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Computer and Technology |
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"Genealogy – More Than Who and When" Presented by Bob Wolf (Branch 116)
Bob‘s view of genealogy is that there is more to it than just Who and When. It should tell a story. There should be Where and Why. It should give a sense of history. His rules of the game are that you play detective. You search for clues. You evaluate the meaning of the clues. You must decide if they are telling the truth or if they are leading you down a false trail to a wrong conclusion. Then very importantly you must document what you have learned. He discussed the sources of information. Information is either Original or Derivative. It is either Primary or Secondary. Evidence is either Direct or Indirect. The detective must be very careful in putting all of this together. Bob showed an example from his own family history in which different original documents gave conflicting birth dates for his father. He philosophized that documents are made by humans. Humans make mistakes. Take all data with a grain of salt. You don’t want to make the same investigation more than once, so be careful to document everything as you go. Also, undocumented genealogy is mythology. The results of all of your research are presented in Pedigree Charts, Family Group Sheets, and Research Logs and Descendant Tree Diagrams. Examples of these were presented. Bob referenced many sources of Genealogical information which can be viewed on the website. These include census data, libraries, the Mormon Church, county records, Social Security records etc. He closed with an interesting discussion of dates. The change back in 1582 from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar added 10 days to the year. This was done by causing the day after October 4th to be October 15th. This led to a certain amount of confusion over the years. Bob’s caution is to beware of the Genealogy Bug its bite can be addictive. The Mount Diablo Genealogical Society meets the third Thursday of the month from 1:15 to 3:00 pm at the California Savings Bank in Rossmoor Shopping Center. Guests are always welcome. For additional information call Bob Wolf at 925-935-5439. |