Give that New Information Some Time

If a document provides you with new information, a new conclusion, or a piece of information that “excites” you, read it again. It can be very easy to think a phrase or word means something that it does not. The temptation to jump to conclusions can be especially great if we have struggled with a family or a research problem for some time.

There are times where it is best to wait, do something else, and then come back to the item after some time has passed so that it can be looked at “cold.” One of the easiest ways to make your own genealogy brick wall is to jump to a conclusion based on a too quick reading of a document.

Get the Genealogy Tip of the Day book. Great for reading cover to cover, browsing, taking notes in, or reading at random to get your research started.