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Germany Research Tips and Strategies (view source)
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'''Generally,''' town genealogies include everyone who showed up in the records, but there are always '''exceptions'''. Thus, if a person is not found in a published volume, check the original records anyway. Also study the preface and explanatory notes of the book.<br> | '''Generally,''' town genealogies include everyone who showed up in the records, but there are always '''exceptions'''. Thus, if a person is not found in a published volume, check the original records anyway. Also study the preface and explanatory notes of the book.<br> | ||
==== The "Thomas Principle"<br> ==== | ==== The "Thomas Principle"<br> ==== | ||
Be a "doubting Thomas" ! Believe only what you have seen yourself. Always ask where the data you have found came from. Look at the original document. Does it contain additional information? Do you agree with the abstract, transcription, and/or interpretation? If not, more research is needed. <br> | Be a "doubting Thomas" ! Believe only what you have seen yourself. Always ask where the data you have found came from. Look at the original document. Does it contain additional information? Do you agree with the abstract, transcription, and/or interpretation? If not, more research is needed. <br> | ||
*Evaluate each source as to completeness and reliability. For instance, a death record is probably fairly reliable in regard to the death date, but not as much in reference to the decedent's age or birth date.This ia true even if the age given is precise. The recorder may have looked up the wrong person's baptism record. <br> | *Evaluate each source as to completeness and reliability. For instance, a death record is probably fairly reliable in regard to the death date, but not as much in reference to the decedent's age or birth date.This ia true even if the age given is precise. The recorder may have looked up the wrong person's baptism record. <br> | ||
*Do not “Read too much in-between the lines”. [For instance, a cross in the margin means that knowledge of the individual’s death had come to someone who had access to the parish register. It does not necessarily mean that the person died as a small child.] | *Do not “Read too much in-between the lines”. [For instance, a cross in the margin means that knowledge of the individual’s death had come to someone who had access to the parish register. It does not necessarily mean that the person died as a small child.] | ||
*It’s better to check a record twice too many than once too few. Go back and review previous research in light of new insights and information.<br> | *It’s better to check a record twice too many than once too few. Go back and review previous research in light of new insights and information.<br> | ||
==== Strategies for evaluation<br> ==== | |||
*Know what each record says in its entirety! Be sure to have all relevant details translated by someone who can read the complete record and write down all the information.<br> | |||
*Evaluate all information found and decide whether the conclusions are reasonable and make sense.<br>Look at families as a unit. Do all the information puzzle pieces fall into place?<br> | |||
*Know what was likely or possible at the time [For example, some states set minimum ages for marriage and required proof of sufficient property before issuing a marriage license in the 18th and 19th centuries.]<br> | |||
*Understand the family’s socio-economic background and its implications in their daily lives.<br> | |||
*Also keep in mind popular late 19th and early 20th Century myths such as “He was an illegitimate son of a nobleman, whose mother worked at the castle.” Or “The surname was changed at Ellis Island.” “They met on the boat coming over” etc]. There may be some truth in them, but fairly often these were just romantic notions.<br> | |||
"Technical difficulties"<br> | |||
Possible "technical difficulties include pages missing from the original record or accidentally skipped during filming. This may not be obvious. Many record books do not have page numbers, and numbering added after the original pages had been written can be misleading. <br> | |||
Older books may have fallen apart and been re-bound prior to filming. Pages may have been bound in the wrong sequence. This is difficult to detect on a two-dimensional film or digital image. So- always make sure that all elements of the record fit together and make sense.<br>Pages may have been numbered after a book was re-bound, resulting in consecutively numbered pages that may be out of their original sequence.<br>"Left side-right side" films<br> | |||
Some catalog entries note: “l.s.-r.s.” in the description. This is shorthand for “left side – right side”, meaning that the left-hand pages were filmed separately from the right-hand pages. This can be tricky if the entries go across both pages. Often the year will be written only on one side, while the parents’ names are written on the other side of the page.<br>In this case, you will need to begin you research on the side that has the names. Good note keeping is imperative! Each frame has a frame number stamped above the image. Note this number, left side or right side of the page, and which entry on the page is of interest. Then find the matching frame on the opposite side and match up your information. The frame numbers may be off by one, depending on which side of the page received the first number.<br><br><br> | |||
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==== Using a library catalog<br> ==== | ==== Using a library catalog<br> ==== | ||