Steps to Success in Genealogical Research Step Five - International Institute

The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course Methodology - Part 1: Getting Started, Methodology - Part 2: Organizing and Skillbuilding], Methodology - Part 3: More Strategies], Methodology - Part 4: Effective Searching and Recording, Methodology - Part 5: How To Prove It, and Methodology - Part 6: Professional Preparation and Practice  by Louise St Denis, Brenda Dougall Merriman and Dr. Penelope Christensen. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($).

Steps To Success

Step 5: Documentation

Documentation is the provision of adequate evidence; this is usually on paper, but sometimes by other means. There are two parts to this activity:

1. Description of the source.
2. Transcription of relevant items, and photocopying/digital images of the particular pages wherever possible.
   

Recording and Photocopying the Relevant Items

You need to record the particular item of interest. A generation ago this meant only a careful transcript of the relevant entry. In order to verify the research the reader was then expected to track down the source and do his own recording to verify the accuracy of the first transcript.

The advent and widespread availability of digital imaging has revolutionized our standards. We now expect to keep a photocopy or digital image of each relevant written item, making the whole process much simpler for those coming after us, and giving us instant access to the original for that important ‘second look’ at any time.

How often it happens that after finding further information we need to go back and scrutinize that document again for nuances overlooked the first time around. Our human fallibility in writing clearly and transcribing accurately can now be overcome.

Similarly, the camera provided the means to accurately capture a record of a document, an artifact, person or place which earlier had to be drawn or painted. In artistic media, however, it is possible to accentuate or minimize certain attributes of the original, whereas the camera/copier captures people, places, gravestones, writings, etc. as they really are.

Take a copy of each document having important information on an ancestor. Filing these in chronological order in the ancestor’s folder or binder section will illustrate his life story. When making a copy ensure that you include page identifiers on the page in the frame of the finished copy so that you have a complete record.

This means:

• The heading for the page that includes the place, date and type of record. If the page has no heading then take the trouble to copy the front page of the document as well. Obtain a copy of the title page and copyright page of any book which you use.
  

• Any column headings, page or reference numbers.
  

• The complete entry, even if it means doing two copies to get it all in.
  

• Any other identifiers such as piece numbers at the side of census pages, or handwritten folio numbers next to entries.
  

Ensuring that you have every possible morsel of information will also enable you to review the material later and pick up clues that perhaps were not apparent at the first reading.

Adjust the size of the copy to leave a small white margin on one side. Use it to note the exact source and page number on the front of each copy, so it will be visible and will copy with the item, thus saving you work. Do this immediately after making it. Experience shows that it is easy to arrive home with many copies, and have to spend hours figuring out which was from which microfilm or book.

One day you will write a book or an article, and if it is for publication, or if it is to be accepted by any other researcher, it should be as accurate as you can make it. It should also be properly documented, that is your sources should be quoted for each fact stated and a copy of each important item should be kept. Some of these copies can be added as interesting illustrations for your narrative.

Recording from someone else’s transcript of an original never substitutes for the real thing. It is merely a finding aid. Always consult the original after finding an item on a transcript.

What Can You Photocopy?

Archivists are rightly concerned about preservation of written sources and thus do not permit photocopying of fragile books and documents. Filming of the original records proceeds and is a boon to the serious researcher as most archives and libraries also have a microform printer. These often require purchasing a pay-card, or work on a system of ‘pay as you leave the library’, and prints are usually inexpensive, particularly when compared with revisiting the source material.

Usually your time on a computer or reader-printer is limited, because of demand. In fact, you may have to put your name on a sign-up sheet to schedule the printouts you want to make. So it is doubly important that while you wind your way through microfilm, you record exactly where you want a copy made. When your scheduled time arrives you may have several films or fiches to insert and wind to (or locate) the right spot. As with regular copy machines, you may have options about paper size and placement of the page or document. Sometimes you can have the lens changed to a larger size to accommodate small print or 16mm film that needs enlarging for legibility.

