Tag, You're It!
I like "unverified" and "hypothesis" because they are a great way to tag ancestors who I've either found on some document and been unable to verify further, or ancestors who I suspect (but can't yet prove) are related in a certain way to my tree. Extremely useful.
"Actively researching" and "brick wall" seem less useful tags for my purposes. "Verified" is, however, highly useful for situations where I've got clear, solid evidence for these ancestors and can verify how they are actually related to my family.
What Does Complete Mean?
But after 21 years of active research, the word "complete" is not in my #genealogy vocabulary and I doubt I'll ever tag any ancestor in this way.
Ancestry defines "complete" as: "I am confident that I have executed thorough searches to help answer my questions."
As thorough as my research may be, new records become available all the time. And that's not all. DNA is also changing the research landscape.
So although I may have answered my current questions, and may even have amassed a huge amount of data through research, I don't view any ancestor as completely researched.
New Records Galore
Just this month, for instance, Family Search posted a database of 34 million U.S. obituaries from GenealogyBank, 1980-2014. Woo-hoo! I'm searching for the names of cousins, aunts, and uncles who died in the past 40 years. Maybe an obit will reveal a previously unknown spouse or challenge my knowledge of that person's life in some other way.
Family Search also posted databases of Cook County, Illinois births-marriages-deaths from the 1870s into the 20th century, as late as 1994 for the deaths. Another woo-hoo, as I search for ancestors who lived or died in Chicago. Found two already.
I may stop researching some ancestors for a while, focusing on others who I know less about or certain ancestors I have a special interest in, but I can't imagine tagging any ancestor (even my parents) as "complete."
What about you?
PS: To see the very latest collections on Family Search, go to the collections page here and sort by "last updated" (on the far right).
I totally agree - when can research be complete? Verified I understand, but I agree that there are always new records to be found!
ReplyDeleteI laugh when I see a few brave souls say they've "finished" their _______ line - just saw it the other day! Um, yeah - just not possible. While I know all the basics about my maternal great-grandfather (my nana's dad), almost every time FMP updates the newspaper database with London newspapers, I find something else about him.
ReplyDeleteI can't see myself using this, even on a private tree where it meant something only to me, I can't see a use for it and I would certainly never use it on a public tree.
ReplyDeleteLadies, thanks for reading and commenting. Genealogy is the hobby/obsession that never stops giving, and I really doubt my research will never be complete. It's not just that new records are made available, but also that I get better at digging deeper for less obvious research and clues!
ReplyDelete