Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about evaluating family trees and the sources in them to help us determine if a family tree is accurate. We review independent sources, primary information, and direct evidence. In the absence of direct evidence, we can often put together a body of indirect evidence to help us prove a parent-child link, but that requires a written conclusion. Often family trees are missing this element. Transcript Nicole Elder...
As you discover new sources for an ancestor, do you add them to your online Ancestry tree? How do you create a source citation for that source and what notes should you include? With so many genealogists using Ancestry’s tree building and hinting capabilities, our added source may end up being multiplied and added to other trees. If we document our source well, another researcher will be able to retrace our footsteps and find the...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss how to apply the genealogical proof standard (GPS) as you work in collaborative trees – specifically the FamilySearch Family Tree. We talk about each element of the GPS and how you implement it with small changes in the way you add reason statements, sources, and additional explanations about your research to the tree. Links How to Improve the FamilySearch Family Tree with the Genealogical Proof Standard...
Today, Diana and I are talking about analyzing your sources – the next thing to do in your research project after creating an objective. In order to establish what you know and determine how reliable it is, you must analyze the source, information, and evidence on a record. Start by gathering up all the sources that you’ve already found. Talk to close relatives who have knowledge or information about the project. Check online family trees...
In our Research Like a Pro study group, one of the first assignments is to analyze existing evidence. This is actually my favorite assignment. It is so fun to comb through what I’ve already gathered about a research question and look for clues to help me see where to go next in my research. I’ve been studying Genealogy Standards, a book published by The Board for Certification of Genealogists to better understand the different parts of analysis:...
Do you have a stack of research for a problem ancestor? The one who is hard to pin down. The one with unknown parents. How do you even get started on the brick walls in your family tree? Join in this summer’s Research Like a Pro series and see if you can make progress in your research skills and journey in finding your family. To read more about the process, check out my book, Research Like...
Have you ever found a marriage listing of an ancestor in an online index or in a book of marriage abstracts and been so excited you didn’t question it? Just added the information to your database, researched the couple and their children and went merrily on your way? I did this a few years ago, but unfortunately I connected the wrong marriage record to my ancestor. Essentially I married her to the wrong man. How...
Have you ever wondered why you are asked to type a reason statement every time you change information or add a source to the FamilySearch (FS) Family Tree? Are you a genealogist frustrated with the collaborative aspect of FS Family Tree because others can change your information? If so, read on. I teach a beginner’s class during Sunday School in my LDS ward with people from all parts of the genealogy world: teens and adults...
Are you the lucky recipient of your family’s genealogy? Do you have a box, a barrel, or, in my instance, a suitcase full of letters, documents, photos, family group sheets, etc? You are probably feeling overwhelmed with either joy or despair. Go ahead and be ecstatic that you inherited priceless stuff. Don’t despair because I’m going to show you how to take care of your papers, one step at a time. When I started...
Updated 18 January 2024 Have you ever read a family history with an interesting fact, like “Great Grandma was a full-blooded Cherokee”? You’re excited to read more and see some proof, but there is nothing: no source citations or documentation of any kind. You’re left in the dark, wondering how much to believe in that history. Eliza Ann Isenhauer My great-grandmother, Eliza Ann Isenhour, supposedly had Cherokee heritage. Unfortunately, the family history stating this fact...
