Timelines: The Key to Source Analysis

-
A timeline gets you where you want to go!


We've discussed timelines many times here on the blog. Here is one 2-year-old example: The Timeline: Your Guide Through the Twists and Turns of Research. In the latest SKCGS Study Group, working our way through "Research Like A Pro," by Diana Elder, AG with Nicole Dyer. The second chapter is all about how to use a timeline to analyze sources and likely evidence found in those sources.  

But how exactly do you create one? And is one way better than another? Elder advocates for a spreadsheet or relational database. While most of us have not yet tried Airtable, the relational database she uses now, I tried creating the spreadsheet from the information I had been collecting in a timeline using Google Sheets. While it was useful as a place to collect the direct links to record images and a good prompt to create source citations, I didn't find it useful to reason out what was happening behind the records. 

Here is a snippet of that spreadsheet analyzing evidence about William McBee's date and place of birth.



So why is this not entirely useful to me?

Writing is a way to reason through a puzzle, in my experience. This is one reason I love Google Sheets as a place to carry through an entire project, from creating research questions, distilling those into a research objective, conducting a survey of known facts and records, finding the gaps, noting the fruitless record searches right along with record not yet consulted, writing as I research. I love how easy it is to put in tables, insert images, create footnotes for source citations (Control Alt F) and many other features, including the option share the document, collaborate, and to import and export to other forms, such as Microsoft Word.

Here's a sample of that for the same person, William McBee, in a Google Doc:


To be clear, I love spreadsheets for a lot of things. In fact, the table above came directly from a Google Sheet I created of the 1850 Greene County, Illinois census from the Ancestry index, corrected. That was a lot of work, and was well worth it because now it is quick and easy to find others in that census. Who came with the McBees from Tennessee? Where were the people whom William's siblings married? Answers in seconds. And I easily shared it with other McBee researchers.

The above table was just pasted in directly from that Google Sheet! So I'm not arguing against spreadsheets.

I hope every reader here tries timelines in spreadsheets. Does that work for you? Does it help you analyze what you have found, pinpoint what you need to search out next? Does it help you judge the value of competing sources? Does it help you extract the evidence and create a case which accomplishes your objective? 

If instead you want a timeline in text, interspersed with your discoveries, connections and reasoning, use that. Or try out Airtable - I'm thinking of trying it for a research log and linked fan club database. 

Or try Google Slides, which is similar to PowerPoint but has some pre-made diagrams that can be used for timelines, grids, family trees and progress reports. You will find Slides in your Google Drive right with Sheets and Docs. Like those other products, Slides can be shared and worked on collaboratively.


Courtesy MaryLynn Strickland


A note about Google Sheets, Slides and Documents -- this is not an ad for them, but that's what I use. If you are more comfortable using Word, PowerPoint and Excel, or the Mac equivalent, use them. The point is to focus your research and keep track (and writing) as you go!


Valorie Zimmerman


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

Shedding Your Genealogy "Stuff"

-
Image
AI: Bing Image Creator Generated Changing realities force many of us to consider the future of our genealogical collections. Whether a change in health, a new location or even just downsizing, it can be useful to evaluate what we have now, with an eye to the future. What we can pass along? Plan Ahead First: if you have online trees, create a plan to grant access to interested fellow researchers, even distant cousins. Depending on the website, you may need to add a codicil to your will, or just tell the site whom your successor will be.  Ancestry.com: there are two considerations: your DNA test and your tree(s). It is wise to share your DNA results with a cousin or other relative; no need to wait. Or you can  Assign a Manager .  For overall accounts and trees, there is  Ancestry® Family Plan Memberships .  FamilySearch help file:  How to Connect to a Family Member’s Tree .  B ecause it is a shared tree, a person cannot pass along their FamilySearch account. Ensure that your interested
Read more