Using OneNote as a Research Tool

In a recent ProGen discussion group I attended, someone mentioned the usefulness of a “notebook” program for doing research, specifically taking notes or abstracting documents.  This piqued my curiosity, and already having OneNote*, a notebook program in the Microsoft Office collection installed on my computer, I decided to investigate it further.
There are many tutorials for OneNote on the internet, so I’ll skip the “how-tos,” except to say it was a very intuitive program, and I needed very little formal help to get my first notebook up and running.
I do a fair amount of internet genealogy research, so my bookmarks are of considerable importance to me.  I also use different browsers, and oftentimes run them in a sandbox when I’m unsure of the trustworthiness of any particular website.  Of course, when you bookmark a website in one browser, you have to bookmark it in any other browsers you use; also, bookmarking a site in a sandboxed browser doesn’t bookmark it in an un-sandboxed version of the same browser, as I learned the hard way.  As a result, it was difficult to keep track of which websites I might need for research.  To complicate the matter further, I recently got a new computer, and in the process of transferring files, my research bookmarks disappeared.
Enter OneNote… for those unfamiliar with it, it is the digital version of those handy 3 or 5 subject notebooks we all used in high school, except it’s not limited to 5 tabbed sections.   The notebook can be stored locally, on your network, or on the internet, making it available from your laptop, if you’re traveling, as long as you have internet access.   Your notebook can also be exported as a .pdf file.
After opening the program, I created a notebook which I named “Genealogy Research”, and started making tabbed sections for each area of research I might need to do – General Research, Military, Newspapers, Books, Resources, Miscellaneous, Community (message boards, etc.), Death, Burial, Land Records, Maps, Photos, Immigration, Families, etc.  Each of these tabbed sections holds links for the websites I might need while doing my research.

So far, I’ve found it extremely handy to have my Research Notebook open while I’m working.  When discovering I need a particular piece of information, clicking on the appropriate tab to see what databases are available, and then having the link right there is making the most of my research time.  In addition, when I stumble upon a new link, I can easily add it to the appropriate section or sections.
I have not fully explored all that OneNote can do, but looking at a few of its capabilities, I can see this being a useful tool for more than organizing bookmarks.  One of the next applications I’ll be looking at is its usefulness for organizing data on the families I’m researching.  Besides adding hyperlinks to the pages, you can add photos, freehand draw or write, etc.   Perhaps a “Brickwalls” notebook is next?  I am envisioning a section for each of my “brickwalls” with notations about where I’ve looked, what I’ve found, what I know, copies of documents I have, etc.; this is data I’d love to have all in one place, with my thoughts recorded there as well.

As I mentioned, OneNote was included in my software package on my new computer, but there are numerous other Notebook applications available for download, either for a fee, or free.  If you haven’t investigated using a notebook program for genealogy work, it might be worth looking into. 

---

*I have no connection to Microsoft, except being an end-user.

Forebear Friday – Hans Seemann

Hans Seemann, along with his brother Detleff, were the first of their family to leave Germany bound for the United States.  Hans was the son of John Henry and Maria Seemann, and born 23 Jan 1825 in Schleswig-Holstein. 
The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, sending for their parents, siblings, and fiancées, who were sisters, the following year.  They all lived together for several years, until each of the brothers obtained his own farm and set out on their own. 

Hans and Maria raised a family of nine, seven of whom lived to adulthood: John, Anna Maria, Andrew, Henry, Fred, Carl, and Will.  Four of their sons became physicians, and practiced medicine throughout the upper midwest.


In 1884, Hans and Maria sold their farm in Clinton county, and purchased another in Union county, South Dakota.  On 05 Sep 1893, while visiting his son Fred in Dubuque, Iowa, Hans became ill, and died at Finley Hospital of pleurisy, complicated by lung cancer.  After his death, Maria made her home among her children, passing away while at the home of her son Carl in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Both Hans and Maria are buried at Riverside Cemetery, rural Akron, Plymouth co., Iowa, which was just across the state line from their South Dakota farm.

Above: The family of Hans and Maria Seemann, taken at the farm in South Dakota, when all of the kids came home for their father’s funeral. 

Bathing Beauties

 

My grandfather, Bill Knutz, found himself a couple of special “hood ornaments” on one hot and sunny summer day in eastern South Dakota – his future wife, Lillian Christensen (right), and her cousin Ruth.   This photo, taken in 1935, depicts a common scene at the farm of his parents, Will and Virta Knutz, where their teenage children would stop up the creek to make a “swimming hole,” which was popular with all of the young people in the area.

