Genealogy Knots for Beginners - cont.

 
A Beginner’s Budget

You money should be saved for ordering those vital records, paying for telephone calls, reproduction and archiving of your family photographs, the purchase of good video or tape recording equipment, etc. As you advance, you will find advice about subscribing, buying CD- Roms, and which genealogy software program to buy. Note that one list member, Eric Thomas, suggests that a software program is a necessity to help you structure your project. To find out about software programs go to the Afrigeneas archives and simply type in keyword “software.” Many comments will be posted, and they often contain very frank advice. For now, Interview, Interview, Interview.

E-Mail and Spending Too Much Time on the Internet

No such thing, if time is all you’ve got. Some points about subscribing to e-mail lists. Your e-mail messages can get up to 100 per day if you indiscriminately subscribe to listservs. Be cautious, observe first by checking out the archives of the e-mail group, and then decide whether the information is something you want to get everyday. Note that some lists are private, and you have to pay for a subscription or be a member of a university community.

A simple rule for all that e-mail is to subscribe in digest form and avoid keeping all those messages in your download file because they will be filed in the list’s archives anyway. If you must download e-mail posts about a particular subject, create subject folders (Techniques, Addresses, Slavery, State Research. etc.)