Understand What You Are Using

When using a record set with which you are not familiar, think about how someone gets into the record, how the  information in the record is obtained, how the record is organized, and how the original  record got from its original state to you.

Do not just “guess” or assume that how things work today is how they necessarily worked one hundred years ago.

All if these issues get to how we use and analyze the information contained in the record.