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| Simple Tips To Help Avoid Creating the Wrong Family Tree |
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| Written by Shelly B. | |
| Monday, 09 October 2006 | |
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The most difficult part of completing a family tree is incorrect information. Imagine spending hours, even days researching on the Internet only to find that you have received incorrect information or that it is for another family with the same or similar name. This problem is not only frustrating but also a depressing waste of time and energy. While there is no way to completely avoid this situation, there are a few simple tips you can follow to help keep you on the right track as you research your family's heritage. First of all, make a list of all of the sources you have used to gather your information. As you obtain new information, add to your list where it came from. If the source is a book, write down the title, author's name, page numbers, and any other pertinent information about the book you have in case you need to use that book again. If the source is a relative or friend of the family, write down the persons name, date you spoke, and any other information you feel is relevant. The more information you gather the more detailed and complete your family tree will be.The next thing to keep in mind is organization. Organization is essential if you do not want to cause yourself confusion and perhaps even a step onto the wrong path of information. Create a filing system that will make it easy for you to use whether you are looking through your printed documents or those that you have saved on your computer. Once you have organized your information you will have everything at your fingertips if you need to look something up. Always double (or even triple) check your information. Do not assume that just because your aunt remembers it that way, that it happened that way. She may have said that your grandmother was married when she was 22, and give you a date of August 12, 1932, but your grandmother's birth certificate says her birth year was in 1927, which would have meant your grandmother was 5 in 1932, not 22 and your aunt did not give you a correct date of your grandmother's marriage. This is the same principle for all dates and events. You will end up on the wrong path less often by making sure that all information you use is factually correct. Be wary of genealogy scams. Do not fall for the mail order brochure that promises to provide you with all of the information that is available about the family you are inquiring about. Most of these offers are scams and use information that is provided in telephone listings or other public listings not necessarily deemed to be reliable or factual. Even though it is a time consuming process, doing your own research will help ensure you are using true and correct information. As you document your research be sure you are specific with dates and names. The format for the date varies in other countries, be careful that you have the correct month, day, and year listed. Names can also be tricky, make sure you have them written correctly, do not use nick names, question which are given names and which are surnames. Another sticky issue can be relations between family members. Many years ago it was common to call your stepson a son-in-law, and any other family member that was not immediate was a cousin irregardless of the actual relation. As you construct your family tree, take time to review the information a make sure the conclusions are correct. The farther back into your family you go the harder it will be to find factual information and you may have to rely on your family members memories to fill in the gaps. Reviewing as you go along could save you time later on if you find anything conflicting. Lastly, consider joining a genealogy society. Most genealogy websites have groups you can join to assist you with your research. More often than not they will have resources available that you might not be able to obtain on your own. You can post the surnames for those whom you are requesting information on and others can contribute any information they may have from their own personal resource systems. It's a way for a group of people all interested in the same thing to assist each other by pooling all of their available resources. Yes genealogy can be frustrating at times, but it can also be fun and very rewarding. Using the above tips to guide you will help keep you on the right track to the construction of your family tree complete with the most accurate information available to you. |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 January 2007 ) |
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