AmericaGen Chapter 7: Organizing Your Research

AmericaGen Study Group

Chapter 7 Homework 

Marceline Beem

Reference: Greenwood, Val D. “Organizing and Evaluating Your Research Findings.” In The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 4^th ed., 142-164. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2017.

My research process is a bit different from what the author advocates in this week’s readings. I have never been very good at keeping a research log and filing documents. In fact, I hate filing so much that at every office job I've held, that's the one task that gets put off indefinitely. My hatred of filing doesn't change when it comes to genealogy research. I hate it, period. Mark that as a drudgery task for me. Keeping a research log is almost as tedious as filing, so I spent many years keeping rather poor logs or ignoring them all together.  That changed when I was introduced to the “write as you go” method for research reports. 

My document starts as a research plan, with a specific question and sources to answer that question identified before I start researching. I then type up my notes as I research, providing the citation details (e.g., page numbers) for each piece of information.  The result is that my research plan, log, and notes are in one document. Usually, I will write my analysis and conclusion in the same document, followed by images and transcripts/abstracts of the key documents used to reach my conclusion. I do initially type a transcript in a separate Word document, but by also including it at the end of my research notes, I can easily share my research with others in just one PDF file.

To get my research organized, one of my goals is to convert my family files to digital images, keeping only original records and photographs. I keep all of my digital documents in one folder called “Source Documents.” The files are named in the following pattern: LastName-FirstName_Year_Description. When sorted by name, the files are automatically arranged chronologically by person. Some examples:

• My great-grandmother, Caroline Price, died in Florida in 1940. The digital image of her death certificate is named “Price-Caroline_1940_Death-Certificate.”
• Rebecca Horton purchased land in Tennessee in 1832. The digital image of the transaction is named “Horton-Rebecca_1832_Land-Purchase.”

For deeds, I use both the grantor and grantee in the file name.

• Richard Grantham purchased land from John Smith in Bladen County, North Carolina in 1775. The digital image of the deed is named “Smith-John_Grantham-Richard_1775_Deed-Bladen-p488.”

Transcripts use the same name as the original document, with –Transcript appended to the file name:

• King-John_1798_Will-Transcript

I try to limit my use of subfolders to two circumstances:

• Numerous images from one collection, such as the Draper Manuscripts
• Specific locations where I am related to most of the community.  I use this to store census images and similar documents where more than one family of interest is on the page.

I’m not very consistent at putting census records and such into the second type of folder. Lately, I am more prone to store the digital image in the “Source Documents” main folder, using my direct ancestor’s name in the file name.

Here is a screenshot of my “Source Documents” folder:

You’ll notice that not all of my file names follow what I’ve described here. There are older files that were scanned or downloaded before I finally settled on my naming convention. One of these days, I’ll get around to renaming those files. But this also illustrates my main takeaway from this chapter: there isn’t one right way to organize your research logs and notes. If a particular method uses too many tasks you hate outside of genealogy (for me, filing paper documents and keeping logs), you aren’t likely to use it in genealogy research, either. Use Google and Cyndi’s List to find articles on how to organize your research. Find a method that works for you and incorporate it into your workflow. If you find a method that works for you, you'll be more likely to keep your records organized, easily finding them when you need to review your work or share it with other researchers.

AmericaGen Chapter 6: Reference Works

AmericaGen Study Group

Chapter 6 Homework 

Marceline Beem

Reference: Greenwood, Val D. “Reference Works.” In The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 4^th ed., 115-142. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2017.

When I enrolled in the ProGen course, my main goal was to improve my genealogical writing skills. I already had good writing skills that got me through my Master’s in Public Health, but I wanted to learn to write about my family history in a more engaging style – an entirely different mindset from medical-related research and program planning! My favorite assignments in ProGen were the two that focused on writing polished pieces -  proof arguments and family sketches – and I feel like my writing skills improved greatly with those assignments.  Because of my personal focus on writing, the reference books I have most recently purchased relate to that skill more than methodology or other aspects of genealogy research.  Here are the books that I have at my desk, within easy reach because I use them so often, listed alphabetically by author's last name:

Casagrande, June. The Best Punctuation Book, Period. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014.

Is the Oxford comma necessary, or can be it omitted? The answer is - it depends! No, seriously, it does! My own personal preference is to use the Oxford comma, but when I had to produce AP-style work at my transcription job, I was not allowed to use it. This little book is jam-packed with grammar and punctuation guidance for the four major styles of writing: book (including nonfiction), news, scientific, and academic. The book style is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), so it is what I refer to most often for genealogy purposes, but it's nice to have the other styles since I often need them in my professional life.

Jones, Thomas W. Mastering Genealogical Documentation. Arlington, VA: National Genealogical Society, 2017.

This workbook demystifies documentation by stepping the reader through how to answer the who, what, when, and whereis questions when crafting citations for genealogy research. Although the book gives plenty of examples, Dr. Jones encourages the reader to craft his own citation style that is concise and contains all of the necessary elements in a logical order, rather than dogmatically adhering to any one style guide.

Mills, Elizabeth. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. 3rd ed. rev. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2017.

This book is the best reference for how to cite just about any type of document or object used in genealogy research. I used to grab this book every time I needed a new citation, but I'm trying to use what I've learned from Dr. Jones' book more often.  Sometimes I'm still stumped, though, and grab this book when I just can't figure out how to document what I'm working with. Even if you never use the reference models, though, every genealogist needs to read the first chapter on evidence analysis. I'm constantly referring to the evidence analysis process map, in both the research and writing phases of my workflow.

Rose, Christine. Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case. 4th ed. rev. San Jose, California: CR Publications, 2014.

This is a short book, but it is jam-packed with information on writing a solid answer to a research question. For our study group on this book, I created a chart that summarizes when and how to write a proof statement, proof summary, or proof argument. Since I can't keep the difference between the statement and summary straight in my pea-brain, I refer to it often when I'm writing conclusions.

In addition to the four books mentioned above, I have the following QuickSheets by Elizabeth Shown Mills at my desk. If I'm not sure how to cite something, I'll look at these before dragging out the heavier Evidence Explained:

• Citing Ancestry Databases and Images, 2^nd Edition
• Citing Online Historical Resources Evidence Style

One other reference work which I use quite a bit, especially if I have a quick question about CMOS, is Purdue's Online Writing Lab, or OWL. It summarizes and provides examples for citations of books, journals, newspapers, and other materials that are used in academic writing, but that we also use in genealogy research. The website is free and open to anyone, not just Purdue students. This is a great resource if you don't have the funds or space for the hard copies of Evidence Explained or CMOS, or even if you do have them but are traveling and don't want to carry those tomes with you!

Of course, there are many other reference books and QuickSheets on my shelves in a wide range of topics from DNA to methodology to how to use specific software, but these four books are what I have found the most useful for me at this point of my journey.  As I get further back into time in my research, I plan to purchase Kip Sperry’s Reading Early American Handwriting, which I am sure will also wind up at my desk, but I’m not sure which book will get moved to the bookcase when I do buy it. I can almost guarantee that it won’t be one of these books, though!