ORGANIZE & RESEARCH PLAN

Your Research Plan begins with desk research. This will be where your organize and prepare the plan for your investigation. To often genealogy begins in a flurry of keeping notes, without taking any clear direction. This is the cause of much aggravation and disappointment. You wouldn't bake a cake without reading the recipe, or at least the back of the box. Same is true with starting family research without a written plan for keeping notes. This is why it is vital to stock your folders with all the necessary files and charts to make your research plan cohesive.

Organize one file folder for each family, placing a blank copy of the three following inserts.

Link to Family Group Sheet

Link to Pedigree Chart

Link to Research Organizer

To print the charts, you will need Adobe Acrobat which can easily be downloaded [1st page will be Adobe Acrobat Family, click 'Downloads', then click 'Get Adobe Reader'{at no cost}], using this link to Adobe.


Plan the Who and What and Where. Organize a file folder for each individual family to be researched, keeping an extra supply of blank family group sheets in the folder. The reason being you will create the first sheet with the information found during your desk research. When you find a total new set of information, such as different census' you will need to create another completely new sheet with the information from the new source. This may cause a multitude of duplication in keeping notes, but this system assures that you will not miss any vitally important information. And use the back of the sheet for additional scribbles.

To prepare YOUR ORGANIZED SEARCH, input the data collected from the relatives that you spoke to. Next search through the preliminary data found through the world wide web. That's to say, search the computer databases for all secondary research sources. Often census transcriptions, and vital records transcriptions can be located for the area where your ancestor died.

The Pedigree Chart can be copied and placed in each family file folder, or in one individual folder. A single notebook type folder is the most preferable.

The Research Organizer is another step that begins, with desk research. It's purpose is as an organizer for your individual search plan before you leave your home. Add the who (ancestor to be searched), what (document to searched), and where (date of information being searched and where it may be found). Used properly the Research Organizer will save a great deal of time.

In doing genealogy the plan is to create from "The Present to the Past". When planning research, the plan focuses are more individual, therefore it is always wise to find the death location for the individual before filling the gas tank. This will save time and money!

Now that your research plan is underway, you may benefit from reviewing Reseach Sources.