Planning for Success
Use a research planner to log the places and sources of your research. It will help you stay focused and organized and it records the following:
-
When the record was searched
Research Planner - What was found, and what was not found
- Who or what was being searched
- The place the record was found, and its call number
- Where copies you made of the record are filed
- Location of source
- Description of source
- Date source searched
- Time: Person's age or date of event
- Comment or ID number of family
- Index/File
- Notes relevant to the results
- Things to be searched for in the future
Your planner may have notes attached to indicate the areas that you may wish to search. Maybe you’re missing a parent set. You may note this on the planner and give some ideas where to search for the data.
Example:
- Find John's parents, possibly in Devon, England
- Try Plymouth, Devon , England 1891 Census
- Check Canadian 1901 Census for John in Halifax.
Everyone is different, what do you want from your research?
Determine the following and incorporate it into your planner:
- Limited - Gather data on so many generations only
- Overall - Do family tree research on my family
- General - Obtain facts on my ancestors
- Specific - History and biography of individuals
- Other
Be vigilant, the rewards will pay off as you become more
adept at using your planner.
Previous Topic
Research Principles and Techniques Next Topic
Using Computers in Genealogy
