Issue 2.15
When doing family history, we likely have several layers of objectives we want to accomplish. Build from the very specific, small objectives to the larger over-arching objective or reason for your research.
Have an over-arching goal that involves sharing your research with others. For example, submit to FamilySearch Family Tree found at https://familysearch.org/, add your family to Ancestry.com’s member trees, put up a website or use an online site like family.me, or publish a family history.
You want to research a cluster of families because they lived near each other, were related, or otherwise fit together when you share their information. Your research on one family in the cluster may reveal clues about other families in the cluster. I find a lot of information doing descendancy research on siblings of my ancestors that I never would have found if I were just searching for my direct line ancestor.
Normally you concentrate research on one family at a time. Family context provides clues to help you understand and research the family’s individual members. Your research may skip around between members of this family a bit, but avoid moving on to another family until your research on this family is mostly done. Document at least one source for every person in the family.
Pick one event in one person’s life to work on at a time. Do NOT give up research on that event if your first search fails. Continue looking to document the event until you find it at least once in a, b, c, d, or e below:
a. Under a different name-spelling, an initial, abbreviation, nickname, or middle name.
b. Different records of the same type. Sometimes there is more than one version.
c. Different record types, e.g. change cemetery records to funeral home records.
d. Different jurisdictions. Switch to neighboring, or higher/lower jurisdictions.
e. Different repositories. Check a variety of libraries, archives, or the Internet.
Good research objectives are specific. Look for one event at a time in one person’s life. It is crucial for you to name the specific event and name the specific person you will seek. Work from the easiest-to-document event to the hardest-to-document event on a family group record. Doing the easier searches first gives you more clues to help with harder searches.
For additional information, Shanna Jones can be reached at (435)628-4900 or shannasjones@msn.com.