When a researcher is “hot on the trail” of an elusive ancestor or relative, it is tempting to research as fast as possible to find the answers.
Avoid that.
Chances are the relative for whom you are looking is already dead, so time is not of the essence.
Leave a trail of exactly what records you looked at and, more importantly, why you looked at them. Do this as you are doing the research when it is all fresh in your mind. Failure to do so may leave you wondering later where there records were from or what made you connect them to the same person.
2 Responses
I know, in theory, to do this. The practice is a good deal harder! I wind up chasing assorted the assorted rabbits that jump out of the bushes and lead me down a multitude of intriguing rabbit holes. I don’t want to lose track of some of the interesting random finds, yet I want to stay on track with my original guest. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Any suggestions, other than to just be better disciplined?
Better discipline helps, but all of us can fall into that rabbit hole mentality from time to time. I often take notes on printouts of a record or two that I have located and then take a picture of that to save as a digital image–and track part of my process that way. Copying and pasting images into Word and taking notes there–even ones that aren’t grammatically perfect is another approach.