Do ensure that you follow the copyright laws, usually posted on or near the copy machine in libraries and archives. Laws vary—in Canada an ‘insubstantial part’ (5-10%) of a published work, or small parts of an unpublished document such as a parish register, may be photocopied for personal research. The whole issue is discussed in detail in the International Institute of Genealogical Studies course Genealogy and Copyright Guidelines by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.

FS Library Request for Photocopies

Mention should be made of another economical method for acquiring copies from FS Library microfilms. Millions of worldwide original records are now available from the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can locate the microfilm and view it at your local FamilySearch Center (there are over 4,000 of them, over 90 in UK). While there you may copy relevant portions of your microfilm.

An even cheaper method exists where you can specify both the film number and the page (this might be by page number, alphabetical or date sequence.) See the FamilySearch Wiki article - Lookup Services to request a copy of a book or film not available to you in your area.

This method can be used for up to eight entries in any one section of the form for a fee of $2 U.S. each, with a minimum cost of $4 U.S. Up to eight pages will be sent with each request, limited to one every 2 weeks. If there are more pages a note will accompany the material sent to you indicating how many more there are. Your form is returned to you, and any overpayment is given as a credit voucher. For some folk it is cheaper to send a large sum, then use the resulting credit vouchers as they need them.

Instructions for mailing and payment are on the front of the form. Nowadays you only need fill out your name, address and phone number. Patrons anywhere in the world can send directly to the FS Library in Salt Lake City, and British patrons find it more efficient this way. VISA and MasterCard are accepted.

As examples of the main original sources:

• Many Irish and Scottish Civil Registrations can be obtained economically this way (see below).
  

• British Census Returns. When you have the piece and folio number from an index you can look up the film number on the FamilySearch Catalog and get a copy of the specific page without having to locate the film in or travel to London! All for $2 each (see below).
  

• Parish Registers. This method works when you can specify the film number, and either the page number or the exact date when the item is in date order. It will not work for pre-1812 films unless you have the page number as items can be in a crazy order (see below).
  

• English and Welsh Wills from 1858 to 1925 are available by this method. You need to specify the name, date and court of probate, which are obtainable from the indexes (also on microfilm to 1956, and on fiches in several centres). Most wills are 1-3 pages so $2 U.S.(about £1.20) per page is a lot better than £5 per will charged by the regular source! (see below).
  

• The FS Library has a huge variety of microfilmed land records for North America.
  

This method of access to the vast holdings of the FS Library is particularly appreciated by those who are patrons of small FamilySearch Centers (FSC). The larger Centers have reader-scanners and long runs of index films. For the latter, first get copies of index pages, then use these to decide which films to locate using this method, or get from other sources if the originals have not been microfilmed.

It is wonderful for those who cannot get to a FSC at all but who do have access to the FamilySearch website where they can look up film, fiche and book numbers. The Request for Photocopies form is great for accessing FS Library material for which the FamilySearch Catalog indicates No circulation to FSCs. However, it obviously does not apply where there is the notation No photocopying.

Census Records, Books, Microfilm or Microfiche Form

The examples given on the form are supplemented here with items from other countries.

How to Fill Out Photocopy Requests for Census for North America

Film #	Year	State or Province	County	Town, etc.	Enum Dist.	Line	Page	Name of Individual
1240503	1900	Kansas	Wilson	Neodesha	171	7	14	MIKESELL, David

When requesting English or Welsh census entries change the headings as follows:

Film #	Year	Country	County	Town	Piece #	Book #	Folio #	Name of Individual
0306856	1841	England	Kent	Nettlestead	461	1	9v	DURTNALL
0823346	1871	England	Surrey	Wandsworth	712	-----	65	BRICKETT

When requesting Scottish census entries change the headings as follows:

Film #	Year	Country	County	Town	Dist. #	Enum Dist.	Page	Name of Individual
0220209	1891	Scotland	Ayre	Ballantrae	579	1	2	DASHWOOD
0220395	1891	Scotland	Midlothian	Edinburgh St. Giles	685/4	88	4	BRICKETT

How to Fill Out Photocopy Requests for Books

This method is cheaper than getting in the film of a book and faster and cheaper than using the Request to Microfilm a Book form for one that is not in microform.

