Well, it is already week 5 of the genealogy do-over. The topics this week are:
- Building a Research Toolbox
- Citing Sources
Building a Research Toolbox
What is a research toolbox? Why is it important? How do we
build it?
These are the questions that popped into my mind this week.
A research toolbox is a compilation of links to a wide range
of tools useful in genealogical research. Some of these could be historical
newspapers, city directories, historical money calculators, deciphering old
handwriting, etc. Almost anything you can think of to aid in your particular
research should be included.
To build a toolbox requires a container. It could be a
bookmark list in a browser, spreadsheet or word processor document, notebook in
Evernote or One Note, or a special website like Draggo or Weebly. It is important that it is useful for your
particular style of researching.
I initially decided
to make a notebook in Evernote for this but after trying Draggo (draggo.com) I was hooked. After setting up a free account with Draggo,
you can create sections such as Databases, surname sites, newspapers, etc. When
you find a link that you want to access again, clink on the toolbar or copy the
url to your draggo page. As more links
are added to your page and organized into sections, research becomes less time
consuming and frustrating.
So make a toolbox, fill it with tools, and make researching
more enjoyable.
Citing Sources
When it comes to citing sources, I was always hit or miss. I
understood the importance of knowing where information came from but I didn't
always cite the source in my family tree. Even though most genealogy software
has templates for inputting sources and citations, I always put off actually
doing the work.
This do-over has shown me how unreliable some of my
previous work was. It would be helpful if I knew where information I
relied on for years originated. I have
found discrepancies in some family tree work that was done by a cousin. It is
important to have my work sourced in order to prove this new information. Other
researchers need to be able to follow my research and understand my
conclusions.
While most genealogy software packages come with source
citation templates, it is important to understand the components of writing
them without a template. I have found
some sites that are helpful in understanding how to write various citations.
Hopefully the following links will demystify writing citations:
Sourcing PDF at Geneabloggers (this is a PDF file, it requires Adobe reader)
Happy hunting and sourcing!
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