tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post5303195609677398614..comments2024-03-07T23:20:49.790-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Are you doing research?James Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-41615374414320425842011-09-01T10:19:54.960-07:002011-09-01T10:19:54.960-07:00I skipped the preliminar survey because I didn'...I skipped the preliminar survey because I didn't know about it. When I did learn about it, I mistakenly thought that since I had skipped it, it was too late to correct this. This summer I finally realized that the second statement is NOT so. If you have not checked for other research, STOP and DO SO now!. It is never to late to check on those who have done prior work.<br />So far, I have found no significant prior work. But as I approach each person on my family tree, I will check out what research has been done for that person, NO MATTER how much research I may have done for myself.<br />Then, of course, comes the stage of evaluating that research and perhaps verifying the information in it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15551274264418341175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-86635191446051571772011-08-31T04:12:44.529-07:002011-08-31T04:12:44.529-07:00I agree with Geolover. And even though I try to f...I agree with Geolover. And even though I try to find what has already been done on my family (which, on my mother's side, is not much), I want to have copies of the original documents for myself, anyway, rather than depend on someone else's word about them. Therefore, I do start accumulating them early on, as I may be able to see something in an original document that someone else may have missed.<br /><br />Some of us are possibly going to be Ph.D. candidates some day -- I'll be starting my master's degree next year, the Good Lord willing, and am open to the idea of a Ph.D. later on.Karen Packard Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641711434283636830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-10060932268904586222011-08-30T19:40:32.837-07:002011-08-30T19:40:32.837-07:00This question has had some bearing on the families...This question has had some bearing on the families I have chosen to research - I tend to focus much more on families who (as far as I have been able to tell up to this point) have not had a lot of research done on them previously.Greta Koehlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05429623811794360612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-79804076283659555132011-08-30T15:21:56.261-07:002011-08-30T15:21:56.261-07:00Thank you for more in your series on the theme of ...Thank you for more in your series on the theme of sources.<br /><br />I disagree with your thread this time, asserting that that it is not ~research~ "unless I find something I know that no one has discovered previously."<br /><br />For example I recently have worked on a mysterious cousin whose second husband's family had been the subject of two published genealogies, one self-published, the other in a respected State-wide genealogical magazine. <br /><br />The former gave practically no sources and seemed to be largely conjecture.<br /><br />The latter gave sources for sundry statements in my cousin's husband's branch. Looking at the cited documents, they did not say what the writer asserted: there was no romantic tract name, there was no statement regarding a daughter with the same name as the 2nd wife, and some assertions were made in the magazine which none of the cited items addressed at all. So had the research been "done"? Certainly not, quite aside from the additional documentation I'd found concerning the 2nd wife, of whom the published writer was not aware (having not himself cast his net to records across the river).<br /><br />Many items published, whether in paper or on websites or in trees, have honest misunderstandings of actual documents. Some have deliberate fabrications. Others are full of conclusions and surmises that may seem plausible but crumble when closely examined.<br /><br />In the case of the so-common latter type of genealogical work, the new seeker usually would be better off not wasting time to try to "confirm" what is said, but would be far more productive and efficient to begin with actual records wherever they may be.Geoloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12050268303916428230noreply@blogger.com