2026: Spit & Polish

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Reliable research begins with the 

Genealogical Proof Standard


 

What's ahead for family history and genealogy work next year? And how best to prepare? One of my big goals has been finished, which is recent backup of online trees onto my own computer. Most of my work has been over the past years has been in Ancestry.com online trees. Now I want to learn how to back that clean tree up into the cloud, as well as onto some portable hard drives. 

Also, I combined the two backed-up trees. Next, I need to find and merge any remaining duplicate profiles. While doing that work, I will try to apply "spit and polish" to each profile touched.

Spit? Polish? 

Merriam-Webster says it is in part: "attention to cleanliness, orderliness, smartness of appearance." Why bother with such nit-picking? I think that by making online profiles not only well-researched and attractive, we can draw others to the stories told on those profiles. This is why I've always worked in public trees as much as possible, and think that the more we researchers put our best work out for the public, the more successful we will be in drawing more family into their heritage. This is part of our legacy.

So: First, use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard)  to ensure that the research is complete, at least for all direct ancestors. This year, I hope to improve my knowledge and documentation of the land where each of those ancestors dwelt. For slave-owning ancestors, I hope to uncover documentation which names those whom they enslaved, and get those names into well-researched and documented profiles in Wikitree. For more about how to do that, see: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Documenting_Enslaved_People_in_WikiTree.

 

Next, Polish

By "polish" I mean adding pictures, maps, timelines, attractive screenshots of obituaries, news stories, or photos of the old home place. Find items which entice visitors to your tree to engage with your research. Both Ancestry.com and MyHeritage will sharpen images, which often makes them more lifelike or easy to read. I like to make the faces fill the little square allowed on each profile, if a photo is available. The first things that babies connect with is their parents' faces! 

A close-up of the headstone or even the family home, entrance to the cemetery, or other local landmark makes the profile stand out and makes it memorable. 

Ancestor signatures can draw attention; capture in a screenshot of online legal documents, petitions, even old cards and letters. 

In short, while I'm sure that I'll do new research in 2026, especially for my grandson's other grandfather, and my two sons-in-law, I hope 2026 will be about making my online trees stellar. 

 What are your plans for the new year?

 

Valorie Zimmerman

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Send your stories to m.strickland@skcgs.org


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