[Genealogy] Getting in the Records, Genealogy Attention Disorder

[Michael John Neill]

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Genealogy Update 23 January 2026

** How Did This Get in the Record?
** Midwest Genealogy Center
**  Genealogy Attention Disorder

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How Did This Get in the Record?
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When viewing any record or document used in your genealogical research, ask
yourself:

how did this information get in this record?

how did this “record” get in the record book?

That’s essentially what we did in our post on the 1830 marriage record from
Ohio <https://rootdig.genealogytipoftheday.com/?p=1132>. But it is what the
researcher should do with any record–not just in those instances when there
are two copies of the same information. Even though one of the 1830
marriage “records” is a copy, the question of the “original” record is
still one the researcher needs to answer.

If you’ve not thought how the various pieces of information came to be in a
record, then you’ve probably not fully analyzing it.
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Midwest Genealogy Center Trip-Deadline Extended
-------------------------

We've extended the deadline to register for our genealogy research trip to
Independence, Missouri. We still have openings for this May 2026 trip and
are still accepting registrations. Details on our website
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/mid-continent-genealogy-library-october-2025-research-trip/>
.
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NotebookLM for Genealogy Released
--------------------------

Now released for immediate download: NotebookLM for Genealogy

Ever wanted to create graphics, mind maps, and other graphics for your
genealogy research easily? Now you can and we’ll show you how. Notebooklm
at Google.Create audio and video overviews, mind maps, reports, quizzes,
infographics, and slide decks from your uploaded files, genealogy documents,
and the like. NotebookLM is not perfect by a long shot, but it may give you
insight into your own research. We will take a responsible genealogical
approach to using Notebooklm. It is a tool and like any tool needs to be
used carefully and judiciously. We won’t necessarily agree with all the
conclusions it reaches, but thinking about its insights and trying to
prove/disprove them or analyze them further may enhance our research in
ways we did not expect.Order now–download immediate. Hour long presentation
and handout included
<https://michael-john-neill.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=248457&method_id=271366>
.

See sample infographics on our blog post at:

https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/01/14/notebooklm-for-
genealogy/

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Genealogy Attention Disorder

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I think I have Genealogy Attention Disorder and it is not my fault. There
are others to blame.

*I blame my family.*

Many of my ancestral families lived in the same rural areas for
generations. This increases the chance that I’m related by blood or by
marriage to a significant proportion of the local population. It is common
to search for one family in a record series and recognize another ancestral
family name in that same record. And then there are always the last names
of people who used to “live up the road.” Who can’t resist looking at that
other document? Next thing I know it’s three hours later.

*I blame FANs.*

One of Elizabeth Shown Mills’ key research suggestions is the FAN approach
(documenting the friends, associates, and neighbors of your ancestor in
order to learn more about your ancestor).  It’s a sound method (which I
used for years before I ever heard it called “FAN”) and can help when
records on the ancestor in question are inconclusive or lacking in
sufficient detail. The problem is that this method requires the research to
expand to* even more people*. And more names means more distraction.

*I blame the Internet.*

I no longer have to wait for things to arrive in the mail. I can get a
number of materials and documents without ever leaving my home–the moment I
think of looking for them. It’s possible to spend hours searching on
Google, *GoogleBooks <http://books.google.com/>, **Hathitrust
<http://www.hathitrust.org/>, Archive.org <http://www.archive.org/>*, etc.
looking for materials, digital books, etc.

*I blame needing to learn about context.*

Fully understanding records requires knowing about the legal, social, and
cultural environment in which they were created. More details to confuse
and distract me. Reading old state statute books is advised to get a
partial understanding of laws and ages of consent, but then I see the page
on the bounties paid for wolf scalps and I’m diverted for another hour.

*I blame the need for reasonably exhaustive searches.*

The Genealogy Proof Standard requires that a reasonably exhaustive search
be conducted before a conclusion is reached. If a reasonably exhaustive
search is good, it stands to reason that a totally and completely
exhaustive search is better. That means even more items to distract me and
cause me to lose my focus.

Genealogists are, by their nature, inquisitive. That’s a good thing. The
problem that reasonably researching an ancestor who died in Amherst County,
Virginia, in 1820 probably should not morph into researching his
great-great-grandson who died in the San Francisco Earthquake.

Probably.

Take advantage of those reasons your have Genealogy Attention Disorder.
Just try and keep your focus.

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--  ------------------------------------
Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day

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