Some People Are Easier To Help
A series of incidents occurred yesterday in the Family History Center that go along with my recent genealogy-based posts, so I thought I'd address this while I'm waiting to hear back about whether my last post was helpful.
The series of events began when the fellow teaching a class came and asked me if I'd help him with some of the slower patrons. I confess, I was not thrilled when I saw whom I was to help. I've worked with this lady before and she can be kind of stubborn...
Anyway, the class was about how to attach sources to FamilySearch Family Tree, and, as it turned out, she was very cooperative. So, I helped her and then wound up one row back helping a gentleman clean up some of his family records on Family Tree, and finally, I found myself on the back row, helping a lady find one of her ancestors.
Four things became readily apparent during that time:
- It's important to have all the information you need either right in front of you, or one mouse click away.
- Know who you're looking for!
- More emphasis needs to be placed on methods of finding people.
- Sourcing needs to become second nature!
Have Access To Information
It's unnecessarily time consuming and confusing to go looking for someone when you don't have all the information you will need in order to find them. By that I mean, if you're using a piece of paper, then make sure your paper has all relevant information, in other words, all the information you know; and remember to start with what you know! If you are looking for a set of parents, but you don't have squat on their children then you're probably not going to find the parents! So make sure you have some information on the children (preferably all of the children) so you have some idea of where to even start!
If you're using the internet or a genealogical tree program (like RootsMagic or Legacy) then be sure you've got the information only one mouse-click away, because anything else is pointless.
Know Who You're Looking For
Which is what happened yesterday. This lady was looking for the parents of John, but had confused herself and thought she was looking for John, himself. So do yourself a favor and have all relevant information handy, because there's no point in looking for someone who has already been found.
Learn How To Find People
Knowing what records and/or resources are available is not going to come easy to a lot of people; unless you've got an interest in history or you've been doing genealogy for years. So your first order of business really should be acquainting yourself with the potential resources.
That's right potential. As I've already indicated, some areas are chock-full of resources, and others...not so much. But knowing what might be available will ultimately help you find what is available (if you don't know it might exist then you can't go looking for it, no?).
But simply knowing where to find the information isn't enough, you must know how to find the information. If you're looking for parents, be aware that finding documents on all of their children may be your greatest resource. Don't get bogged down in the belief that you only need to find your direct-line ancestor, because information isn't always consistent through records.
What do I mean by that? Here's an example. Remember Family A from a couple of posts ago? Well, when I found all of their children it became apparent that Family A Husband didn't always go by one name. He actually had three given names and he used various names or sequences of names at different times! So in the birth records of his three children he had a different name in each! So checking the birth and/or death records for all children of a couple may provide information you wouldn't have gotten had you stuck only with your direct-line ancestor.
Source, Source, Source!
Remember I said that it's pointless to go looking for someone who has already been found? Well, when you don't provide source information for what you've done then that's exactly what you're forcing other people to do. The people coming after you have no idea where you got your information or whether it's even correct. This is the leading cause of duplication, and it's completely unnecessary. Providing unsourced information isn't really providing information, is it? When you don't show where or how you came by the information (and, therefore, why it's correct) then why should anyone coming after presume it's accurate? If you've found a source for your information then add it to the record! This saves those coming after the time and hassle of retracing your steps, and it prevents unnecessary duplication of either individual Family Tree records or work.
Make sourcing a priority. But never change something you have no proof of, even if you're convinced you're right! A good example is one individual who, according to all available sources, was called Fannie. Someone has created a second record showing her name as Sarah Frances. There is absolutely zero evidence that her name was ever Sarah or even Frances. If there is no documentable proof or a logical inference cannot be made from available evidence, then leave the record as is, and any record you change should have a reason for why the change was made.
Conclusion
Don't make more work for yourself or others. Have your resources and notes handy and always document your changes! Genealogy can be fun! But when others act without regard for the consequences it becomes fun for nobody.
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