There is a proper way to do things if you want to be serious about your research. You can't just sign up on ancestry.com and start clicking away and adding hundreds of people to your family tree and call it research - nor can you call it accurate! I've learned this lesson the hard way, and now have a lot of work to do to "repair" my tree. If I hadn't been so far along when I came to these realizations, I would have started over from scratch. As a result, I fear I will be clearing out the mess I made for a while before I am satisfied. I am no expert, and I have only been researching since 2006, so I make no claims to be an authority. However, if you're interested in genealogy research, maybe you can learn from my mistakes! I will be adding to this page now and then.
- EVIDENCE!!!
Find it. For EVERYTHING! If you know a relative who served in a war, find documented evidence. If you know that a relative was married in your hometown, visit the county courthouse and find their marriage record. Evidence is not only crucial to the reliability of your findings, but is also fascinating to find and adds depth to your ancestors' lives and stories.
- Don't believe everything you find online unless there is something to back it up.
When I first joined ancestry.com, I thought that their "One World Tree" (OWT) was the most awesome thing in the world! A tree combining everyone's research... that many people can't be wrong, can they? Guess again! Here's my thinking: #1, who decides what goes on the OWT? Two people are likely to find some disagreement in an ancestor's birthdate or some other record. How does the OWT "master" decide who is correct? #2, how many other people have joined ancestry.com, excited and ready to see their family tree grow, stumbled across the OWT and thought the exact same thing I did? How many of those 8 people who share a common ancestor with me that the ancestry hint told me about actually researched this ancestor? How many of them said "that many people can't be wrong" and added information from the OWT based solely on that line of thinking, as I did when I first started. It's not a good system. I've written ancestry.com and asked for them to at least include an option for those of us who dislike the OWT, to opt out of having our ancestry hints show OWT. In my limited experience, it is a waste of time and the only real benefits are that, (a) should you get stuck on a line, you may find a clue using the OWT or (b) that you may find other people to contact who are researching similar lines. My own $.02, however, is that it should never be used as a source of any kind.
- Don't try to get around the system.
In the world of genealogy research, there is, apparently, a system. I didn't realize this when I started my research and converting everything back to the proper system is becoming a nuisance. There are proper ways to record dates and locations, among other things, and I was determined to record them in a way that made most sense to me. As time goes on and I compare research and notes with other genealogists, I see the benefit of everyone using a similar system. Everyone doesn't do everything exactly the same way, but they are all very similar and if I intend to share my findings, I must respect the system and record things properly.
- Take some time to learn about your fun new hobby.
The longer I do this, the more I realize there is to learn. Things that will both help you find what you're looking for, as well as keep things universally organized so that you can share the info easily with your family and newfound cousins. I get absolutely nothing from recommending this book to you, beyond the satisfaction of knowing that it might help you start off better than I did, and create shareable information that others will be able to use and appreciate. THIS BOOK (or whatever the most recent available edition), is a great resource. I recommend it to EVERYONE who asks my advice about starting their genealogy research. I wish I'd had it and read it before I got started.
- People are valuable sources.
If you have living relatives, they are the best place to start. But you knew that already. So did I. What I didn't realize was just how valuable they are! Especially if you know of family photographs or have some yourself, living relatives will be much more likely to identify family members or friends! They are also helpful if you should get stuck - I am currently trying desperately to find information on a great-grandmother and have come up empty handed for years. The only person who will probably be able to help me is my mother's aunt and we are planning to visit her soon. I know that she is looking forward to it just as much as we are. Also valuable are people who are researching common lines. There are plenty of people out there who are serious about their research and could give you all kinds of great information. A couple of years ago, I got in touch with someone who was researching a similar line and had a photo of my living grandmother's deceased grandmother. It was the first photo my 67-year-old grandmother had ever seen of her grandmother. It was very special! One thing you must be cautious about, however, is to back up information that relatives give you with evidence. Yes, I realize that no one knows family like family, but memories aren't always as reliable as we'd like to believe and people often have conflicting stories and information.
- Organization is vital!
This is something I am still learning... really in every aspect of my life. Especially for research, though, this is something that will make life much easier. It kind of goes without saying, I guess, but it's something to consider from the beginning. Do you want to use a filing system? Do you want to use binders? Digital storage? I'm certain that it varies depending on the individual, and I have found that binders work best for me, if for no other reason than portability. Depending on what I am doing - attending a family function or going somewhere to research - it's easy to have my information in a notebook to just pick up and go. So it will depend on your personal preference, but find a way to organize! Pockets to keep scratch notes in might be a good idea as well, if not a notepad.
