Research Trip!
Summer is a great time to travel to the old home places and distant repositories. What's your first step?
Create Your Plan
The longer your trip and farther away your destination, the more preparation you will need. Are passport, visa, special vaccinations required? Early on, write away for maps; some are available for free but arrive by mail; good local maps will help in the planning process. How about connections with researchers in the localities you will visit? Join some local societies, and start conversations with the local history groups, libraries, colleges, courthouses, archives and museums. Create a spreadsheet or table to gather names, contact information, closed dates, hours of operation. Before you leave, print your itinerary and the info sheet. Leave a copy at home with friends and family, too.
Prepare short biographies of ancestors who lived locally to leave in vertical files in libraries and archives. Ensure that each bio has your contact information; if there is a visitor log, be sure to mention that ancestor in your entry along with your contact information. Remind yourself to leave this work as part of your itinerary.
Budget
The better your plan, the more likely you are to stay within your budget and have funds for your next trip. Besides airfare or fuel, lodging, meals, local transportation, travel insurance, fees for travel documents, add parking, copying costs, research service fees, snacks, souvenirs, tips, sightseeing admission. Ask repositories or check their websites for costs. Your local library might have free parking, but larger cities may instead have parking garages. Ask! Perhaps with a "reader card" or the like you can park for free.
Book reservations and tickets well in advance if possible. Also consider sharing the trip and costs with fellow researchers, and stay with local friends or relatives in some places. You will both save money and have more fun.
Learn the Locality
When you first begin research in a new locality, it is wise to create a locality guide and learn the history of the region. The same is true when traveling to a new place, or somewhere you have not visited recently. States, counties and cities have websites; use them! So do libraries, archives, colleges and universities, genealogy and historical societies, museums and historical sites.
Are there local holidays or construction that might close the repository you want to visit? Check in advance, and confirm with the local staff at the courthouse, museum, etc. It is much easier to change your schedule on the planning calendar than when faced with a locked door! What is their policy on using your phone to photograph records? How many records can you "pull" at a time? Can you bring your laptop or tablet with you? Do you need change to make copies or can you (or must you) use a credit card? Confirm your plans the day before your visit.
Is it worthwhile to employ a local guide? This can be critical to the success for foreign trips where you do not speak the local language, and the sooner you connect with the guide, the more successful you are likely to be. Ask the most friendly local person likely to know such a guide for their advice. You might find such a person in a local genealogy or local history group. Ask!
Do Your Genealogy
This might seem obvious, but the time to do your genealogy research is NOW. Do not wait until you arrive to the old home place. You want to have all the basics in your database - all the census, births, marriages, deaths, divorces, probates, land records, and a good timeline. When you arrive, know what you are looking for. If your ancestor is buried in one of two cemeteries, where are those burial grounds? Have you consulted online records? If none are available, have you contacted the local genealogy and history folks, churches, cemetery boards, and funeral homes? Make your plan as specific as possible.
Find Expertise
If you know about where the land or house might be, consult local experts, including perhaps real estate offices or the local assessor's office to help you locate the land on a map.
If there is a record you want to copy at the local courthouse, ask some of those local experts if they can get it for you, or what they advise.
If you want to meet local relatives or researchers, have you tried local Facebook groups? Creating some bonds in advance will make meeting in person much more enjoyable for all of you. Be sure to exchange contact information in advance.
A local guide, whether a friendly relative or hired expert, can improve your chance of success. Both the Association of Professional Genealogists and Cyndi’s List have lists of people who can serve as guides or recommend them. If you plan to hire someone, make your plan in advance, be specific about the records you seek or the places you want to visit, and sign a contract in advance.
Pack in Advance
As you think your way through your plan, pack what you will need. Common items are available in stores everywhere, but your prescriptions might not be! Check in advance before bringing too many electronics; and remember that clothing can be laundered during the trip. The lighter your luggage, the less the burden. Remember to notify your bank that you will be traveling, and consult your cell phone provider about service at your destination.
Enjoy the Trip!
Schedule time to have fun, and remember to take LOTS of photos! It's a good practice to snap a picture of each place you visit so you remember, and give yourself time to label photos each evening before you forget. Make notes on your itinerary about what you found and what you could not and any hints that the staff gave you about next steps. Remember to ask for advice! If you can, begin writing up research notes. If not, at least post some updates to social media, your blog (or this one!)
Thanks to those who have contributed stories recently. Keep them coming! Send to m.strickland@skcgs.org
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| Valorie Zimmerman |
Excellent article and great advice!
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