Track the Process

A few years ago I discovered a probable sister of an ancestor in Ireland. In reviewing the information later I wanted to make certain I had not overlooked any other probable siblings of the ancestor. The problem was I could not remember how I found the name of the sister in the first place.  My concern was that I got so excited about finding one sister that I researched her before I made certain there were not others as well.

It took me half a day to “recreate” the original search to “refind” the sister. All it would have taken was two sentences in my notes on this person and I could have saved half a day. My notes just needed to include a brief synopsis of how this potential sister was located.

It’s important to track your process. Just as important as it is to cite your sources.