Читать книгу Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history - Nick Barratt - Страница 44

… make your family tree

1. If drawing a tree by hand, only use ink when you are sure of a fact, having verified it with official documentation such as a birth, marriage or death certificate

2. Write information you are unsure of in pencil, and leave a question mark against dubious dates or names so that you know further research is required

3. Use your family tree to shape your research plan. Focus on the areas where you want to work further back in time, or are not sure of information you’ve been told

4. Put a date on your family tree each time you revise it, and where possible create a new version each time you’ve discovered something new – either a new file name if you are working online or with a software package, or draw up an amended tree by hand. That way, you can always go back to an earlier version if you’ve made an error

5. Keep a clean master copy of your family tree, but make copies of sections of it to take into the archives with you. That way you can focus on one branch of the family at a time, which will help avoid confusion

6. Once you are more familiar with the practice of compiling your family tree, use a software package to help keep all your notes together. You can add photos, video and audio clips, images of documents and biographical notes to bring the tree to life, depending on the package you have chosen

7. Think about adding your family tree to one of the various online communities that link your data to that of other users. You may find that someone has already done the work for you – though beware of simply accepting non-verified data at face value