Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every now and then on a small topic that pops into my head. This one is an important reminder.
Read everything with a critical eye
When you’re evaluating evidence, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that what you’re reading may not be right. If it’s a fact that another researcher has provided, be sure to check for a source citation and then look at the actual source. When looking at a document, consider the informant and how likely the document is to be accurate. Information on an ancestor’s birth, for example, is more likely to be accurate if it came from a birth certificate than from a death certificate, since it’s closer in time to the event. The accuracy of a census record depends on the knowledge of the person who the gave the information to the enumerator, as well as the enumerator’s listening (and handwriting) skills, among other factors.
If you find conflicting evidence, it’s easy assume that the information you found first was correct and that the subsequent information is inaccurate. But that might not be the case. Try to be critical about all the information you come across in your research.
Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash
That is possibly the most important tip is FH research
Thanks for commenting, John!
This quarter’s NGS Magazine has a fine article by Diana Elder, “Next Steps for Breaking Down a Brick Wall.” Among the valuable techniques that she explains, she also shows a side-by-side, person-by-person comparison of the people named in a will and the ones who were named in a published abstract of that will. Big differences! I have seen similar omissions of names and relationships in a court’s will book when compared to the signed will from a probate packet. So your advice to read every word of the earliest recording of a name, date, place, or document is right on target.
That’s fascinating, Marian. Thanks for sharing!