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Compiled Sources & Where to Find Them (view source)
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Like in the field of science, a post-graduate who seeks an advanced degree, or the research scientist seeking a government-sponsored grant to fund a campaign of forensic or frontier research, the proper preliminary search-protocol requires diligent and broad-spectrum searches for, and in, compiled sources to determine what’s already researched and thus far discovered in the chosen area of scientific research. | Like in the field of science, a post-graduate who seeks an advanced degree, or the research scientist seeking a government-sponsored grant to fund a campaign of forensic or frontier research, the proper preliminary search-protocol requires diligent and broad-spectrum searches for, and in, compiled sources to determine what’s already researched and thus far discovered in the chosen area of scientific research. | ||
Every family history researcher—beginner or scientific—must do the same, diligently! In seeking to locate compiled sources on your family lines, it pinpoints on a ‘map’ more precisely where you’ve ‘arrived’, in your research | Every family history researcher—beginner or scientific—must do the same, diligently! In seeking to locate compiled sources on your family lines, it pinpoints on a ‘map’ more precisely where you’ve ‘arrived’, in your research. If you don't learn what’s already “known” or a given, about your family, how will you know where you want to go if you don’t know the current point to where you’ve progressed in your family’s historical research? If your preliminary searches stop with closet, attic, or basement-shelf and box searches in family and home sources, then you are in danger of ignoring a whole world of additional compiled sources beckoning you to discover them. Do not restrict nor limit your chances to discover ancestry [as] compiled by competent researchers who have made a galant effort to research ancestral connections and genealogies in a comprehensive and thorough manner! To smugly fold the arms, cock the head back and think, ‘That’s all I need to know; now let’s start researching in original and primary record sources’—is naïve at least and, at worst it short-circuits the comprehensive research process (which includes a thorough investigation into obtaining ''all'' available compiled sources)! | ||
This heavily ignored ‘Second step’ is ''still'' a viable ''vital'' step in the research process and is to be a part of the search strategy. <u>Every</u> researcher should employ the step to search for outside (home/family) "compiled sources" by other competent researchers, who have made their "findings" public. Regrettably, it is the most overlooked part of the research process, and is routinely discarded or is not usually considered standard procedure. Millions worldwide currently seek their ancestry; most of them have made some of their findings accessible in some form or manner. Why not expend the effort to obtain these “findings”? | This heavily ignored ‘Second step’ is ''still'' a viable ''vital'' step in the research process and is to be a part of the search strategy. <u>Every</u> researcher should employ the step to search for outside (home/family) "compiled sources" by other competent researchers, who have made their "findings" public. Regrettably, it is the most overlooked part of the research process, and is routinely discarded or is not usually considered standard procedure. Millions worldwide currently seek their ancestry; most of them have made some of their findings accessible in some form or manner. Why not expend the effort to obtain these “findings”? | ||
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For those who may argue that the compilations of others aren't worth the time spent to "find" them, due to "mistakes" or fuzzy data or and conclusions, we should ask: Why would any true genealogist or passionate family history buff discard this standard of seeking and searching in compiled sources outside the home, by narrowly considering that no one else is “qualified” to research? For every thousand family history compilers who may generate fuzzy genealogical ‘data’, there are many very competent researchers and writers who have credibly researched and written professional-level family history compilations. It is especially for these latter "credible" compilations of competent researchers of which make it worthy of our time spent to seek and review and assimilate their data. | For those who may argue that the compilations of others aren't worth the time spent to "find" them, due to "mistakes" or fuzzy data or and conclusions, we should ask: Why would any true genealogist or passionate family history buff discard this standard of seeking and searching in compiled sources outside the home, by narrowly considering that no one else is “qualified” to research? For every thousand family history compilers who may generate fuzzy genealogical ‘data’, there are many very competent researchers and writers who have credibly researched and written professional-level family history compilations. It is especially for these latter "credible" compilations of competent researchers of which make it worthy of our time spent to seek and review and assimilate their data. | ||
Here’s the ‘Second step’ every | Here’s the ‘Second step’ every researcher should employ in the research process—but it is also the most overlooked part of the research process and not always considered standard procedure. | ||
==== Find and Search “Compiled Sources”: A List ==== | ==== Find and Search “Compiled Sources”: A List ==== | ||
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College of Arms (London), Lord Lyons (King of Arms in Scotland) | College of Arms (London), Lord Lyons (King of Arms in Scotland) | ||
Large to very small local public libraries often have rich local genealogical holdings | Large to very small local public libraries often have rich local genealogical holdings | ||
=== Step 3: '''Search compiled sources or indexes in the host country of settlement''' === | === Step 3: '''Search compiled sources or indexes in the host country of settlement''' === | ||