Has this ever happened to you?

[Dennis]

Hi.

Here I am looking at my GR tree and suddenly it strikes me; where did I get this info from? I have the dob and place for my biodad but not a clue as to where I obtained the info. Its not so old that it would be on SP, except to order it.


dennis

[emanday]

Oh, Dennis,

More times than I care to remember especially with the stuff I found in the early days of my research.

I'd not, at that time, realised how much I'd find out or how many family branches I'd finally start to follow, so wasn't as "organised" about recording sources of information.

I'm not saying I'm that much better organised even now, though. When I "get on a roll" in my research I can sometimes forget to note down where my information was sourced and have to go back and relook at it to get the relevant references.

There are still some of my early folk which I've not updated that information on

You are not alone

[marypryde]

Oh, yes - me too!

I was so excited pulling the threads when I first discovered SP that it was a while before I realized I couldn't keep it all in my head. Not that I have to prove anything, but, as you said: "How do I 'know' this?"

I'm pretty careful now that I use Talking Scot. The wonderful experts here have a gentle way of challenging my "facts." That keeps me from going too far down the wrong road.

I'd love for someone to tell me their system for documentation. For lack of a better way I have created a Word document for each direct line person - but I still get confused. (I do best in the mornings before the brain overloads.)

Best regards, Mary Ellen

[caljam371]

Using Legacy I now always attach as pictures the scanned image of certs downloaded from SP or photos of graves. Anything I get from eg. familysearch or freecen I copy and paste into notes fields. otherwise other info I get online I attach a link to the web page.

I haven't yet really done much in the way of paper based research so will need to be careful to record sources when I do.

Unfortunately I have far too much info that I have no source for from the early days of research and it's very frustrating.

[emanday]

Unfortunately I have far too much info that I have no source for from the early days of research and it's very frustrating.

Yes, and it is extra frustrating when you find you need that to check up on something or someone else in the family.

Every so often I do settle down and go over this earlier stuff and try, wherever possible, to bring their source references up to date. However, I'm so hooked now that I usually see something that I'd not noticed previously or that didn't mean much at the time and go off on another new research expedition on the net and all my good intentions to update my old sources go out the window

[LesleyB]

Hi Mary

Every so often I do settle down and go over this earlier stuff and try, wherever possible, to bring their source references up to date. However, I'm so hooked now that I usually see something that I'd not noticed previously or that didn't mean much at the time and go off on another new research expedition on the net and all my good intentions to update my old sources go out the window

Oh, that sounds just too too familiar..!

Best wishes
Lesley

[SarahND]

Hi Mary

Every so often I do settle down and go over this earlier stuff and try, wherever possible, to bring their source references up to date. However, I'm so hooked now that I usually see something that I'd not noticed previously or that didn't mean much at the time and go off on another new research expedition on the net and all my good intentions to update my old sources go out the window

Oh, that sounds just too too familiar..!

Doesn't it though!

Sarah

[speleobat2]

Hi all,

Just a few days ago I had to lop off a whole branch of my mother's side of the tree! I had one of her great uncles married to a very nice Anna. Anna had the right dates, the right name, she came from the right town, but I never did get a marriage cert. for them.

Then I came in contact with a third cousin on Facebook and asked him to get the certificate. Whooops! My Anna was married to some one completely different! My cousin was able to find the correct certificate and now I have the right Anna married to my mother's great uncle!

Carol

[emanday]

Just a few days ago I had to lop off a whole branch of my mother's side of the tree!

I've got a side branch on my father's side that I keep having a wee frown at - only because I didn't note where I got one of the death details from, and haven't ever been able to find it again.

Och, it'll show up again when I go off on one of my wild goose chases

[Hugo]

Well I can honestly say that I have not made 1 mistake in 10 years of researching my family tree.


100 yes, but not 1.