Someone who had just began researching her family history once asked a question on a genealogy Facebook group, “what one habit do you wish you had developed from the beginning that would have saved you time as you researched?” While many good answers were given about tracking sources, it took a long time for one simple fact, based on an old Chinese proverb, to be mentioned, “The palest ink is stronger than the sharpest memory.” Very few beginning and mid-range genealogists use a research log to track what they searched, where they searched, and what was successful. So, what can YOU gain by using even the palest ink over your sharpest memory?
The Genealogy Squirrel Perhaps you’ve been here before . . . you are looking for the birth-date of an ancestor; let’s say a great-grandfather. It’s 8:00 PM and you’ve set aside two hours for research. As you begin researching you find a record, perhaps a census, listing a name you have never seen before. This new name is intriguing, so you start looking into this name. Four hours later you realize the following:
This trap often happens for one of two reasons; first, after finding this new information there is a fear of forgetting about it. A fear ones memory is not as sharp as one thinks it is. Second, in a battle of curiosity versus task at hand, curiosity usually wins. However, neither of these has to be true, and we can keep the squirrel from gaining our attention. With a research log, be it a simple beginners log downloaded from a site like FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Research_Logs)[1], or a more complex log created by a professional researcher, the new information can be:
The Genealogist’s Deja vu Perhaps rather than being squirreled you find yourself suffering from Deja vu with certain records, the feeling you have seen a record before, perhaps many times before? This is another common issue with research. Once again, let’s look at that ever elusive great-grandfather and his mysterious birth-date. You find a record you suspect might have the information you want, and you spend twenty minutes looking at the record. Suddenly, you realize you have seen this record before. Perhaps this is the third time you have looked at this record, only to come away empty-handed each time. You have now spent a total of an hour looking at a document that should have only taken twenty minutes. Again, a research log will save you this time. When used properly, a research log records not only the positive findings but the negative findings as well. With the positive and negative findings recorded, you can start every research session reviewing what you have viewed before. Now you can see what records worked and what records did not. What Should I Record While it is important to record what document you viewed and what you found, far more than this can, and should, be recorded. In addition to recording what documents you have viewed, you can record the following:
While at first using a research log appears time consuming, and it seems easier to simply go about your research at will, you can save a great deal of time down the road by using the research log. It places you in control of the records, rather than the records in controlling of you. A research log can remove the fear of forgetting to look into that person you just found living with your ancestor in a census, and allow you to set time aside in the future to look for that person while you keep on the task at hand. Most importantly, a research log lets you see, at a glance, items about your ancestor you might have otherwise missed, such as name variations used or migration patterns. So, follow the wisdom of an old Chinese proverb and use even the palest of ink to record what your sharpest memory might forget. [1] FamilySearch, Research Logs, FamilySearch.org, online Wiki, accessed 28 January 2019, https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Research_Logs
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Larry De Pew
Is a professional genealogist with an Associates Degree in Applied Science n Family History Research from Brigham Young University-Idaho. His areas of focus are military and great plains research. Archives
October 2023
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