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.  

<br>First in importance in family history research is coming to an understanding of the sequence of tasks involved. As we get the training we need in a specific area of research, for example U.S. southern states, the lesson manuals, handouts, copies of Internet sites, and other things can be saved digitally in an organized manner. Observe the structure used&nbsp;for studying research pertaining to England:

<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. <!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors --><!-- Tidy found serious XHTML errors -->

<br>We can easily forget other things, such as searching in certain types of sources. The sample Strategic Research Log shown below was adapted from a typical research log. It contains a prioritized list of sources in expandable mini-tables (the only one shown here being Birth Certificate) that we do not want to forget for the particular period shown England―1837 to Present). It is sorted in priority order based on the birth column. Note that the marriage column and the death column also have priority numbers. In other words, certain sources are important for birth data but may be of lesser importance for getting marriage or death data, and vice versa. The full log contains, in sequence after Birth Certificate, other mini-tables reminding us to search marriage certificates, death certificates, census records, church records, family histories, military records, on through a total of twenty-two prioritized sources.  

&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.  

<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:

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<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 --><!-- 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 -->