Forebear Friday – Marx Seemann

Marx Christian Seemann was born 15 Nov 1868 in Jackson county, Iowa, the son of Detlef and Elizabeth (Petersen) Seemann, and among the first generation of the family born in the United States. 
Marx operated a tourist bus on the route between Seattle and Vancouver, but had the misfortune to drop a tire jack on his foot, an accident that eventually resulted in gangrene and amputation of his leg in 1923.  He then moved back to Jackson county, Iowa, to the home of his brother Henry.  Henry died five years later, and Marx then went to Green Island, also in Jackson county, where he purchased a small farm.  After his retirement, he moved to Bellevue, Iowa.  He had “arteriosclerosis of the brain”, and became violent to the point of having to be sent to the State Hospital for the Insane at Independence, Iowa.  He died there, just a few weeks after his arrival.
His obituary, from the Sabula (Iowa) Gazette of Thursday, May 31, 1951:
FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FOR GREEN ISLAND MAN
Funeral services were held at a Bellevue funeral home Monday afternoon for Marx C. Seeman, 81, who passed away at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Independence.  The Rev. Laurence Nelson officiated and burial took place in the Reeseville cemetery.
Mr. Seeman was a son of the late Detlef and Elizabeth Petersen Seeman and was born in Jackson county Nov. 15, 1869.  He had lived in the Green Island community for many years.  He is survived by one sister.  Preceding him in death were his parents; a brother, Carl, and a sister, Mrs. William Roe.

Forebear Friday – Detlef Seemann

Detlef Seemann and his brother Hans left their native Germany in 1853, looking for a place to relocate their family.  The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, and the following year, their parents and siblings followed, as well as Detlef and Hans’ fiancees, sisters Maria and Elizabeth Petersen.  The extended family lived together for a few years, with Detlef and Elizabeth eventually buying land in Jackson county, just to the north, in Washington township.

Detlef died of “heart trouble” in 1899, and Elizabeth lived another 9 years, passing away in 1908 in Haileyville, Oklahoma.   She was initially buried there, but was moved to Reeseville cemetery in Jackson county, Iowa to be buried with her husband and other family members.  I do not know, at this time, why she was in Oklahoma.  Thomas B. Schultz, a descendant, wrote an excellent history of this family in 1990, entitled, “The American Descendants of Gottfried and Maria Schultz of Schleswig-Holstein Germany”.
Detlef and Elizabeth were the parents of nine children: John Henry, Anna Maria, Mary “Lena”, Peter, Louisa, Marx, Carl G. “Charlie”, Sarah Elizabeth, and Roseltha.

On a trip to Jackson and Clinton counties of Iowa, we located Reeseville cemetery, which sits on top of a hill, with a beautiful view of the surrounding country.  Except for the occasional sound of a passing vehicle on the road below, it’s an exceptionally peaceful and serene location.  Detlef and Elizabeth’s son Marx is also buried here, as well as other Seemanns whose connection is not yet certain.

Wordless Wednesday – Halloween, 1958

Genealogy Societies – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I don’t know about most people, but I have a limited amount of money to spend on society memberships, so I’m constantly having to evaluate benefit vs. cost.  I’d love to join many more, but I need to be selective.

I recently discovered the website for an historical society in an area of genealogical interest – close enough geographically that I could utilize their library and even attend meetings from time to time.  I liked that their website had a detailed listing of resources.  They had a current events widget.  Looked great – I just needed to know about their membership fees, journals published, publications for sale, benefits for members, etc.  But none of this information was on their website.

They did have a link to email them, which I did.  I received an automated reply stating that if I didn’t hear from anyone in 2 weeks, to call them.  Really??

I checked their blog, hoping for more information, but it had only one entry and had not been updated in 7 weeks, except by spammers publishing links to questionable websites.  Apparently no one at the society reads the comments of their visitors, legitimate or not.  It was a disappointment, and needless to say, that particular society has been crossed off my list for membership.  The porch light appears to be on, but nobody’s home.

This experience got me thinking about what I, as both a potential new member and a former society volunteer, value in a genealogical or historical society.

1) I love to see an informative, attractive, easily navigated website.  Especially one that’s kept up-to-date with current happenings – it shows me that the society is alive and well.  Things are happening there.

2) Current members should have easy online access to the information they need.  Potential new members should be given good reasons to join – membership fees and benefits are important; contact information and queries that are attended to promptly is imperative. Show me why joining your society would be a great decision. If I didn’t already have an interest, I wouldn’t be at your website.

3) Societies should publish the best journal possible, and publish it regularly.  I appreciate getting what I paid for.

4) On a society’s website, I enjoy a short narrative on the history of the area, or some articles on historical local topics – I want to see how interested and excited a society is about their mission.  An anemic society isn’t going to excite potential or existing members much either.

5) Are there volunteer opportunities – proofreading, formatting, transcribing, etc. - that can be done from a distance.  I’d like to get involved despite the fact that I don’t live in the area.  Is there some way that I can help you help us?

6) I love indexes!  I’m elated to find an index with an easy way to get the original.  For a small fee, payable quickly and easily by PayPal, the society will print and mail a photocopy of the record I need.  I can order it, and get it in the mail a few days later.  Awesome!  And very forward-thinking!

7) A big bonus is a “Members Only” section of the website, where I can access selected library materials or search more detailed indexes.   What a boon to members who live a great distance away, and a great reason to join the society, even if I can’t get to the research library in person.

These are just a handful of things that are most important to me.  How do *you* feel about it?