Reading a document or record more than once is crucial to actually getting the full value of what it contains. That’s true for reading genealogical reference materials as well.
Court, probate, pension and other materials often contain phrases whose meanings may not be completely clear on the first read through. A thorough understanding may require using other reference materials, legal dictionaries, and similar items.
I find it helpful to have a copy of the document that I use for making annotations and comments–including marking phrases or items that I do not understand. I also use pencil to mark up my own personal reference books with annotations as well. These reference books are to help me with my research and to help me learn. I’m not curating an archives of books for someone to use in a hundred years so I feel free to pencil in comments when they enter my mind.
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