The New Year is always a great time for making a fresh start in areas of our lives that may have become mundane or stagnant. One of the greatest challenges I have in my genealogy hobby is called processing, as opposed to researching.
I love "the hunt" - looking for new information about family members I know about, or finding new relatives I never knew about! But, searching for NEW information is not the whole picture! When I find something new, I need to be sure to PROCESS the information:
Here is an example:
Back in 1999, I received a packet of information from a fellow researcher, about 3 families from McNairy County, Tennessee who were "related by marriage". At the time, I was not able to connect any of the people in his documents to my family - even though they had surnames I recognized - so I left all of the papers in the original envelope and put them away for future study. Yesterday, I found that envelope (again) and looked over the information. After reading through it, I discovered that the information does relate to my family in several ways!
I love "the hunt" - looking for new information about family members I know about, or finding new relatives I never knew about! But, searching for NEW information is not the whole picture! When I find something new, I need to be sure to PROCESS the information:
- study the information and be sure it does relate to a particular person I am researching
- record the information
- record the source (so I can find it again)
- make a digital copy of the original source, photos, correspondence, notes, etc.
- connect the information to the person I am researching.
- Then, get rid of any paper that is connected with that item (notes, correspondence, etc), unless it is an original document or photo. If it is an ORIGINAL, then it needs to be correctly archived.
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| This was included in the packet discussed below - and is really thought provoking! |
Back in 1999, I received a packet of information from a fellow researcher, about 3 families from McNairy County, Tennessee who were "related by marriage". At the time, I was not able to connect any of the people in his documents to my family - even though they had surnames I recognized - so I left all of the papers in the original envelope and put them away for future study. Yesterday, I found that envelope (again) and looked over the information. After reading through it, I discovered that the information does relate to my family in several ways!
So, I began to PROCESS the information:
- First, I scanned the pages that would fit on my scanner and filed them under the County name, since it relates to multiple families.
- Find a place that can scan the larger documents and get them scanned so I can have digital copies to file and share.
- Meticulously go through the documents and make sure I have all of the information in my FamilyTreeMaker database, with the source of the information noted! This is a HUGE step and will likely take several days to accomplish!
- Note any discrepancies with previous information and write a rationale for the error, if known.
- Note any questions that this new information raises for future research, and add that to my Research "To Do" List.
- Digitally attach the documents to the file of the person in the FTM database and family file system.
- Forward that NEW information to any other researchers who may not have it and might need it.
So, then and only then, can I say that information is appropriately "Processed" and I can Recycle the paper! (My wife loves the part where I get rid of paper!)
I also did some checking and found an obituary for the person who had sent me the information. So, I will not be able to reconnect with him and share that I did finally find a connection. In the packet, here were also a couple of letters that were from other cousins to him. I checked and found out both of these cousins seem to be still alive. I am thinking about contacting them and sharing our connection!
So, my "Fresh Start" for 2020 is to "Process" any NEW information I receive/find IMMEDIATELY, so I can have the full benefit of the research/information and be ready to "hunt" some more!
'Til Next Time!
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