It is my turn here again at Worldwide Genealogy, and I will admit, although I've been ruminating on possible topics for the past week I have persisted in drawing an absolute blank.
It struck me then that this is a topic in and of itself. We have all reached the point in our research where we find nothing and how we approach this can be the difference between a temporary brickwall and a complete stop. So I thought I'd share a few of the things I do when faced with the frustrating experience of no results.
Take a broader view. Sometimes research blanks are the result of the whole 'missing the forest for the trees thing.' The cluster genealogy approach can be a good one - looking at friends, neighbours and associates - so can branching out into local history. Read about the area in which your person lived, they might have a sentence or two about your person or they could spark something. If nothing else, they will give you an insight into the life of your person. I'm an advocate of more general histories for the same reason. To take the Australian example, the experiences of convict ancestors will make no sense if you don't look not only at Australian history generally but that of Britain.
Newspapers. Ok, so this is related to taking the broader view. I don't mean those specific searches we all do scouring the pages for a certain name or event, but a general browse of newspapers of the period. What didn't make it into the history books but could be effecting your 'blank.' Fire, Flood, Act of God?
Google it. No really. It's not the be all and end all of research tools but mix up your keywords and have a look. The same goes for library catalogues. Gems are to be found in amongst the manure.
Talk about it. Whether you blog or just dump it all out on friends and family, a fresh set of eyes can make all the difference. A warning though, sometimes this can result in your wanting to beat relatives over the head as they blithely reply with "oh I know that... such and such married such and such... I've got a letter..."
Set it aside. No, I don't mean giving up. Archives and Libraries are always working on finding aids, collection cataloguing and making new things available to the public. Digital databases are adding more records all the time. Come back in six months and try again.
There are of course circumstances when there simply is nothing to be found. Hard to accept but sometimes we will just never know.
I like cluster genealogy and researching the community and events that occurred where they lived. This really is a very useful post. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis is all excellent advice. I would also emphasise the importance of thoroughly researching the subject's brothers and sisters. Time and time again I have found that their records (and often rather obscure ones) had details that led to a breakthrough. I can also vouch for your last suggestion about repeating searches.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't discount descendents outside of the 'direct' line either, they are as useful as siblings :)
DeleteExcellent post Sharon! I often find that if I leave it for a while, ideas usually pop into my head when I'm doing other things. And yes, I agree with Judy's comment about researching siblings. Doing that solved a major mystery for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas. May I also suggest, write about it! Sometimes just jotting down what you have and what you need in narrative form, helps you identify holes and reveal your next steps.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Kathleen. Whether you use a narrative format or create a tabular 'timeline' for individuals or a family group, it will definitely help.
DeleteGreat ideas. Another fave of mine when in a library is to just browse the shelves, pick up a books in subject areas related to your research you find there and flip through the pages. You never know what you might find.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, serendipitous research. Less and less likely with the increasing number of 'robot' libraries (ie storage retrieval based)
DeleteI just choose different aspects of their lives and intertwine them with History. Gravestones. Anything about that person were I can fill in the blanks. I use some of your methods as well. Great Post.
ReplyDeleteA thought provoking, helpful post that resonated with me. Two of my best (and unexpected) findings came from quite casual searches on Google, though it helped that I was looking for a distinctive name.
ReplyDeleteExcellent reminders.
ReplyDeleteGreat reminders! I do this a lot when writing about ancestors for whom records are scarce. I write about their occupation, the community in which they live, whether they were likely to be literate, major events that happened that they would have heard about. Anything to make them come alive when I have no facts.
ReplyDeleteI find that looking again later does often reveal new information.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Uplift. Sometimes "Cluster" is all I got! 2nd pair of eyes always help.
ReplyDelete