
• Mami:  "No." 
• Me in my head: "WHAT! You don't know that names of your grandparents?!"

So as you can see, the living aren't very helpful.  Marlon's dad is in a rest home due to dementia and his family had a fight over money many years ago.  I don't see that conversation being much more helpful. 

But you know what? It's okay I plowed forward with faith in my online resources.  The online training taught me how to use the family history catalog.  I had places to go, things to accomplish! All I needed to do was look into the civil registration records or Colombia.  I would find them if it was the last thing i did in this lifetime. I went to the family search catalog and after several attempts believe that i found the file that i needed, but uh oh....

(At this moment in time imagine a sad sad Ashley.) The document I need to look at is not scanned for online use.  It appears that i can either pay to have the microfilm sent to a library near me or I can travel to the Family History Center in downtown Salt Lake City.  As I do not wish to spend a lot of money, I have opted for the trip downtown.  I'm not quite sure where I will fit this into my schedule, thus a sad, sad Ashley this week. lol  

I can't help but relate my experience to scaffolding.  The idea of scaffolding is that a teacher can gradually prompt a student to higher levels of competence.  Basically with a little help we can get students to accomplish great things and eventually be able to do it themselves without the help and guidance.  My online learning module for Hispanic family history was my teacher.  It gave me hints and helps of how to proceed further. 

Vygotsky also warns us that it's pointless to have students try to complete tasks beyond their capabilities even if we are providing support.  It will only produce frustration and confusion.  I feel that i have have been presented a task that is beyond my capabilities so I am  confused and frustrated. 

As I moped in self pity I seriously contemplated clicking the following button: 

This seemed like a logical solution to my problem but after regaining my composure I realize that that would be defeating the purpose of the project :).  I look forward to happier endings next week. My motivation is still strong and I endeavor to remain optimistic.