Interface administrators, Administrators (Semantic MediaWiki), Curators (Semantic MediaWiki), Editors (Semantic MediaWiki)
82,369
edits
Creating a Family History: Difference between revisions
m
no edit summary
mNo edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16) | and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16) | ||
<h2> Why a written book </h2> | |||
After you have gathered all the material you want to put into your personal history, how do you present it to family or to the world? Do you put it on a DVD or in printed form? The answer is YES -- do both. | |||
The reason for a creating a history of your family or a Book Of Remembrance is that it has in it those things which was written to tell your descendants about yourself. Obviously, you can entitle your personal history anything you want. | The reason for a creating a history of your family or a Book Of Remembrance is that it has in it those things which was written to tell your descendants about yourself. Obviously, you can entitle your personal history anything you want. | ||
| Line 7: | Line 8: | ||
A book has those things in it that do not work well on a DVD such as an old letters or documents that should be read. No one is going to read a birth certificate on a TV screen. | A book has those things in it that do not work well on a DVD such as an old letters or documents that should be read. No one is going to read a birth certificate on a TV screen. | ||
The DVD, on the other hand, has the video, sounds and narration along with other things that can’t be put into a book. [Personal History - Recording with a Camcorder|Click here]] to see how to put together a personal history in visual form. | The DVD, on the other hand, has the video, sounds and narration along with other things that can’t be put into a book. [[Personal History - Recording with a Camcorder|Click here]] to see how to put together a personal history in visual form. | ||
Now to put your personal history into book form, here’s how you might organize it:<br> | Now to put your personal history into book form, here’s how you might organize it:<br> | ||
| Line 17: | Line 18: | ||
::*Copyright Statement -- Copyright statement usually appears on the back of the title page. It generally includes when the personal history was published and who should be contact for information. Here is a sample copyright statement: (C) 2004 by John Doe. All rights reserved. <br> | ::*Copyright Statement -- Copyright statement usually appears on the back of the title page. It generally includes when the personal history was published and who should be contact for information. Here is a sample copyright statement: (C) 2004 by John Doe. All rights reserved. <br> | ||
:*Dedication | |||
Usually on next page after the copyright statement. Here you tell to whom the history is dedicated and perhaps why. <br> | Usually on next page after the copyright statement. Here you tell to whom the history is dedicated and perhaps why. <br> | ||
:*Table of Contents<br>Lists the chapters and/or sections with starting page numbers.<br> | |||
:*Forward<br>The forward contains the reasons why this history was created in the first place. You can give an overview of the yourself or if of another person or family that is the subject of this history. | |||
You can tell the reader the methods use to create it and perhaps an address of the author if the reader should want to contact the author. | You can tell the reader the methods use to create it and perhaps an address of the author if the reader should want to contact the author. | ||
:*Introduction -- You may want to write background information if it is necessary to understand the subject matter. | |||
:*List of Contributors -- Make a list of all those who may have help write this history. | |||
:*Chronology -- A chronology gives in a capsulated form the key events in the person’s life. It can be a time line which will help a person get an overview of events and a quick reference to important events. This is very helpful if you created a non-chronological history. | |||
:*List of Illustrations -- You may want to have a complete list of photographs and documents for easy searching. | |||
:*Main Sections -- You obviously don’t have to use my order. This is just an example of how you can organize it. | :*Main Sections -- You obviously don’t have to use my order. This is just an example of how you can organize it. | ||
::*Written Histories -- This where you place all your printed histories of not only yourself but of parents, grand parents, etc. These might be the transcripts of the personal history recording you made of yourself or other family members. | ::*Written Histories -- This where you place all your printed histories of not only yourself but of parents, grand parents, etc. These might be the transcripts of the personal history recording you made of yourself or other family members. | ||
| Line 35: | Line 37: | ||
If you don’t have any but know other family members who do, try and get copies of them to put in your Book of Remembrance.<br> | If you don’t have any but know other family members who do, try and get copies of them to put in your Book of Remembrance.<br> | ||
