Verifying Research
Hopefully you had a chance over your three day holiday weekend to reflect upon and act upon your own genealogical pursuits ! Let me stand on the "soapbox" for a moment and remind us all of how important it is to verify research!!!!!
Lots of patrons at the local Family History Center and genealogy students at all levels believe that whatever has been "published" (whether in book format or web page format nowadays), it MUST be true. Not always- beware the genealogical mistakes that are published and then reproduced many times over on a particular family line, till arguing with another reseacher that the evidence doesn't support that the two families are connected almost gets you flogged or disowned. Take the time to first identify and then verify the documenting research. There is nothing finer than a researcher sharing their pedigrees and family group sheets as well as reasons and conclusions, along with their sources! And a true researcher would be humble enough to acknowledge and correct a "published" mistake on the famly line.
If a conclusion doesn't match up with what you know on a researched family line, check to see which sources were used- again, family rumor doesn't take precedence over actual documentation, such as vital records, tax and records records, and censuses. Many a family "relation" or birth or marriage date may have be "doctored " for various reasons along the way. It is our duty as good researchers to keep the errors out and correct mistakes gently.
Lots of patrons at the local Family History Center and genealogy students at all levels believe that whatever has been "published" (whether in book format or web page format nowadays), it MUST be true. Not always- beware the genealogical mistakes that are published and then reproduced many times over on a particular family line, till arguing with another reseacher that the evidence doesn't support that the two families are connected almost gets you flogged or disowned. Take the time to first identify and then verify the documenting research. There is nothing finer than a researcher sharing their pedigrees and family group sheets as well as reasons and conclusions, along with their sources! And a true researcher would be humble enough to acknowledge and correct a "published" mistake on the famly line.
If a conclusion doesn't match up with what you know on a researched family line, check to see which sources were used- again, family rumor doesn't take precedence over actual documentation, such as vital records, tax and records records, and censuses. Many a family "relation" or birth or marriage date may have be "doctored " for various reasons along the way. It is our duty as good researchers to keep the errors out and correct mistakes gently.
posted by Susan | 11:34 AM
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