A curator is the person responsible for the
acquisition, interpretation and care of objects in a collection. As genealogists, we are the curators of our
own family history collection, and we must have good management skills in place
to properly preserve it for and present it to others.
Curators are often described as resourceful,
organized, meticulous, knowledgeable and passionate in what they do. Serious genealogists usually can be
described with these same terms.
Genealogists acquire records, stories,
artifacts, and other items, all of which point towards a conclusion about their
ancestors. In the acquisition of
knowledge, we cannot afford to leave any stone unturned. We must attempt to recover all remnants of our
ancestor’s lives through an exhaustive search.
If we do not find all possible records, our attempt at a conclusion
stands a chance of being overturned by the evidence that has not yet been
discovered.
In regards to the search, we must
consider that the Internet has a vast quantity of online records and
information, but the Internet doesn’t contain everything, so we must also apply
our knowledge of “offline” records and resources, and we must be willing to
accept that driving to an archive, making a phone call to a funeral home or
writing a letter to a genealogical society is a skill just as important as
knowing how to effectively use search filters on a website.
An effective search for ancestor doesn't mean that we only search for that individual… it means we also research
the people in their lives. Our
ancestors probably didn't lead solitary lives.
More than likely, they had ties to others in their lives like parents,
siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, children, spouses, grandchildren, work
associates, neighbors and other people all of whom can give us clues about our
ancestor. Many times clues appear in a
brother’s immigration record, a cousin’s biographical sketch or other
not-so-obvious places. Broaden your
horizon and research the whole family. They
have a way of telling you things about your ancestor you’d probably never
guessed.
An additional facet of an exhaustive
search includes all those people that your ancestor could be confused
with. When researching my 3rd
great grandfather, John Ford, an Irishman, with a common name, in Chicago
during the late 1800's, it was imperative for me to research ALL John Fords in
that city during those years. I had
scraps of information to go on, but the better I understood the other men with
the same name, and their families, the more distinct they all started to
become. I eventually was able to
clearly tell them apart so as not to accidentally confuse their records with
the records of my ancestor.
We must also seek out knowledge about
the places they lived by researching those areas, studying geographical and
political maps and studying the laws in place that affected them and the
records created about them. As examples, what may have been a county border in
1870 might not be the same boundary in 1880, or the family being researched had
nine children but their birth locations alternated every few years between
Wheeling, West Virginia and Bridgeport, Ohio.
It may seem unlikely that you've got the correct family until you
realize that only the Ohio River separates these two cites and a bridge
connects them. What seemed preposterous
is now completely possible.
It is important to record the
provenance of an item to document its journey from its original source to its
current owner. This is true for
records, pictures and all other items.
Many of us have scans of images or have other acquired items but we have
no idea where they came from. Don’t
lose the chance to document an item’s provenance. As diligent genealogists, we seek to properly document our
collection of records by accurately recording their sources but we often forget
about other items in the collection.
Genealogists interpret the information
in their collection with an open-minded analysis of all acquired data after an
exhaustive search. It’s rare when that
data doesn't contain conflicts, so the genealogist must thoroughly examine all
evidence with the following questions.
·
How close the record was to the event?
·
Could the informant have had motive for
providing the answers they did?
·
How many of the records were provided
by the same informant?
·
Is the record transcribed,
transliterated or translated from the original?
·
Did the record come from a primary or
secondary source?
These and other tests help us interpret
that data before us so that we can come to an educated “conclusion”. Often we are faced with an overwhelming urge
to compare the collection of data with preconceived or perpetuated notions of
the truth, but we must guard ourselves from this, as it will have a tendency to
skew our perceptions when we judge the evidence. If Grandma Judy told you her sister was married in June 1928, but
documentation consistently points to July 1929, it’s possible that Grandma just
forgot the details, but it’s also possible that Grandma is protecting a family
secret by stating her sister was married well in advance of her first child’s
birth, which may not be the case. It’s
good to have a starting point for reference so you know where to begin
searching, but when analyzing your data, be careful not to disregard something
just because it doesn't match up with what you “believe” to be true at that
point. Once you've had a chance to
collect and analyze all available records on your ancestor, take the time to
write out why it is that you believe what you do. Reconcile the differences in the records and provide as astute
assessment of the facts as you see them.
This is your “proof” statement and making it available to others for
their review will help you test it’s strength.
Genealogists care for their collection. There are many ways to do this. One type of caring is to preserve and manage
the data in a written form or software database which is backed up. Another type of caring is to scan documents
and pictures so they are protected from tragedy or natural disaster. Can you quickly find ALL relevant pictures,
mementos, records, and databases of your family and grab them at a moments
notice if a tornado were bearing down on your home? Not many of us could do that.
Scan and back up your data to several secure locations. A bank vault, a relative’s home, and the
“cloud” are some secure location ideas that will help preserve your data. At least you won’t have lost all of your
hard work, some of which may never again be able to be reproduced or found
again.
Another type of caring is sharing your
work with others. Curators of a museum
care for their collections by making sure they are shared with the public. What good is a collection if you are the
only one that will ever see the hard work you’ve put into it? As your work is compiled, be willing to
share it with others, warts and all. It
will always be a work-in-progress.
Don’t worry that it’s “not done”.
It may never be “done” but be sure that there are people that would love
to see your collection and that will forgive you if something is amiss. A little family vetting never hurt. Welcome it.
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