The 10 Commandments of Genealogy

1. Thou shalt not mindlessly copy other trees. 
If you've read this blog before it should be no surprise that this is first ;-)

2. Thou shalt read records before attaching them to your tree.
Every person with the same name is not the same person. Also, all people with the same surname are not related. You will read ALL the information and use your powers of deductive reasoning.

3. Thou shalt cite your sources.
Just as with a science experiment, someone else should be able to re-create your results using your research as a road map. Unlike science, there are exceptions, i.e. personal interviews and personal memories. Even if you don't cite your sources according to Evidence Explained you should have enough detail so that you or anyone else can find the source of the information again.

4. Thou shalt back up your tree(s), photos and documents often.
ALL forms of storage are subject to the unexpected. You should back up often and in different ways. Paper, flash drives, CDs, internal hard drive, external hard drive, online... Pick at least two different ways to store your items and don't keep those two forms in the same place. If you want your research to live past you be sure to keep the necessary info (usernames and passwords) with your important papers (will, medical directive, etc.). This is especially important if your tree is private on Ancestry.com. If you don't leave your password to someone your research dies with you.

5. Thou shalt not use the term "brick wall" lightly.
When I see someone say they have a "brick wall" because they've been looking for something for a week or a month I just roll my eyes. A true brick wall takes years to build. Don't make up artificial ones.

6. Thou shalt learn to put your family in historical context.
Local history, national history, world history... It's all important and had an impact on your ancestors' lives. Did a national or world event give your ancestors the impetus to immigrate? The year your ancestors immigrated, how long would the trip have taken? Learn about their daily lives too. How much of an effort did it take to hitch up the horses to go to church on Sunday morning? What modes of travel were available during their lifetime? What did making a meal entail? You'll get a better understanding of the world they lived in. It will also keep you from attaching two 1860 censuses enumerated in the same week to the same family when one is in Virginia and the other in California.

7. Thou shalt not limit yourself to Ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com is a wonderful site. I'm a subscriber and don't know what I would do without it. Having said that, it doesn't have everything, never will. For genealogists Ancestry.com is one tool in our toolbox. For a carpenter a hammer can do a lot but if that carpenter uses only a hammer he won't get much accomplished.

8. Thou shalt not limit yourself to internet research.
Read the carpentry analogy in #7 again :-) It's amazing what we can get done while on the couch in our pajamas but only a small percentage of genealogical data is available online.

In 2007, the New York Times looked into the sudden fervor for digitizing everything under the sun - a trend I am wholeheartedly in support of - and reached an interesting conclusion. At the current rate of digitization, it would take approximately 1,800 years to capture the contents of the National Archives text-based collections. Mind you, this doesn't include all the non-text items - photos, films, and so forth - and speaks solely of the National Archives, so it doesn't address any other repository.
- Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak in her book Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing

9. Thou shalt make friends with librarians and workers/volunteers in courthouses, historical societies, churches, etc..
Your goal is to be memorable...in a good way. You may not be able to make a trip back to that county courthouse but if you made a good impression on your visit it will be easier to get more records/copies with just a phone call. Also, a small donation to a library, historical society, church, etc. that you visit couldn't hurt.

10. Thou shalt pay it forward. 
Many of the records we find are available online for free. Someone indexed the record you found and you can help someone else find their ancestor. A few options:

* At Family Search you can help index records from all over the world.
* Find a local cemetery to photograph for Find a Grave.
* Key records for Ancestry.com's World Archives Project. The indexes created through WAP are free to everyone.

There may be projects available in counties or states where your ancestors lived. If you have a favorite genealogy project to volunteer for please comment and let everyone know about it.


PREVIOUS POST: Robbing the Cradle
NEXT POST: A Double Wedding