Don't be deceived - Research isn't always easy!

[Mogsmum]

I've not been using this Board very long, but I have found a wealth of information and people incredibly generous with their time and willingness to share information.

I have read some (admittedly not all) of the Beginners topics and even though I've been researching for about 8 years, I'm still finding out things I previously didn't know.

What has become apparent (perhaps not here so much as with other similar boards) is that with a new series of 'Who Do You Think You Are?', more and more people are taking up their research and are experiencing more difficulty than they imagined.

Of course, there is no way of knowing how many 'celebs' the BBC might have begun researching only to hit the brick wall we all know is going to be there.

But I just wondered whether it would be helpful to newcomers, to have a 'sticky' on the beginners page which points out that it isn't all 'plain sailing'?  That we mere mortals do not have a team of researchers working behind the scenes on our behalf, that we do not have the luxury of a 'tame' Archivist standing by with the very Parish, Company or Workhouse record we might want and that the PRO is seldom as deserted as when Robert Lindsay visited?

I know the 'Mods' here do an excellent job and I'm happy to put my hands up if someone says 'we already do say this' - and admit that I clearly haven't found that bit yet.   And, of course there is also the very valid point that people are naturally enthusiastic to find out what they can and so jump in without necessarily reading the Beginners pages.

But, maybe something along the lines of 'Research can take years' or 'It may be harder than you think' would help complete newcomers to understand that it is the digging around in dusty corners to eventually unearth someone which turns us (well me anyway) into a sad fanatic!

[Arranroots]

Good point, well made Mogsmum!

I will sticky it for you! 

[Mogsmum]

Well ... it was just a suggestion.

Thanks for that.   Post-It Note at the ready then!

[william james]

Hi
Here, here well said.
I have been researching my tree for 34 years, and i am still learning new things and find this web site a god send.
So thank you all Roots chat.
I have traveled many wrong twists and turns in my time and would i am sure have many more Grey hair's if not for the friendship and help from here.
William James

[goggy]

Well said all of you,may it be so 'til I pop's me clog's,lot's of work to do yet!
           Goggy.
               

[yn9man]

I took over researching my mothers side of her family from my late grandmother.  I took over researching my Dad's side from my other late grandmother.  I am sure both would be Rootschatters today. 

Just about every time I log onto to this site (Rootschat) I read about a new research tool, read about a new site to research, learn or re learn history and the like.

I am very appreciative of the people that "MOD" the boards and all that respond to my postings. Hopefully my "wee" bit of knowledge helps others.

yn9man

[Lendevon]

I've been researching my family for thirty years - and have just discovered an uncle that no one told me about!  A "non-person". I know they did that sort of thing in Stalin's Russia, but this is ridiculous.

[Christopher]

Research may not always be easy but never give up searching. There's loads of information to be found. You may come across useful items in auction houses or in skips waiting to be taken to landfill sites. I came across a few pages on the website of the Friend's School, Lisburn, Co. Antrim yesterday. FSL History Department were given a rusty old tin box in the mid 1990s that had been retrieved from a skip. It contained photographs and letters sent home from the first World War. (see Ireland Antrim Resources 1914-1919. Lisburn's Dead - Link). Some archives have cardboard boxes full of uncatalogued and unindexed records ... well at least that's the case with several thousand wills made by Irish soldiers prior to heading to France to fight in WWI. I'm quite certain Ireland's not the only place where such a situation exists.

Christopher

[mytree]

Hi

Newbie to board and hold my hands up, i jumped in asking questions before i checked out the beginners section. So apologies for any unnecessary questions i may have asked that i will find answers to in this section.

First visit to day and been off\on all day. Such a brilliant site and such helpful people.Thanks to all who have helped so far and may help in the future. Hopefully as i go along i may be able to help others.

Off to read and learn now!

Thanks everyone.