What do you do when you are climbing your FamilySearch Family Tree and you come to a person on your tree that you have never personally researched? Watch an expert analyze a FamilySearch Family Tree Person Page for the first time to determine how accurate and complete the profile is, and what should be done next.
Watch This Episode, or Continue Reading Below
Keys to Analyzing a Person in the Tree
When you come to a “new-to-you” person in your family tree on FamilySearch, there are several things you should do to determine how solid the profile is for that person. Is the profile complete? Do the clues make sense? Or does the person need more research to flesh out their details?
Look at the Sources
- Look at the sources already attached to the person’s profile.
- Examine those documents in detail to determine if they truly belong to the person.
- If there are not many documents attached, that is a red flag that more research needs to be done on this person.
Look at the data
- Do the family dates make sense?
- Was the mother old enough to have the children?
- Were the parents each old enough to get married?
Location, Location
- Were the family events all in one location, or did they switch back and forth between multiple locations?
- People did move around, even hundreds of years ago, but make sure the location moves make sense and don’t send up red flags that there is a data problem with this person profile.
Dig Deeper
If the person profile you come across as you climb the family tree has data issues of any kind, keep digging to find out more about that person and their family. Research to find more documents about them. Work to improve and complete the profile. If we all contribute a little bit, the FamilySearch family tree will become a much more accurate tree.
Have you come across a new person in your tree on FamilySearch lately? Did you examine the profile to see how complete it was? Were you able to add more information to complete the profile?
See you next time,
Melissa
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