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Using the Related tab
I have never been able to make the traditional use of surname files work for me. I didn't like the idea of having multiple copies of a document that contained multiple people. I tried using family groups but that didn't work because families often resided together. Because I have several families that resided in locations for long periods of time I would end up scanning or copying entire rolls of microfilm. It was the only way to do FAN research. My solution was to file the vast majority of my documents by location and/or type.
As I have been inputting documents into Zotero I realized I could use the related feature to link people together across locations and families. For example, I have a marriage record for a couple in Minnesota. One born in Austria and one born in Bavaria. The marriage record is in my Minnesota_Marriages folder. All I need to do is use the related tab and I can add both of their births to that marriage. I can link a death record to a birth record. All the while leaving everything in location folders on my computer.
I am beginning to realize the power of Zotero is not as a citation manager but rather as a whole new way to organize and find all my genealogy books, films, records, and all the other artifacts one collects in the pursuit of our family history.
That never occurred to me, Ann. Brilliant! And I agree. In truth, until we can get a few genealogy-specific needs handled in the citation portion, it is the weakest link--but not by much. I'm working on the citation needs, and if you keep coming up with applications...awesome!
Ann, You inspired me to look at how to make use of the related tab. My maternal grandparents emigrated from Norway. Therefore, I have struggled with farm names and patronymics. I have added farm name standalone notes to my Places Collection/Norway/County/Parish. My ancestors moved from farm to farm, and I use the farm name at birth as their "Surname". I am using the related tab to connect life events to the farm standalone notes where they were living at the time of the event. For example, my grandfather was born at Aasen farm in Bodin parish in Nordland county, so Aasen is his surname. In the 1910 census he was living at Bryne farm in Time parish in Rogaland county, and at the time of his emigration he was living at Salhus farm in Hamre parish in Hordaland county. The citations include the parish but not the farm, so using the related tab, I have all the information together in Zotero. Then I can add information about the specific farms, parishes, and counties in the Places Collection.
Linda, I don't envy you. One of my mom's friends went to Norway last year to visit. He wanted to see where his ancestors came from. About three months beforehand he asked me if I could do a little research for him. Talk about a crash course in patronymics. Holy cow. I had sticky notes all over my desk trying to keep track. If only I had Zotero back then, it would have been a lot easier. I am grateful that I was able to inspire you. Thank you for letting me know.
Just thought of another application for the related tab. Using it for all the documents and images I use when I write one of my blog posts.
Tell us about your blog, Ann. You have certainly earned the right to promote it here! And, I also use Zotero to store ideas for my blog posts (gegbound.com). Hadn't thought of the related tab, but I will now.
Quote from Linda Balderson on February 13, 2019, 2:19 pmAnn, You inspired me to look at how to make use of the related tab. My maternal grandparents emigrated from Norway. ...
Great use of the related tab, Linda. And though Ann doesn't envy you, I do. Because I have opted to document my slaveholding ancestors' plantations in full--every soul--I don't know that I'll ever take my family story back to the boat. I might spend my genealogy career in the 1850s. But I wouldn't trade the Beyond Kin (beyondkin.org) experience for anything. You do inspire me, though, to think about how the related tab might be used to connect the Beyond Kin--unrelated people whose lives were more interconnected than kin.
I started the blog a year ago just after RootsTech. I wanted a place where I could share the family stories I have discovered and a place to publish proof arguments and case studies. It is a little different than most genealogy blogs. Mostly because of who I am and where I have been. I am part artist, part traveler, and part genealogist. In my 20's I was a stagehand doing Broadway shows on tour and then spent 22 1/2 years as an air traffic controller. Not to mention growing up around the world as a proud military brat.
I like to incorporate documents and photographs in different ways. The blog is called Renaissance Ann and can be found at https://renaissanceann.com/ I choose the title as a play on a renaissance man.
Donna, you are scaring me! I have one ancestor who was a slave owner and because of several lawsuits, I know their names. It is a story I want to write about. Both the slaves and the lawsuits.
My ancestor's brother with whom he owned slaves was convicted of manslaughter in 1802 for killing his then-pregnant wife. I have copies of the murder case complete with all the depositions describing his wife's dead body. Very gruesome. He was sentenced to the maximum allowable sentence at the time 2 years. He was the 7th inmate at the first Kentucky state prison. He got out in 1804 rewrote his will taking out his two oldest children because they testified against him and then committed suicide.
As you can imagine it is taking me some time to figure out how to tell the whole story including the historical context. Most people are aghast at the 2-year sentence. But when you look at the conditions of prisons at the time it might as well have been a life sentence.
First WOW on the blog. It's gorgeous! And WOW on the air-traffic control--always the one job I was sure I'd fail miserably at because I am a daydreamer.
And then WOW on the family drama. What a story! Do you have transcripts of testimony by the enslaved persons? That's gold to the descendants.