FS Library Call Number	Title	Author	Individual or Family Name	Page Numbers
994.H23w	Women in Australia	Kay Daniels	SMITH	Page 6 and Index
941.13/W1.x22m	1851 Census Index. Parish of Wick, Caithness, Scotland	E. More	THOM	Index for all THOM
941.24/A1.v3a	MIs in Alvah Old Churchyard, Banff, Scotland	Monica G. Anton	MacDOUGALL	Index for all MacDOUGALL and McDOUGALL

Then use these indexes to order the page numbers that refer to your names on a further Request for Photocopies form.

General Microfilm and Microfiche

How to Fill out Photocopy Requests for Civil Registration (Vital Statistics)

Note: When requesting a copy of a certificate (registration) please ensure that you give the certificate film number, NOT the index film number, plus the identifying page, etc. from the index.

Film #	Item #	Name of Individual	Title, parents/ spouse, etc.	Event Type	Date	Place	Parish and volume #	Reg. or page #
0101161		John BRENNAN	Ireland Civil Registration Birth Thomas BRENNAN /Mary	B	24 Jan 1868	Cork, Cork, Ireland		581
0103269		Mary Elizabeth G. DASHWOOD	Civil Registration Index to Births	B	1865	Scotland		alpha
0330171		Mary Elizabeth G. DASHWOOD	Civil Registration Scotland Birth	B	1865	Fyvie, Aberdeens District	197	89
2051145		Alice Rebecca JONES	Vital Stats BC, Canada	D	2 Jun 1978	Quesnel, British Columbia		1978-09-009749

How to Fill Out Photocopy Requests for Parish Registers

Film #	Item #	Name of Individual	Title, parents/ spouse, etc.	Event Type	Date	Place	Parish and volume	Reg. or page #
1067782		Katharin HENDERSON	James HENDERSON/ Janet MILLER	M	24 Aug 1719	OPR Liberton, Midlothian, Scotland	693	Frame 510
1041220		Charles ROGERS	Sarah TONGE	M	4 Mar 1810	St. Maurice, Winchester, Hants, England		By date

Do not try to order copies from handwritten parish registers unless you have a film item number and a clear page specification.

How to Fill Out Photocopy Requests for Probates

Note: The wills are typically more than one page so submit fewer per form.

Film #	Item #	Name of Individual	Title, parents/ spouse, etc.	Event Type	Date	Place	Parish and volume #	Reg. or page #
0251207		CHEWINGS	Probate index entries		1869	England		All CHEWINGS
0251216		CHEWINGS	Probate index entries		1870	England		All CHEWINGS
0251223		CHEWINGS	Probate index entries		1871	England		All CHEWINGS
1545056		Isaac CHEWINGS	Probate – Will		12 Dec 1871	Taunton, England (Probate Court)		-- (no folio number listed at side in index)
1368216	2	Janet THOM nee MIDDLETON	Index to Inventories of Personal Estates of Defuncts		1860-1870	Aberdeen Commissariot		alpha
0990455		Andrew THOM	Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories…		1902, 1903, and 1904	Scotland (Modern wills)		All pages with Andrew THOM
0231220		Christian THOM	Commissariot of Moray Testament Registers 1815-1827		1820s	Moray Commissariot		Index pages for THOM
0231220		Christian THOM	Commissariot of Moray Testament Registers 1815-1827		1822	She is of Leuchars, Fife, Scotland		366 to 369

How to Fill Out Photocopy Requests from Huge Fiche Sets Up to 8 pages will be sent with each request. If there are more a note will accompany the material sent to you indicating how many more there are.

Fiche #	Name of Individual	Title, parents/ spouse, etc.	Date	Place	Page, etc.
6086831 (1116)	DARTNELL	England 1881 Census Surname Index	1881	England	All pages with DARTNELL

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online courses Methodology - Part 1: Getting Started, Methodology - Part 2: Organizing and Skillbuilding], Methodology - Part 3: More Strategies], Methodology - Part 4: Effective Searching and Recording, Methodology - Part 5: How To Prove It, and Methodology - Part 6: Professional Preparation and Practice offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about these courses or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at wiki@genealogicalstudies.com

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.

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