Hey welcome to genealogy TV. I am so glad
you're here. This is our first episode of what will be a weekly series on
genealogy for all levels, beginning to advanced. We're gonna do a weekly
learning series and interviews for advanced genealogists and we'll actually
genealogists of all types. So I'm glad you're here.
We're gonna get started in just a second. I've got five tips for you to help you
think about what it is that you want to know about your family history. Maybe
you've never done genealogy before and you know there's something that you've
always been kind of curious about. I'm gonna give you five tips on how to
figure it out in just a second. Hey and welcome back. So my goal for you
is to figure out your genealogy. But one of the things that I do... my name is
Connie Knox I am a lifelong genealogist... and I'm gonna help you go further faster
but factually with your family research. So we're gonna get started with those
five tips in just a second but I wanted to tell you a little bit about genealogy
TV. This is what I do for kicks. I'm a video junkie and I'm also a genealogist
I've been around for gosh I've been doing this for 40 years. So I have solved
a lot of mysteries over the years um so I'm hoping to help you figure out
your family mysteries as well. However keep in mind I am NOT the expert on
everything and quite frankly any professional genealogist out there,
they're not an expert at everything either. So this is where the exchange
comes in this is where we help each other figure out where the resources are.
We're gonna find it further faster. So let me talk about that for a second... also
before we get into that tell me where you're watching from? Put it in the
comment notes below... and by the way while I've got you here, let's talk about
subscribing, subscribe button and ring the bell so that you can catch the next
episode you'll get notified every time when the next episode uploads. So going
further faster and factually let's explain that real quick. Going further
really is more about not only climbing your family tree but digging deeper into
the records, getting into the details to help really find the facts that are
gonna help you with your family research. Also going faster...Well now wait a minute,
most genealogists are going to say whoa whoa whoa we can't be going faster. Wait
a minute. We can't be going faster, because we need to slow down and really
dig into the records and find what is out there. Plus turning over every rock
this is what exhaustive research is all about, right?
Reasonably exhaustive research is one of the genealogical proof standards, and so
we do want to slow down and make sure that we have uncovered everything we can,
for every ancestor, before we move back to the next step. So what am I talking
about with this faster stuff? The faster part is the exchange here on
Genealogy TV is where we're helping you find those resources quickly, so that
you're not spinning your wheels going all over the place trying to find
records in places that you know... you're not gonna find it
right? So with some strategic thought, we can help you find those resources faster.
So well I'm not an expert at everything I'm still learning I'm still taking
classes too, but together I think all of us through video, through
interviews with other genealogists we can help you find things quickly. So most
importantly is the factual part. So I'm saying I'm gonna help you go further
faster factually... Facts right? We're collecting facts all the time in
genealogy and so it's the factual part that we want to really want to focus on,
because just because you find things in records doesn't mean it's always true. So
we're gonna be questioning everything. So there is the further, faster, factually,
with your family research. So I promised you five tips and I need to move on to
the next slide so that you can actually see what tip number one is. So tip number
one, get curious so everything we do in genealogy starts with a good research
question, right? So the question comes from curiosity. So maybe you want to know
about your grandfather or or you you know we all want to know about all of
our family tree, but my point here is... Let's start with one question. Find one
question that you're curious about. One. One research question. That's all. What is
the one thing that you want to know most about your family history. Maybe it's your about your grandfather
or your grandmother or maybe you don't know who your grandparents are... you don't
know who your parents are. Maybe you took a DNA test and you don't... because you
maybe you were adopted and you don't have any information, right? So develop
that research question right now, put it in the comment notes, because when you
write it down it becomes real, okay. So one research question and while you're
at it about one person. So I'm suggesting here that it might be about your
grandmother, right? One research question about one person that's all don't have
to do the whole family tree right now we want to take it one research question at
a time. Tip number two. Ask! Who's the one living person that you can ask. Maybe the
several living persons that you can ask. Maybe you need to go... it's okay you've
got your research question in your mind... okay... Who is alive, that you can ask? Is it
Aunt Mabel? Maybe it's a librarian. Maybe it's the lady who keeps the
records down at the local cemetery. Maybe you don't know, but I'll bet with a
little investigation you can at least start exploring what or who you're gonna
ask, right? So think about that. We need to start thinking about who we're going to
ask and then part of this tip is what are we going to ask? Write a list of
questions. So, if you're gonna think about asking Aunt Mabel about your uncle who
maybe was in the war, then maybe what we need to do is write a list of questions
about that subject matter. Tip number three, the five W's. Okay, so this is what
you need to think about when you're writing your questions, if you're going
to go talk to Aunt Mabel you're going to go talk to somebody at the cemetery,
Who is it that you're researching? So whoever you're gonna ask is gonna need
to know that, so if it's a librarian or whatever you know it's like I'm looking
for so-and-so right? So who is it? What is it you already know? Okay. And what is it
you want to know? Where did this happen? Maybe it's an event. Maybe it's a birth.
