It’s tempting to bemoan the inaccurate and tangled tree branches that we (sometimes? often?) find online. However, it’s worth stepping back and asking ourselves, firstly whether we are absolutely sure our own research is correct? And secondly how to go about ensuring its accuracy if we’re not sure?
To follow are ideas for proving and recording what we do know, and routes to learning more about topics that we have yet to master fully.
1. Show your workings
To do: Cite your sources and write down your reasons. In a recent blog post Marian Burk Wood covered the importance of including both your source of information, and the reasoning behind your deductions, actually there and then on your online family tree – so that your thinking is publicly available for fellow researchers to read.
You can read Marian’s blog on the topic here:https://climbingmyfamilytree. blogspot.com/2023/02/putyour-genealogical-proof-onyour.html Commenting on Marian’s blog, Teresa Eckford (writingmypast.