::*Documents<br>Here you can put marriage certificates, birth certificates and announcements, graduations, awards, news paper clipping of family members, religious certificates such as blessings, baptisms, etc. <br> | ::*Documents<br>Here you can put marriage certificates, birth certificates and announcements, graduations, awards, news paper clipping of family members, religious certificates such as blessings, baptisms, etc. <br> | ||
::*Pedigree Charts<br>Pedigree charts showing your parents, grand parents, great grand parents and on back as far as you can. Look in the appendix for a sample of a pedigree chart. If nothing else, write down what you do know.<br> | ::*Pedigree Charts<br>Pedigree charts showing your parents, grand parents, great grand parents and on back as far as you can. Look in the appendix for a sample of a pedigree chart. If nothing else, write down what you do know.<br> | ||
::*Family Group Charts<br>Charts showing the parents and children of each couple on your pedigree chart. Whoever is reading your personal history can see how many children your great grand parents had for example. | ::*Family Group Charts<br>Charts showing the parents and children of each couple on your pedigree chart. Whoever is reading your personal history can see how many children your great grand parents had for example. | ||
They can see how longed they lived or if they died in their youth. Many of these charts have places to put the pictures of each person on the family group chart. See appendix for example. <br> | They can see how longed they lived or if they died in their youth. Many of these charts have places to put the pictures of each person on the family group chart. See appendix for example. <br> | ||
::*Appendices<br>You may want to list other sources which give information on the time period covered, other histories that mentioned you or your ancestor, or any thing which will give a person more information about a topic you have covered.<br> | ::*Appendices<br>You may want to list other sources which give information on the time period covered, other histories that mentioned you or your ancestor, or any thing which will give a person more information about a topic you have covered.<br> | ||
::*Bibliography<br>List of materials that were the sources for your history came from. <br> | ::*Bibliography<br>List of materials that were the sources for your history came from. <br> | ||
::*Index<br>An index should contain all the people mentioned in the history so another person can look up all that was said about that person without having to read the entire history. Should include not only names, but places and subjects.<br>Not a Scrap Book<br>A personal history is not a scrap book. I would not put in ribbons I won at the county fair or my certificate from life guard school. This is a personal history and I think it deserves to be a bit more formal. | ::*Index<br>An index should contain all the people mentioned in the history so another person can look up all that was said about that person without having to read the entire history. Should include not only names, but places and subjects.<br>Not a Scrap Book<br>A personal history is not a scrap book. I would not put in ribbons I won at the county fair or my certificate from life guard school. This is a personal history and I think it deserves to be a bit more formal. | ||
So put that stuff in a scrapbook. And incidently, scrapbooks are a part of family history too. There are many how-to-do-it books and magazines on scrap booking. Check them out.<br> | So put that stuff in a scrapbook. And incidently, scrapbooks are a part of family history too. There are many how-to-do-it books and magazines on scrap booking. Check them out.<br> | ||
::*Start One For Each Of The Kids<br>Start by putting in all the things you did in yours but keep the pictures of you to a bear minimum. Here you will concentrate on them. | |||
::*Start One For Each Of The Kids<br>Start by putting in all the things you did in yours but keep the pictures of you to a bear minimum. Here you will concentrate on them. | |||
You’ll want to included things like their school pictures, birth certificates, etc. To make the personal history, use the questions that are appropriate for their ages and either help them write it or if they are to young write it yourself.<br> | You’ll want to included things like their school pictures, birth certificates, etc. To make the personal history, use the questions that are appropriate for their ages and either help them write it or if they are to young write it yourself.<br> | ||
::*Doesn’t Have To Be Thick<br>We’re not trying to make a great thick book that sits on the coffee table to impress visitors. It is a presentation of yourself and your family. It is a tool to bring to remembrance the events in our lives that were of the greatest significance and which will help keep our family united. | |||
::*Doesn’t Have To Be Thick<br>We’re not trying to make a great thick book that sits on the coffee table to impress visitors. It is a presentation of yourself and your family. It is a tool to bring to remembrance the events in our lives that were of the greatest significance and which will help keep our family united. | |||
It is for the express purpose to give us a symbol of our identity and that we belong to each other. That’s what a Book of Remembrance is for.<br> | It is for the express purpose to give us a symbol of our identity and that we belong to each other. That’s what a Book of Remembrance is for.<br> | ||