Edit existing Rating: Determining If a Source is Relevant

After finding a potential source, figure out if it is actually about your ancestor. If it is relevant you can add to what you know about that ancestor. This often provides clues for further research. It will certainly help better identify the ancestor. If a source is not relevant, tell why in order to help other researchers. '''Compare old and new information.''' Correlate all information about the ancestor and compare it with information from the new source. '''Look for unique [[Identify What You Know#Types_of_Genealogical_Information|identifier]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]].''' Look for at least '''two or three unique data''' or identifiers shared by both the new source, and what you already know. '''Relatives as identifiers.''' The [[Research a Family in Community Context|relatives and friends in close proximity]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]] are among the most unique and best identifiers. For example, if a person named ''Fox'' married someone named ''Pace'', those two surnames appearing together in records as married would usually be so unique you could be confident you had identified the same couple. Likewise, parents, siblings, children, and sometimes neighbors appearing together can be convincing evidence a new source is about the correct ancestor. '''Other identifiers. '''Unique similar names, or a group of names in close proximity, unique similar dates, unique similar places, and unique similar sources can all be used as identifiers to help judge whether a new found source is likely to be about a given ancestor. '''Specific data are best.''' The more specific and exact the data are, the better. '''Vague or incomplete data.''' Be especially cautious when the only matching information is vague or incomplete. A common name, or a year-only date, or a state-only (and sometimes county-only) identifier may not be unique enough. '''Compare the number of matching with mismatching identifiers.''' The more unique identifiers that match, and the fewer that mismatch, the more sure you can be a new source is relevant. '''Does it fit the pattern?''' Also, analyze whether events in the new source fit the pattern of your ancestor. Is it likely that the event described could have happened as described to your ancestor? '''When in doubt''', tentatively guess a new source is '''''not''''' relevant (or hold it in abeyance). '''Minor discrepancies''' do not prevent a match, and are to be expected. But it is a genealogist's responsibility to acknowledge and explain [[Contradictions and discrepancies|discrepancies and contradictory evidence]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]]. '''Preliminary follow up.''' Once you decide to accept a new source a relevant or not, explain your decision on your [[Research Logs|research logs]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]]. If the source seems possibly relevant, [[Copying Sources|photocopy the document]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]], and add the new information from the new source as [[Adding a Custom Event to a PAF Family Group Record|new event(s) on the ancestor's family group record]]. Be sure to add a [[Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)|source citation footnote]][[Category:Setting Research Objectives]] for each event. In the footnote add a short preliminary evaluation of the source. [[Document AS YOU GO!|File the source photocopy and updated family group record]] in their correct places. '''Later final analysis.''' Later, after you have [[Genealogical Proof Standard|thoroughly researched]] all the parents, siblings, and children of the ancestor, it is important to reconsider your preliminary acceptance of a source as relevant. When almost all that can be gathered about the family is assembled, correlated, corroborated, and analyzed in its totality, you are in a better position to make a final judgment about the relevance of an individual source. [[Category:Beginners]] [[Category:Setting Research Objectives]]