Genealogy Research Plans - An Essential Tool for Busting Brick Walls

[@constanza1648]

Nice. I don't use a research plan because I am more a "casual" genealogist. Well, maybe not "casual" (I am an historian, so I have a little background about how to do it more seriously), but it's more than I do not have a previous work so I have to do some weed clearing before to go deeper. My number 1 task until now was to check one by one all the books for biths, marriages and deaths trying to find all the individuals within the family. Not having census records for Italy is a big issue, and not having a good index or searching tool is also a big problem: I have to do it all the old way, page by page. So I was trying to have the big tree altogether, having quick answers to get some big picture. Now I have to do the little ant work, to make a meticolous work and catch all the errors I could make, and to solve all the brick walls I wasn't able to do at the begining. I think a good research plan could help me to avoid repeating task and to be more focus on problems. And to get track of my steps.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Thanks for sharing. I think I shared that I don't use research plans unless I'm tackling a difficult problem. Like you, I'm more a causal researcher working to clean up my family tree. With John Townley, who we'll be talking about over the next 12 weeks or so, the research plan was essential if I really wanted to work through his case. Thanks for joining in our community. History and genealogy really do overlap nicely.

[@ajalicea1091]

I went to a state Genealogist meeting. It was quite intriguing. In one of the classes the gentleman in charge stated that you should have at least 2 digital records of what you have found along with 3 paper records. His thinking on having multiple copies was due to the fact there had been some kind of disaster that had occurred and destroyed a lot of records and he had to be started all over again, from scratch.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

While I can understand his frustration, the genealogical source citations are the way to recapture your lost files. As we save items to our digital family trees, we can back those up in multiple places. (For instance, a FamilySearch family tree, an Ancestry family tree, and a genealogy database on our computer). Unlike other genealogists, I'm 90% digital. We've moved so much during our 20 years of marriage that I can't justify having large file folders of papers for things easily accessible online. However, I do have a portable archival box that has the original records not found online. I respectfully disagree with the 3 paper records and 2 digital copies. I would say, back up your digital research in multiple locations. If you have paper copies, have only what is necessary for the projects you're working on. Leverage the citations in your online family trees or genealogy databases to obtain the records again if something happens to the paper copies. (And, we should be doing this anyway so that other researchers can retrace our steps to validate our research.)

[@michaelwhalan9783]

I had to plan to research a likely cousin's family in a geographical area. There I honed my skills and questions were better targetted for years before online available census UK records.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Yes. When we develop our skills to search for targeted questions, we can make great progress no matter where the records are. Thanks for validating my thoughts.

[@alanheadrick7997]

My plan is check the DNA sites every day to see if there are any new matches. One thing I have noticed is none of the cousins seemed to be related to each other and I only found one family name that shows up three times in matches. Maybe that's just the nature of DNA testing, too many random cousins.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Thanks for sharing your research plan. You're not alone with that plan. As to the nature of DNA testing, are you finding unrelated cousins because they haven't built their family trees or because the cMs are so low? Many people take DNA tests to find our their ethnicity results. They haven't felt the need to do anything else with their results. I met a man at the YMCA once who said this very thing. "Bah! I don't care about how we're related. I want to prove I'm Scottish."

[@alanheadrick7997]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics The ones that get me are the ones you can see they log in fairly often but never reply to messages. Some people I have contacted just don't know anything or their Japanese side of the family is off limits. Thanks for the reply.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Yes! The Japanese side is off limits because of the fall out that folks are encountering due to discoveries they are making. It's really problematic there.

[@Judiith1956]

Very helpful

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Glad you think so!

[@mariacapaldi5062]

Hi Devon great tips thanks so much!✍📚🧬

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

You're so welcome!

[@timothymartinez6746]

My plan is always check more then just one site check several sites. With that being said just because it works for you doesn't mean it will work for everyone. We are all different

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Checking more than one website is a great start. Many beginning genealogists don't realize that. My hope in these videos is to help folks who don't know where to find records, especially in a "new to them" locations. (This is why I recommended looking at the FamilySearch Wiki for such information.) Additionally, my hope is to help folks tackling difficult genealogy problems. Research plans keep us organized and saves time.

[@nisharajpoot1710]

Hello i have some question regarding dna. Can you please respond ?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Send us an email through this form www.familyhistoryfanatics.com/contact

[@nisharajpoot1710]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics can i ask here ?

[@nisharajpoot1710]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics my email is not working properly

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

DNA questions should go on DNA videos if you want them answered.

[@3rdcoastinstrumentals]

Could you help me with my brick wall ?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

I teach people how to tackle brick walls. If you want someone to research for you, visit legacytree.com/fhfanatics

[@3rdcoastinstrumentals]

Im having trouble finding documents for my family going past the year of 1900 in texas and can not find documents or vitals on them online do you have any tips on how to find them on paper in libraries or different ways.

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Whenever I'm looking for records in a specific place and time, I explore the FamilySearch Wiki to learn whether or not a record collection I'm seeking ever existed. Check out this page. www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Texas_Vital_Records

[@kaybobbitt7787]

The link to the quick guide for brick walls goes to a DNA question

[@kaybobbitt7787]

I see you reposted the correct link

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

Sorry about that. Did you get the template?

[@kaybobbitt7787]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics no yet

[@kaybobbitt7787]

@@FamilyHistoryFanatics I didn't get the research template, either. Should I just go to the blog?

[@FamilyHistoryFanatics]

I hope you got it by now.