The Power of Documentation:
Documentation consists of materials that provide official information or evidence that serve as proof of a record, i.e., the process of classifying and annotating texts, photographs, etc.
Implementing Documentation:
- Start on solid ground.
- Document what you think you already know.
- Seek to find what is truth, documenting new information as it appears.
- It is worth a second look.
- Are these documents really about your ancestor? Re-examine all information again.
- Clues in original documents may not have been indexed in their entirety.
- There may be people mentioned who are unfamiliar to you.
- Are they family?
- Are they people who may have, or would marry into the family?
- Are they of the same origin as your ancestor?
- Pay attention to occupations and places of residency.
- Be forgiving of census takers and clergymen.
- Not every census taker or clergyman could/can spell.
- Handwriting (penmanship) is of poor quality.
- Neighbors may have provided the information.
- Initials, in place of names, may have been used as a means of identification.
- Keep a list of name variations or first letters that could be mistaken.
- Do the hard stuff.
- Approximate dates and places need to be specific to prevent folklore.
- Once sources are attached, re-examine and review the source list again.
- If a child has an incorrect source, that same source may also be attached to the father or mother.
- Detach sources if they do not apply to the father and mother.
- These steps may need to be repeated for every family member.
- Be very particular about merges.
- List the PID for each person being merged.
- Give a better reason than "Because they are the same."
- Unique identification is achieved when people match based on name, date, place and relationship.
- Pray about your family. Jeffrey R. Holland counsels, “Ask for angels to help you.”
I see some of you don't cite your sources. - I too like to live dangerously!
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