My ancestor Christian Gerner was identified with several different first names and surnames in three consecutive census records. There were enough variations in the recorded information (for both him and his family) for me to question whether it was the same individual or not. I wrote one post about the variations and another post about how I determined that it was the same man. Writing posts like these is useful to me because they help me evaluate the information, order my thoughts, and make a logical conclusion about what I've found. A few blog followers may read them and, if another descendant of the ancestor is searching, he or she may find and read them, but I think they mostly go unnoticed.
I think those posts could be helpful to others looking at shared ancestors on FSFT. I just recently realized that the posts could be added to an individual's information in FamilySearch Family Tree (FSFT).
Blog posts can't be added as a source. The document referred to in the post can be added as a source if it's available online in FamilySearch or one of its affiliate sites, but the analysis in the blog post cannot be added as a source.
A link to the blog post can be added to the individual's page on FamilySearch in either the Discussions section or the Notes section.
For my direct-line ancestors I will go through old blog posts and add links to them for my ancestors on FamilySearch Family Tree. I'll add links to only those posts that help solve a problem or give sources unavailable elsewhere. And, of course, I'll add links to posts as I write them in the future. However and wherever I add the links I will write a brief explanation of the information to be found in the post. I'm interested to learn if other researchers leave comments at FSFT or visit the posts and leave comments here.
Have you done this? Have you seen this done on FamilySearch Family Tree? Is there any reason why you think it should not be done?
--Nancy.
Copyright © 2009-2016 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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Very interesting idea, I agree it's useful to write down the research process and the findings that led you to your conclusions. I too find the blog platform very useful for doing this and sharing the results.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment, Ellie. I appreciate it.
DeleteI have never thought of including links to them in FS. I have been amazed about how helpful the process of writing has been. I've heard the amazing genealogist Tom Jones say how important it is to take the time to write and I've also heard him say that when we get stuck, we need to take the time to write because it helps clarify what we know and don't know. I've certainly found that I see holes and inconsistencies better when I write, so the blogging process has helped me a lot.
ReplyDeleteNancy... great idea. I hadn't thought to link to a blog post as a source. One other idea. As blog posts can disappear, perhaps a PDF could be made for the blog post and added as a Memory in the documents section. Then that document could be tagged to each person mentioned in the tree. Then the original blog could be linked to in the description. What do you think?
ReplyDelete