Researching in a strange place? Here's help

Well, all places are strange once you get to know them ;-)  Last week I was interested to find that two friends and colleagues have just published articles on this exact topic: what to do when you're starting off in a locale where you haven't researched before. (Cruising the public library for your surname doesn't count.)

Writing in the NGS Magazine (yet another of the many benefits of being a National Genealogical Society member), Jay Fonkert says: know the geography, learn the history, determine what government kept the records, discover the records, and find other researchers.

Writing at About.com, Kimberly Powell says: get to know the area, learn the jurisdictions, consult local histories, scope out FamilySearch, read the newspaper, and connect with the locals.

Both make the same good basic points, and each has some unique pointers as well. And unless I slept through it, neither one mentioned one of my favorite entry points, Linkpendium.

It looks like I have an obscure Missouri county in my future. I think I'll reread both of these articles.




J. H. Fonkert, "Five tips for starting research in a new locale," NGS Magazine vol. 39 no. 3 (July-September 2013): 29-33.

Kimberly Powell, "Genealogy Research in a New Locality," About.com Genealogy, 30 July 2013 (http://genealogy.about.com/od/basics/tp/Genealogy-Research-In-A-New-Locality.htm : viewed 4 August 2013).



Harold Henderson, "Researching in a strange place? Here's help," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 2 August 2013 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

More on the Toughest Genealogy Course

Your tutors: William Litchman, Thomas W. Jones, Jay Fonkert, Stefani Evans, and Marke Lowe. Your task: figure out their genealogy puzzles, one a day, until the week ends and the 2013 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy closes shop until next January.

Last year I described the 2012 version of this Advanced Evidence Practicum as the toughest genealogy course I ever took, but now, after this second round (with different problems) I think it may be the toughest course I ever took in any subject. For me it re-emphasized the difference between being able to say what the right research step is, and being able to recognize the situation and do it in real time. It can be crushing to work for 23 1/2 hours and come to late-afternoon class discussion with 16 fellow students and the puzzle-poser, and learn how and where your research went off the tracks. But if genealogists can be mules, this two-by-four definitely gets their attention.

Some think that doing "speed genealogy" reinforces bad habits. Others say that getting prompt decisive responses to research mistakes will reinforce good habits. The course will be back for a third incarnation next year at SLIG, under the careful coordination of Angela McGhie and Kimberly Powell.

Meanwhile, a lot of potential variants on the practicum model are being discussed around the tables in Salt Lake City. Look for them -- and related approaches to advanced genealogy education -- to start popping up in the not too distant future.


Harold Henderson, "More on the Toughest Genealogy Course," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 19 January 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

FGS Day One (Wednesday August 29)

A many-faceted day in which I attended Jay Fonkert's stellar talk on local society newsletters and journals. One radical lesson: don't publish because "we've always done it." Figure out if your publications fit your society's goals.

I learned that there is no air-conditioning in the exhibit hall during setup, but somehow managed to help set up the BCG booth anyway.

Michael Hait and I practiced our two-man talk (or is it a comedy routine?) on how NOT to get certified.

I learned that downtown Birmingham isn't terribly friendly to pedestrians, but nevertheless took two walks there for lunch and dinner. You'd never know from the weather here that New Orleans is drowning.



Harold Henderson, "FGS Day One (Wednesday August 29)," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 30 August 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]