If you’re a Texan (congratulations!) and ready to do your ancestral research and make a family tree, your best genealogy research resources in the Lone Star State are expert librarians and stellar genealogy research resources. This article brings you both! Susan Kaufman, President of the Texas State Genealogical Society (2012-2013) and Manager of the Clayton Library/Houston Public Library Genealogy Research Center shares her experience with genealogy researchers. A genealogy librarian for 25 years, Ms. Kaufman began her career in Illinois. She has served on the boards of directors of Midwestern genealogy societies, as well as the Federation of Genealogical Societies. What she has to tell you about genealogy research in the Lone Start State is, indeed, big and brilliant. So, pack her saddlebags, we’re going for a ride.
Welcome to Texas, everyone. We have prepared a lot of goodies for you to bite your teeth. No, it’s not ribeye, it’s a good local genealogy research resource, and Sue Kaufman, president of the Texas State Genealogical Society, will be telling everyone about it right now.*
CR: What are the first steps a genealogist should take?
kaufmann: Start with yourself and ask the questions: Who, what, when, where and how? Identify who you want to investigate specifically. What do you want to know about this person? When did this person live and where did he live? How and where will you find information about this person?
Fill out family group sheets and a pedigree chart, often referred to today as a family tree – they are the same thing. The pedigree is your ancestral “map”. The holes become your area of investigation.
Do your homework. Take time to read about how master genealogists conduct genealogical research, such as The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy (edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Ancestry Publishing; 2006; third edition) and A Researchers Guide to American Genealogy. Genealogy (Val Greenwood; Genealogical Publishing Company; Baltimore, MD; 2000), among others.
Genealogical research is not done in a vacuum; talk to other lineage researchers for research tips and advice. Join a lineage research society. Some of the genealogy websites offer informative podcasts and blogs with helpful resource research tips; Ancestry has a learning center; FamilySearch.org offers free online learning classes and a wiki. Take advantage of what your local libraries offer in the form of workshops and seminars.
The Clayton Library Genealogical Research Center in Houston offers workshops and seminars that teach researchers how to maneuver through websites and piles of books; offers library orientations, including the use of library catalogues; and holds educational sessions each month on various topics and information about conferences and workshops outside the library. These types of activities and events will help you adopt and improve the efficiency of your genealogy research methods.
How could genealogy researchers use genealogy collections and library consultants more efficiently?
Think of libraries as a destination experience. Whether the genealogy center is near or far from you, you are investing time, effort, and money in the business. Before your visit, identify your genealogy research questions and keep them specific. For example: if you are shopping for towels, you would not ask the clerk for the “household items” department, but specifically “towels.” The same applies to the questions you ask library consultants: remember, they don’t have time to listen to your family’s stories; especially, with all the budget cuts, there are fewer librarians to help you.
What are your thoughts about genealogy research websites?
Most researchers use Ancestry for two reasons: they want results in five minutes, and they really believe that everything is on the Internet. Ancestry features a search box, I call it the “magic box,” that makes visitors believe they can type in a name and the search will be done for them. They don’t stop to examine the rest of the website to find the various databases that are available to them.
It is important that people conducting family investigations know what is available to them beyond the “magic box.” Take the time to search the databases that are available online, but remember that there are limitations to researching only online. You pay your $200 to access a limited number of research databases; maybe they have the information you need, and maybe they don’t. Many people think that if they can’t find it there, it can’t be found, and that’s not the case.
For example, the state of Texas didn’t start collecting birth and death records until 1903. If you’re looking for records before that date, you’ll have to go to the court (or wherever the records are kept) in the county where the person was born or died. . Texas marriage records do not exist at the state level prior to 1965; once again, you must go to the county; you won’t find it online.
If I could create the perfect program for investigators, it would be related to sources and teach the mechanics of how to investigate. Educating lineage researchers is extremely important. There are several genealogy websites that offer blogs with valuable resource information for genealogy researchers, online learning centers, podcasts, etc. These tools help the genealogy researcher navigate online resources to take full advantage of what is offered.
What research materials do you recommend?
I believe the best research resources are published source materials, such as vital records, microfilm, censuses, supplemented by databases, the Internet, home sources, and anything that provides information about a specific person in a specific place in a period of time. specific time.
What do you recommend researchers do when they hit the proverbial “brick wall”? How can a genealogy researcher regroup to find other avenues of investigation to find the answer?
The best thing a researcher can do when he hits a dead end is to read more about the topic or era. If the issue is immigration, read more about the immigration laws for the time in question. Find out about the research area. Talk to someone and give them ideas. Review the list of research protocols to make sure you are not missing any steps.
I see that the Clayton Library Genealogy Research Center and other Texas libraries are affiliated with the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. How does an affiliation like this impact library operations?
It is very helpful to be affiliated with the Family History Library (FHL). Salt Lake City now serves as the remote storage for a large amount of research materials (microfilm, digital maps, video/audio presentations) including Hispanic, Eastern European and British genealogy research resources, all of which can be found through the FHL Library catalog and are available to order online from your home computer. The materials are then sent to any FHL center you indicate, including Clayton. The FHL has a wealth of resource materials that smaller libraries could never afford, and it continually digitizes more materials, so the depth of resources is always growing.
With all the digitization of genealogy records, why even bother with a brick and mortar building?
Because you will discover within the walls of a library or research center a great deal of human expertise that is needed to help find and understand electronic and published records. At Clayton, there are eight staff members trained in genealogy research and library science, all sharing their genealogy vocation with researchers and visitors. Being part of a larger library system also makes special collections available. A brick-and-mortar building, whether it’s the State Archives of Texas or the Waco Genealogy Center, makes historical research a destination.
Do you follow a particular blog about genealogy? If so, what are your favourites?
I like to follow Geneabloggers’ daily blogs, and I especially like to monitor what blogs Thomas MacEntee (creator of Geneabloggers.com) is reading. In addition, I follow the blogs of Houston-based Caroline Pointer (4YourFamilyStory) and Amy Coffin. Another good read is MoSGA Messenger; is the official weblog of the Missouri State Genealogical Association.
What are some of the best “must do” genealogy events in Texas?
There are a number of big events in Texas. The annual conference of the Texas State Genealogical Society will be held the first weekend of November at the Riley Center in Fort Worth. The Dallas Genealogical Society organizes seminars. The Victoria County Genealogical Society is another organization active in this regard. The Hispanic Genealogical Society of Houston lists organizations throughout Texas, along with information on related events. Then there’s the Texas Research Ramblers Genealogical Society, which offers conferences, programs, newsletters, and additional resources. For more information, contact your local library and ask the librarian if there is a genealogy or historical society in your area. There are ALWAYS meetings and conferences you can attend, even if you are not a member!
*Opinions expressed are those of Susan Kaufman and not those of the Texas State Genealogical Society or the Houston Public Library.