1. Thou shall
interview by telephone or questionnaire all known adult
relatives, especially the elderly, before starting to research.
If one procrastinates with this critical research step, some
folks may not be living when you finally decide to attempt to
contact them;
2. Thou shall
write down every relevant fact discovered or make copies. Do not
leave anything to memory, especially the name of the resource and
the page where it was found;
3. Thou shall
not believe everything you are told during genealogical
interviews until you prove it with primary and secondary source
evidence;
4. Thou shall
not dismiss anything you are told until you know it to be myth by
other irrefutable evidence;
5. Thou shall always
carry a copy of your pedigree chart and county map with you
whenever you research at the library;
6. Thou shall
review your notes after each research session and make
appropriate notations in the margins with suggestions of what
further can be done to enlarge upon that newly discovered
information;
7. Thou shall
always make a step-by-step lesson plan of who, what, where and
when to research BEFORE going to the library;
8. Thou shall
always make a copy of all letter requests before mailing, and
always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the
convenient transmittal of that requested information;
9. Thou shall
never send cash in the mail for certified copies of vital
statistics or for miscellaneous duplication - it will most likely
be returned to you. To avoid delays, send money orders or
certified cashier’s checks;
10. Thou shall never seek more than one research request per letter whenever writing a library, archive, or institution. Keep all requests to a one-page minimum, or it will probably meet the archivist/librarian’s trash basket.
Sandra Craighead