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Crafting a research plan, part two: Investigating the location
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The first step in crafting an effective research plan—specifically defining each individual problem—was described in part one of this series. Once this step has been completed, your next step will be to conduct research into the location in which the event in question took place.
Location in this context refers not only to the place, but also to the time.
There are several books that provide brief background and source information for localities across the United States, usually organized first by state, then by county (or parish, in the case of Louisiana). At least one, if not all, of the following guide books works great for this purpose:
· Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo, and Erin Nevius. The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists. Cincinnati, Ohio: Family Tree Books, 2004.
· Eichholz, Alice, ed. Red Book : American State, County & Town Sources. Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2004.
· Everton, George B. The Handybook for Genealogists : United States of America. Logan, Utah: Everton Publishers, 2006.
· Luebking, Sandra Hargreaves, and Loretto Dennis Szucs. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Provo, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2006.
Each of these books provides a brief overview of the history of each county or state, and some further necessary information for research, including county establishment dates and border changes, records availability, and record repositories in the area. The information provided in each of these books is slightly different, so it may be a worthwhile investment to purchase all four, if you work around the country.
You should also look into purchasing research guides specific to the state or county of your research interest. Many of these have been published over the years, and contain more detailed information about researching the location. They may not be entirely up-to-date with more recent information, but you can usually learn about newer information by performing an Internet search for your county and state and the words “genealogy,” “records,” or “history.”
Investigating the records, by learning the laws and conditions of their creation and learning the availability of those records, is an essential step in crafting your research plan.
This article has been posted on November 7, in response to the NaBloPoMo challenge of posting one article every day throughout the month of November.
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