Maybe it's a service in the war. Maybe it's an accident, who knows? So who is it?
What is it you want to know, and where did this happen? And of course we need to
figure out when? So, surely there's a time frame. Even if you don't know exactly
when there's probably a date range that you can narrow down as to when this
person lived or when this event happened, that you're seeking an answer to. And
then why? Why does it matter to you? Really. So let's think about that for a
minute. Why does it matter? Because if it if it's... if it... if it doesn't matter to
you then why do it? So why does it matter? So be thinking
about that. That's not necessarily something that you need to ask the
person that you're seeking answers from but it is important in your soul as to
why does this matter. Maybe it's because you want to hand
these stories down to your grand kids or your children or save it for future
generations. Okay so, going on to tip number four. Plan and connect. Plan and
connect. So we're gonna plan the conversation that we're gonna have with
this living person. We've got our research question or a big burning
research question. We've got kind of a list of questions of what it is that
we're looking to ask and the who what where when why... and then we're going to
try and connect with this person. So plan your connection. So
what's their phone number? Where do they live?
Where's the cemetery I'm going to or... Where's the library? Where's the archive?
What are the hours that the the archive is open, right? So plan your connection
and then guess what? You're gonna connect with them. You're gonna make the effort
to connect with them. Do it. What have you got to lose,
right? At worst-case they don't have the answer. That's okay, we'll plan another
connection. But you know what, we need to get out there and connect with them. We
need to go to the cemetery and look at this at the tombstones... or we need to get
in the car and go to the archives... or we need to go see aunt Mabel and maybe
bring your a bucket of fried chicken while you're there. So okay so that's tip
number four plan and connect. Tip number five, evaluate. Okay so now you've gone
you've made the connection, you've come back with information, right? Don't know
how much information you got but let's say you picked up a few tidbits here and
there you maybe brought some photographs back you brought some a birth
certificate or a marriage certificate or something that you discovered along the
way... What is it that you found? In some cases that's what you didn't find that
is also helpful, keep that in mind. Sometimes when we go looking for things
and they're not where we expected them, that could also be a clue. So evaluate
what you found. Evaluate what you found... and write a brief conclusion. Write a
brief conclusion of what you found. So here's how that works. It's like three
little bullet points, right? Three little things. What the question was that you
had the burning desire to know? What you found and where you found it? And what
you concluded from that? Was it factual? Be thinking about that too but if you
found some information that might lead to the bonus tip which is your "next
steps" right? Bonus tip, next steps. So you found information you've
from that you probably discovered a few things and along the way you discovered
that maybe you found some more family members that you didn't know about. Well
that's cool, right? That's very cool. So now before you go
jumping back to the next generation now let's say on a marriage certificate you
found the parents, right? But before you jump into that next generation make sure
that you've found everything you can find on that person from your original
research question. So let's not run too fast make sure you have everything you
need okay. And then, that is part of your next step, right? Your next step is to
make sure you've got everything you need for that person everything you can find
on that person then you move on to the next step. So write down your next steps
as well in your conclusions, okay? So the question is... What is the research
question that you're going to investigate? So we've gone through five
steps now and a bonus. What is it that you're curious about? Tell us about it in
the comment sections, because when you write it down you commit to it. You got
it? Okay, so I hope this was helpful this is one of the first of many many many
many many to come in all levels of research. So just to let you know, you can
find us obviously on YouTube, you can follow Genealogy TV on Facebook and for
North Carolina researchers, I have NC Ancestry on YouTube as well. It has its
own YouTube channel and NCAncestry.com. So for those who are researching in
North Carolina, the goal here is to do a county-by-county guide not only what's
online but really focusing on what is not online, because most of the records
today are still not digitized and are not available online. So the idea there
is to go and use this website and the
YouTube channel as a resource for why should you... it's a county-by-county guide
so... so if you have to go to a specific County in North Carolina to do research,
why should you go there? What is there for me? So that is a work in progress
there is a long way to go on NC Ancestry but if you're an expert in any of the
North Carolina counties I'd love to hear from you. And with that I think we're
done and I am so grateful you are here and thank you so much for watching and
we'll catch you next time on Genealogy TV you
you
