Research Compass Description: Difference between revisions

Family history research does not need to be an uncertain trek through forests of library shelves. Guidance is available, and that guidance can be prioritized and digitally available right on your own computer. Imagine a “research consultant” right at your elbow, coaching you to take the next step, and then the next. How much easier that would be! Basically, this would be a research compass directing you to the records of highest priority, and then making it possible to log your findings at the same time. This is called a “[[Strategic research logs--england|Strategic Research Log]].” But a compass is not sufficient if it only gets you to the destination—it must also get you back home, and then guide you on several return trips.  That is where computerized linking is essential.  

<br>As researchers wade through mountains of paper, or large numbers of computer files, an organizing system becomes urgently important. All of this can be on the computer in one integrated system and be easily accessed. Using computers to implement "document linking"&nbsp;technology wisely is like following a compass over a mountain trail full of twists and turns, eventually arriving safely at our destination and then returning. This makes it possible for us to do family history research in a paperless manner, creating links between electronic copies of text and image sources, a research log, an analysis table, and our choice of records management software.  

*1. '''Training '''(learning from materials that help in research, and then filing for easy retrieval);  

*2. '''Research '''(prioritizing sources, finding, logging, documenting, analyzing, and reporting);  

*3. '''Temple '''work records; and  

*4. '''Family '''records preservation (files from a records manager, photos, audio recordings, videos, etc.).

<br>This page in a word processor was created using simple hyperlinks. Clicking on them takes&nbsp;us to other documents, such as the files of class notes, a list of forms, or copies from Internet sites. An important link goes to Research Strategy &amp; Sources,&nbsp;which contains templates of documents that can be used in specific family research projects. The first of these is the Strategic Research Log.  

<br>&nbsp;[[Image:A Sample Appears Here.png|left|800px]] <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>After entering the date of research, you can copy electronically the entry from the Family History Library Catalog for a specific source, pasting the data in the “Source” field of the table. You can&nbsp;then make your comments in the column to the right, indicating by color code (yellow) if something is especially good, or pink for something needing yet to be done.&nbsp; In the far right column&nbsp;you can&nbsp;enter the key data elements discovered and create a hyperlink from these to the electronic files that have either an image or a text extract. These files are stored in the computer under the “Documents” folder, as shown in this example of a file structure for a one-person case study.  

[[Image:Documents Folder sample.png|Image:Documents_Folder_sample.png]] <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->

<br>The next logical step after gathering all and sundry data available is to analyze it. Careful analysis is necessary to avoid making mistakes in conclusions. In order to transfer data as simply as possible, without errors,&nbsp;you can&nbsp;copy it from the Strategic Research Log to a form that is similar in design, but simpler because it is condensed to the conclusion stage—the Research Analysis Table. Here is an example of how&nbsp;to use this form, having copied the data from the Strategic Research Log:  

<br>From among sources that&nbsp;that were&nbsp;searched and logged,&nbsp;you would copy&nbsp;only the pertinent data to this form. If, for example,&nbsp;you had found two other possible candidates for&nbsp;your ancestor Jane Beck,&nbsp;you would have listed them also and then given appropriate comments to discuss the issues and possible resolution. As it was, the other sources yielded either unimportant data or none at all.  

<br>This file is now ready to be linked as an OLE file in&nbsp;your records manager.<br>

<br>After submitting names for ordinance work in the temples,&nbsp;you want to keep a log of the transaction. Obviously this goes from New FamilySearch back into&nbsp;your records manager, but it is also good to keep a record of names submitted. This can provide a means of double-checking on progress as well as sharing with other family members.  

<br>At this point, the Research Compass points to the Family records that&nbsp;are saved in folders on&nbsp;your computer. These include research logs, images scanned, text documents, research files for each person’s case study, and the files stored by&nbsp;your records manager software. The file structure is set up as indicated above. In that software, it is important to set OLE hyperlinks that connect to the files.&nbsp;  

<br>Anyone interested in developing a menu system such as&nbsp;this is&nbsp;for England research, with prioritized search strategies, could do it for another country or an area of the United States.&nbsp; The&nbsp;prioritized lists of sources for other countries are&nbsp;available at FamilySearch.org under "Research Guidance."&nbsp;&nbsp;Hopefully this will stimulate interest in digital linking and organization, for it has been very beneficial to&nbsp;those who have&nbsp;used it&nbsp;in their&nbsp;research.<br><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->

[[Category:Beginners]] [[Category:File_Organization]]