The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Sometines, chaos can be helpful
This story was published Sept. 27, 1998
OK, I admit it. I sometimes resort to the chaos theory of genealogy.
Chaos, by definition, is a state of great disorder or confusion. Chaos makes many people nervous, but a few of us actually enjoy disorder.
Victorians brought the philosophy of order to its zenith. Everything from the universe down to the most minute detail of life must be properly and meticulously ordered.
I'm sure Victorian minds still shrink in horror from modern scientific theories that explain creation in terms of chaos and heaven only knows how valid these theories are.
But this much I do know. Great discoveries can be derived from chaos; and, yes, even great order can devolve from chaos. I have found it so in many aspects of life, including genealogy.
Please don't let the staff know, but I have conducted research by chaos in the Family History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. And very successfully.
I have literally walked into the Kentucky section of the books and started pulling books from the shelf, almost randomly, carrying as many as my long arms will hold to a desk where I went through them one by one looking for information that might lead me to John Day or Elizabeth McKenzie.
Heck, I've even exhausted my pile of books and reached over - with permission, of course - to a pile of books being researched by a neighbor at the same table.
When you're looking for a needle in a haystack, you have to move a lot of hay. It would really frustrate the staff, and I presume all seasoned genealogists, to know that I've found considerable, valuable information on my Day line in this chaotic fashion. It has worked for me and I'm bold enough to recommend it to you, if you ever make a trip to a large enough genealogical library to be able to do such a remarkably unorganized thing.
But there's a qualification. If you're making a trip to a major research library, it truly is important you go there with a plan to guide your efforts. Time is precious when you are on the road and time is limited.
Yes, organization is good. Moreover, it is virtually essential. Where I recommend getting a little chaotic is when you find yourself with a few minutes or hours beyond your plan. Perhaps someone else is using the materials you have planned to use. Perhaps you have pursued your plan to the very end.
Now what? Just grab some likely looking titles and start looking in them. It's a good idea to write down the citation information, author, title, publisher, etc., for future reference. But don't misuse that information. Some genealogists are so concerned with efficiency they never want to research the same book twice. So they note the book in their research log and are reluctant to return to it.
Again, I'm a bit unorthodox. I find it's sometimes helpful to travel the same road twice, or even many times. It's the same with books, especially if you're just scanning for information - which genealogists often are - instead of reading word by word.
On occasion, I've even paid a professional genealogist to follow in my tracks and see if I've missed anything. Conversely, on important matters I sometimes stalk a professional researcher's trail through documents to ensure they haven't missed something. We all have our quirks.
If you're a beginning genealogist, I recommend attending some workshops, joining the local genealogical society, and talking with other genealogists about how to plan and organize. But don't forget to give chaos a whirl every now and then. Just dart off into the stacks on a whim. Let your hair down and have a little fun.
If it isn't productive, at least you'll have had some fun.