YOU DO USE A RESEARCH PLAN, DON’T YOU?
A research plan can help you break
through brick walls and keep you from chasing the proverbial BSO (Bright
Shiny Object) down a rabbit hole. That is what happens when
you suddenly realize it is 1:30 am and you have not found
the obituary that you sat down to look for at 7:00 pm.
A research plan helps you organize
your research. It may show you what records are most likely to answer your
research question so you can search those first. If you need to travel to
a repository, you can have a list of sources to be searched and their call
numbers or other identifying information. You may even be able to email the
repository before your visit and have your research sources pulled and ready
for you. I emailed the University of Kentucky Special Collections Library a
week or so before I planned to be there and when I signed in, the items I
needed were waiting for me on a cart. Additionally, I learned that I would not
have been able to just walk in, an appointment was required. It would have been
a terrible waste of time and money to travel all the way from Kent to
Lexington, Kentucky and not be able to visit the library.
A plan helps you be more efficient
with your research time. If you have only an hour to work on your project, you
can immediately tackle the next task on your list, without stopping to think
about what to do next.
A Research Plan starts with a
research question. Those of you with background in sales or management may be
familiar with SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic, and Timebound. These can be applied to a genealogical
research question as well. Additionally, the answers to genealogical research
questions tend to be who, what, where or when. For example, who
were the parents of Almira Tyler born 11 August 1814 in Maine, married Richard
Howell 11 Oct 1836, in Meigs County, Ohio and died 28 January 1880, in
Westboro, Atchison County, Missouri? The question is specific, who were her
parents, measurable, you either answer the question or you do not, in this case
probably achievable because many records are available in the New England
states, and realistic. Timebound will depend upon whether you set a deadline
for completing the research.
It is helpful to begin constructing a
timeline for your ancestor if you are researching an individual. That will
spotlight gaps that need to be filled.
What records are available for births
in Maine in the early nineteenth century? Search your home library first. The
Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy[i]
Chapter 13, Vital Records includes a chart listing internet resources for
Vital Records for every state. FamilySearch.org
has an indexed database of Maine birth records for 1621―1922 so you would add this to your list of sources to be
searched. The Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research[ii]
is also handy in my home library. As you begin working through your source
list, it may lead you to other sources. Add them to your source list right
then. You think you will remember, but you will not.
Consider online sources. The
FamilySearch Wiki tells me in its opening statement that Maine did not become a
State until 1820. Oh, perhaps I should be looking in Massachusetts. When I
click on Birth Records, I am presented with a link to Maine Vital Records,
1670-1921, https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1803978.
If you have access to Ancestry.com,
search their databases for Maine Birth Records in the 1810s. That immediately brings up the same database
listed on FamilySearch.org so I do not add it to my source list. However, there are others that might be of
interest.
Which records might hold the
answer? Identify resources available for
the time and place you are researching. Town records were kept in Maine from
the early 1700’s. Some church records
are also available, but most of them are from the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America and I have no evidence that Almira was ever affiliated with any church. The U.S. Census is one of the first
places we think of, but until 1850, only the head of household was listed and
by that time Almira was married and in her husband’s household.
I have no idea where in Maine
Almira was born, so it would take a lot of time to search through all the town
records available.
Now, I am going to suggest something
which just a short time ago I would have considered unthinkable. Do not ignore
online trees. You may find a clue there
that you would have found nowhere else.
If the fact is not sourced, contact the tree owner and ask them their
source. Perhaps they just did not know
that they should have included sources for their facts. I find Almira in two
online trees. Both name her father as
Dean Tyler. Ah Ha! Neither tree has sourced the fact. I contacted both tree owners. One responded quickly with the title of the
Genealogy that was her source. That book
is quickly added to my Source List. The other tree owner never responded.
I have an image of Almira’s Marriage
Record. It does not list her parents. The marriage was performed by a Justice
of the Peace, which does not point to any religious affiliation.
What about a Death Record that might
list her parents? A quick check of the
FamilySearch Wiki reveals that Missouri did not begin keeping death records
until 1883.
Was there an obituary or death notice
published for Almira? A search of U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690 – Present is
negative for any newspaper published in northwestern Missouri or southwestern
Iowa for the period. Where else might I look? One of my favorites is the old
USGenWeb family of sites. I add the Missouri site to my list. (Yes, I did find
an unsourced newspaper clipping there.)
I now have a list of five sources to
be searched. As I visit each one, I will
find other sources to add to my list. BE
SURE to keep a log of each source you search and what you found so that you
will not waste time looking at that
source in the future. I am still trying out various formats, but am leaning
toward combining my timeline, research plan and research log in one
spreadsheet.
Sources To
Be Searched
FamilySearch.org, Maine Vital
Records, 1670―1921,
Brigham, Willard I. Tyler, The
Descendants of Job Tyler, of Andover, Massachusetts, 1619 – 1700, Cornelius
B. Tyler of Plainfield, N.J. and Rollin U. Tyler of Tylerville, CT, 1912.
FamilySearch.org, Missouri Vital
Records, familysearch.org/wiki/en/Missouri_Vital_Records
A recently released Chrome extension
shows promise in automating the research plan and maintaining the research log.
Goldie May helps you select a research question, suggests sources to search,
and keeps a log of your activity.
Currently, it only works with FamilySearch, and requires that you have a
FamilySearch account and a tree on FamilySearch. I find its most serious limitation is that it
does not automatically enter a source citation.
You must enter it manually in a notes field. The developer is considering adding that
capability in a future release. Go to GoldieMay.com, install the app from the
Chrome store, and give it a try.
[i]
Greenwood, Val, The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, Baltimore,
Genealogical Publishing Company, 2107.
[ii]
Leclerc, Michael J., editor, Genealogist’s Handbook for New England Research,
Boston, New England Historic
Genealogical Society, 2012.
Happy Hunting!
Barbara
Mattoon
Tags:
Research Plan, Research Log, FamilySearch Wiki, Goldie May, US GenWeb
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