Lessons in Sucking Eggs Here .....

[mallog]

I thought I would mention something but I know you "auld yins" will be telling me you don't need lessons in sucking eggs. Recently I have been going through my viewed images at SP and saving them. Usually I just print off any relevant ones. It has been very useful to do this as way down the line I find now that I am able to make a connection to some of them. It's made me realise you have to go over all your notes and wee bits of paper every now and then and you might find a lost gem. Anyone else had any breakthroughs this way?
Mallog

[Tracey]

I have a few different files going on concerning Donaldson's in Rathven. I havnt a clue who they are but have recently been able to help someone out. I am assuming most Donaldsons i find in that one street are related its just finding out how.
Last year i made contact with a man well known for looking for Geddes who i think must know how every Geddes in Banff is connected.

At first not a lot of it means much but after a few years or so of downloading files that are not "yours" it all starts to come together and you know who belongs to who - yours or not A breakthrough concerning my other files ? nope, not yet for me anyway

[DavidWW]

I thought I would mention something but I know you "auld yins" will be telling me you don't need lessons in sucking eggs. Recently I have been going through my viewed images at SP and saving them. Usually I just print off any relevant ones. It has been very useful to do this as way down the line I find now that I am able to make a connection to some of them. It's made me realise you have to go over all your notes and wee bits of paper every now and then and you might find a lost gem. Anyone else had any breakthroughs this way?
Mallog

Hi Mallog

Very simply, in one word, Yes

Orraverybest

David

[Miss Poohs]

Well I just posted there about 1hr ago about how muddled all my info is becoming so I think I really need to sit down and sort through it all files, including all my viewed images online.

[Russell]

Hi Mallog

We download every certificate as well as take a paper copy then every so often my wife will sit and spread out a family line all over the table then come up with what can be very obscure links which usually lead to new finds.
I am usually met with " Can we try..........." almost always works though.
Must find another couple of lever arch files though. The first four are bulging

Russell

[fmackay]

I thought I would mention something but I know you "auld yins" will be telling me you don't need lessons in sucking eggs. Recently I have been going through my viewed images at SP and saving them. Usually I just print off any relevant ones. It has been very useful to do this as way down the line I find now that I am able to make a connection to some of them. It's made me realise you have to go over all your notes and wee bits of paper every now and then and you might find a lost gem. Anyone else had any breakthroughs this way?
Mallog

Hi Mallog
I too have found that certs etc which I viewed,printed off, are now becoming relevant to my tree as I gain more knowledge and information. Coming from a small village I have managed to pretty much prove a saying which my dad always used to say to me that"we're all related here" and it's true!
Like you my organisation leaves alot to be desired and I usually try and file by surname but that's becoming impossible.
Fiona

[DavidWW]

My general experience is that it's sometimes the best tactic to put problematic research on one particular line on the side, and forget about it for a while, concentrating in the meantime on other lines.............

Then, whatever period of time later, but not less than a couple of months, come back to that first line and review the situation, but, critically, challenging the assumptions that you previously made, both consciously and subconsciously.

Quite often you will find that there's a scintilla of information in there, the critical significance of which you hadn't previously properly appreciated, and/or that an assumption that you made previously might just not be correct.

In addition, you may well realise that you haven't fully exploited the possible information that could be available via research on collateral lines, or that, for example, while you have the individual/family in certain censuses, you've never looked for them in the 18xx census, and, believe me, you would not believe the valuable information that might just be waiting there for you, etc.,etc.

On top of all that, it's quite common to find that developments in sources and access mean that there's a new resource available that can help you and/or that developments in terms of access to a certain resource mean that a search that was prevously impractical is now a real possibility.

Examples of the former must be familiar to many members, but consider the following in terms of the latter .............

Before the introduction of the DIGROS system at New Register House, the practical limit, and, believe me, I know, through having held the record for a period of time, was that, during the available 7 and a half hours, no more than around 180 register entries could be looked at (and headline data recorded, - it could well have been possible, I realise, when writing this, to increase that figure a bit if it was just a question of looking for a match) via the then system of self-service fiches 3 at a time, and that was only possible via bit of a cheat involving the prior preparation of the fiche order forms.................. (one order form per fiche !!)

Today, I can only speculate on the limit, with the DIGROS system meaning that it's no longer necessary to use the fiche self service system, instead just click on a record on the computer screen at your search place, and the image is there in front of you..............

I know that, recently, for an Australian client, I was able to view nearly 1,000 register entries in 5 hours ....................... In other words, a search on that basis which might have previously take more than a week was possible in less than a day, and, BTW, this particular search was on a "due diligence" basis, in other words, an audit trail had to be created !!, so that, without that requirement, it could well have been possible to further reduce that 5 hours .............

David

[fmackay]

I agree it helps sometimes to put it to one side for a while and come back to it with a fresh(I hope)outlook and have found quite a few errors etc on the way.
When I first started researching I was in such a hurry to find out as much as I could all at once - now I take my time,lets face it our rellies aren't going anywhere, and try and be a thorough as I can without it becoming a chore.
Fiona

[DavidWW]

I agree it helps sometimes to put it to one side for a while and come back to it with a fresh(I hope)outlook and have found quite a few errors etc on the way.
When I first started researching I was in such a hurry to find out as much as I could all at once - now I take my time,lets face it our rellies aren't going anywhere, and try and be a thorough as I can without it becoming a chore.
Fiona

Hi Fiona

Many thanks for your comments.

These very neatly highlight aspects that I overlooked, namely, firstly, the fact that initial enthusiasm can quite often mean that thoroughness isn't always the priority when previous generations are "appearing" without too much effort.

And, also, as one's expertise develops, one comes to appreciate that previous, less experienced research, may have fallen short of the ideal

David

[mallog]

My general experience is that it's sometimes the best tactic to put problematic research on one particular line on the side, and forget about it for a while, concentrating in the meantime on other lines.............

Then, whatever period of time later, but not less than a couple of months, come back to that first line and review the situation, but, critically, challenging the assumptions that you previously made, both consciously and subconsciously.

Quite often you will find that there's a scintilla of information in there, the critical significance of which you hadn't previously properly appreciated, and/or that an assumption that you made previously might just not be correct.

In addition, you may well realise that you haven't fully exploited the possible information that could be available via research on collateral lines, or that, for example, while you have the individual/family in certain censuses, you've never looked for them in the 18xx census, and, believe me, you would not believe the valuable information that might just be waiting there for you, etc.,etc.

On top of all that, it's quite common to find that developments in sources and access mean that there's a new resource available that can help you and/or that developments in terms of access to a certain resource mean that a search that was prevously impractical is now a real possibility.
..........
David

Exactly!! (Is that not what I said? )

I have been very bad at keeping note of the source but I do try to keep some kind of paper record of everything I find. In my defence I started looking into my tree for my own interest. I never dreamt I would be sharing it with others or that it would take on the dimensions it has.

BTW I thought I did well the other day but was nowhere near your record David. For a minute I thought you had turned up as a witness to a marriage I found but seeing as it was 1902 I decided to dismiss that possibility

Mallog