You know the expression, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Well, we wonder, if you connect all the dots of your family history and no one knows about it, did it happen?
Today's ARTIcles story is all about how we can share our family history so that the content and the message, aka stories, are actually received. To set the stage, we're sharing the inspiration for this article, a message from a woman we'll call Susan, who is a hobbyist genealogist, and who we think is not alone in her frustration. She reached out to us via Facebook Messenger back in March with a humourous headline: "True Story: My Family Refuses to Look at My Family Tree."
Here's a rough summary of what Susan had to say about her frustrations in trying to share family history with her relatives:
“My parents and siblings ask me for historical details about our family all the time.
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- When was that again that they came over from France? And what part of France was it?
- Do you have a photo of Great Grandpa {last name}?
- Did we have any {bank robbers, poets, craftsmen, ... } in the family?
- Is the family burial plot in {city} the only family plot?
- Did anyone in our family serve in {name of war}?
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And I have come to realize I have no great way of sharing my findings with my family because they refuse to create accounts and sign into any of the genealogy software systems I use.
I’m in my late 50s and many of my siblings and in-laws are a lot older than me, so maybe technology is a factor. But I think it’s more that they simply want the answer, not what they see as the gory black and white details we genealogists love.
That said, even with the younger ones, the nieces and nephews, the second I flash a family tree or mention “Your great grandpa on your mother’s side… ,” they zone out.
That means I usually end up sending information by text message and email. But then they lose that quickly and it doesn’t get shared with everyone, so I have to repeat this work over and over again. It takes the joy out of it.
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Better Options than Text, Email, or Intimidating Websites to Share Family History
There are so many options available to help you share your family history discoveries, all those dots you’ve connected, black and white facts found, that will save your sanity and keep your family better connected with their history now and long into the future.
Stick with links.* Share website links to directly relevant pieces of a family tree, photos, or documents that you might have in MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch or the like to prioritize your time and sanity. Like Susan, this is where you are comfortable operating. If they are truly interested, they can follow the simple steps to create an account. And there is usually a free option for them to do so. If that’s not the case, tell them the price and/or tell them how to sign up at a discount if you know there is a free trial period, a discount code available, or a sale coming up. Since you so kindly sent them a link, they won't have to dig - you'll guide them to exactly where the answer awaits.
Grant access to your cloud storage.* If you keep your research in a cloud-based system (like Google Drive, DropBox, Box etc.), give family members permission to view specific folders or bits of information that answer their questions, such as photos, documents, and maps. This simple approach is still better than losing things in email or text.
And please plan for the transfer of your digital genealogy assets upon death in your estate plan so all these family history treasures can be passed on to the next generation.
* Remember that anyone can share a link but granting permission to access what that link leads to may require another step. So, with either of these first two options you may get others coming to you to request access to the same information because someone gave them the link. Hopefully the genealogy software or cloud solution you use automates that all to make it easy on you!
Scan the photo or document, and Artifct That! There are many great app- and desktop-based options out there to scan a picture or document that you as the family keeper may be holding onto, such as the “Notes” app on many phones or the Photomyne subscription app. If you’d like assistance digitizing media, you can hire a professional photo manager, pop into a local shop that specializes in digitization and/or archival preservation, or check local libraries and genealogy centers for digitization resources, like the Vivid-Pix scan stations.
Scan those photos and docs and then do not let them get lost in text messages or 100s of photos back in a folder.
Artifct in the moment where you can then record the story and details and share with your loved ones before moving on to the next piece of the puzzle. But share where? You can ...
... Create Artifcts Circles. You can create as many Artifcts Circles, with as many people in them, as you like, for free. Think of circles like chat groups – anyone who accepts your invite can then share their Artifcts to the circle, too. You can even name another admin to add/remove people, too. People you invite need only to create a free Artifcts account to accept your Circle invitation and create and share up to five free Artifcts with the Circle, too!
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- Sharing your stories and discoveries with Circle members means you are no longer the single point of failure or truth. Everyone will have access anytime, anywhere. But again, make sure in you've listed your primary and secondary legacy contacts in your Artifcts account settings so your Artifcts can live on.
- And you can crowdsource with Artifcts Circles, too. Have a gap you’re trying to fill in the tree? Wishing you had more family heirlooms, photos, or documents to back up your research? When people and estates are dispersed through time, it’s easy to forget who has what that may help to fill those gaps.
- Ask family to Artifct and share with the Circle. Yes, it may be more family lore than history or genealogy, but the lore is often equally as valuable to any facts you have collected. Lore is the character and color of the family history that has survived and can provide clues along your way – Artifct that! Get step-by-step details and inspiration for family circles here >
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Have Fun Preserving and Swapping Stories
Next time you and your family get together, pick a theme in advance, and ask everyone to contribute to an Artifcts Circle.
Among our favorites:
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- Oldest family photo
- Favorite heirloom
- Secret/not-so-secret family recipe
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Suggest everyone use the same tag for instant sorting of the Artifcts in the Circle to see just those created for this activity, e.g. #PicChallenge25, #Reunion25recipe.
Happy Artifcting!
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