These were my “not New Year’s Resolutions” from 2015—but they are worth repeating.
I’m not big on resolutions so I won’t make them. Instead we’ll take a different approach to the new year.
Here are some research suggestions to remember in 2015:
- Use contemporary [to the problem] maps
- Cite sources
- Avoid using record transcriptions
- Determine a record’s likely informant
- Question the reliability of the likely informant
- Ask “how did this record get to me from its original location?”
- Question (respectfully) the conclusions of others
- List the assumptions that have been made
- Reorganize the information in a different way?
- Do other record sources have copies of the same record?
Not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, but certain to keep most of us thinking in 2015!
One response
This is a great list to post above my computer for a reminder!