Lesson 3: Finding and evaluating records

Lesson 3: Finding and evaluating records

Report:

Share with the group your successes and challenges in interviewing an ancestor and uploading photos and stories on Family Search.

1. Make goals

Read:

In the first lesson you identified some of your family history goals and started a plan to complete them. This exercise can also be used on a smaller scale to help with your family history research.

Research is the collecting of information on a particular subject (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/research), so the goal of family history research is to collect information about specific people in your family.

Activity:

Choose an ancestor on your tree and review the information available about that person. What information is missing? Are there records attached to that person that prove that the information is correct? Write down some questions about this person based on the missing information.

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Read:

Research questions, like those you wrote in the activity, are a good way to plan your family history research. You may find it useful to write down your research questions and the answers if you can find them so that you can stay organized when you are searching for information.

If you need to seek help from a family history consultant or expert, it is helpful for the consultant to know what information you want to find. Coming prepared with research questions will help you make the most of your time with the consultant.

2. Find family history information

Read:

The Family Search wiki is a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of family history information. It is a great place to learn what kinds of records are available for your ancestors and where to find them.

Activity:

On your smartphone, tablet, or computer go to https://familysearch.org/wiki. Look up a country or place where you think your ancestors lived and find out what types of records are available for that country.

Discuss:

Where do you think you should search for family history information? Are there online resources available for your ancestors?

3. Edit your tree

Activity:

Using your smartphone, tablet, or computer find and attach a record to someone in your tree on Family Search.

Read:

Evaluating and making conclusions based on the records is just as important as finding them. Look at them critically. Ask yourself questions about the records you find. Sometimes you will find seemingly or actually conflicting records and you will have to decide how to reconcile the information. As you become more experienced, this aspect of genealogy will get easier. Ask for advice from a consultant or expert when necessary.

Activity:

Below is an example of a census record from 1871 in Abertillery, Monmouthshire, Wales. As a group discuss what conclusions you can draw about the Barnes family based on this record? For example, ages, occupation, family dynamics, etc. How could you verify this information?

Commit:

Choose an ancestor who was born in the 1800s and focus your research on that person this week. Find as many records for that person and their family as you can. You can use the ancestor snapshot sheet below as a research journal or create your own.

Homework:

Find as many records as you can for one of your ancestors and their family. Use the ancestor snapshot sheet or a research journal to keep track of what you find.