Genealogy exam 1 questions & answers
2024/2025
How your grandparents' would have obtained information (slow process) - ANSWERS-ask family
members everything they remembered and write it down
-travel to a historical society or other specialized library
-travel to a cemetery or church
-travel to a county recorder, city hall, etc.
How we obtain information today (fast process) - ANSWERSthe internet
First step in gathering information - ANSWERSask family members (esp. elders)
-interview, record, take notes
-find out about family artifacts ex: family bible
-write down findings in a research log
Major repositories or online genealogical information - ANSWERS-FamilySearch.org — requires free
account. Run by LDS church.
-Ancestry.com ($$)
-MyHeritage ($$)
-FindMyPast ($$) — specializes in England/Scotland/IrelandWales
-Geneanet ($$) — focus on Europe
-JewishGen — focus on Jewish Genealogy
-AmericanAncestors ($$) — access by becoming a member of The New England Historic Genealogical
Society (NEHGR)
-FindAGrave.com — specializes in photos of gravestones
-Newspapers.com — now owned by Ancestry.com, specializes in historical newspapers
,Expert practice in finding information online - ANSWERSfollow genealogical news outlets that announce
the existence or creation of new repositories
T/F There is a bias in the above sites towards American and European research. - ANSWERSTrue
T/F You must often travel to do research on families from other continents (more expensive) -
ANSWERSTrue
When searching for a woman's gravestone from the mid 1700's, should you search for her by her maiden
name or married name? - ANSWERSMarried name
Vital Records - ANSWERSRecords of life events kept by a government. Typically record birth, marriage, or
death (abbreviated b/m/d)
Non-vital records - ANSWERSChurch records, military records, census records can be used as substitutes,
but they are not vital records.
Extraction of information - ANSWERSsomeone took information from a record and entered it into a
database
T/F Always view the source closest to the original one - ANSWERSTrue
Why is a research log useful? - ANSWERSThey can be used to make notes of further things to pursue, like
tracking down original records that haven't been viewed yet. Also unless you write it down, you will
forget what you have searched in the past.
What is wrong with "user contributed" sites? - ANSWERS-a different person could contribute a
gravestone photo than the person who types in the birth date, parents, bio, etc.
-information may conflict
-some users are not very careful
, The downside to using the internet for genealogical research - ANSWERS-genealogical disinformation
spreads like wildfire around the internet
-"The preponderance of information" could be one piece of bad information that was recopied a
thousand times; therefore, just because one piece of information appears many places, that fact that it is
common cannot be used to judge what is correct and what is not
T/F Ancestry.com's hints are always accurate - ANSWERSFalse
How do you deal with disinformation and keep an accurate family tree? - ANSWERS-stick to original
source documents or eyewitness information as much as possible
-learn to carefully analyze and compare sources to judge their trustworthiness and resolve conflicting
information
T/F The vast majority of pages/records are searchable and indexed - ANSWERSFalse
T/F The amount of genealogically relevant documents that are not online clearly exceeds the amount
that are - ANSWERSTrue
Steps of the Research Process - ANSWERS0. (Prepare)
1. Ask questions
2. Gather evidence & form hypotheses
3. Test hypotheses
4. Repeat steps 2&3 as necessary (if hypotheses were proved false) or else form conclusions
5. Write up your "proof"
When preparing to do genealogical research, important considerations include... - ANSWERS-decide how
you will store your information
-setup a research log
-research what records are available for the region of interest (FamilySearch Research Wiki, join an
online group, reach out to a historical society, ask others in person or online via G2G)
-find out what it will take to access and understand the records (language or handwriting barrier, what is
online vs what can I get from email vs what requires travel)
2024/2025
How your grandparents' would have obtained information (slow process) - ANSWERS-ask family
members everything they remembered and write it down
-travel to a historical society or other specialized library
-travel to a cemetery or church
-travel to a county recorder, city hall, etc.
How we obtain information today (fast process) - ANSWERSthe internet
First step in gathering information - ANSWERSask family members (esp. elders)
-interview, record, take notes
-find out about family artifacts ex: family bible
-write down findings in a research log
Major repositories or online genealogical information - ANSWERS-FamilySearch.org — requires free
account. Run by LDS church.
-Ancestry.com ($$)
-MyHeritage ($$)
-FindMyPast ($$) — specializes in England/Scotland/IrelandWales
-Geneanet ($$) — focus on Europe
-JewishGen — focus on Jewish Genealogy
-AmericanAncestors ($$) — access by becoming a member of The New England Historic Genealogical
Society (NEHGR)
-FindAGrave.com — specializes in photos of gravestones
-Newspapers.com — now owned by Ancestry.com, specializes in historical newspapers
,Expert practice in finding information online - ANSWERSfollow genealogical news outlets that announce
the existence or creation of new repositories
T/F There is a bias in the above sites towards American and European research. - ANSWERSTrue
T/F You must often travel to do research on families from other continents (more expensive) -
ANSWERSTrue
When searching for a woman's gravestone from the mid 1700's, should you search for her by her maiden
name or married name? - ANSWERSMarried name
Vital Records - ANSWERSRecords of life events kept by a government. Typically record birth, marriage, or
death (abbreviated b/m/d)
Non-vital records - ANSWERSChurch records, military records, census records can be used as substitutes,
but they are not vital records.
Extraction of information - ANSWERSsomeone took information from a record and entered it into a
database
T/F Always view the source closest to the original one - ANSWERSTrue
Why is a research log useful? - ANSWERSThey can be used to make notes of further things to pursue, like
tracking down original records that haven't been viewed yet. Also unless you write it down, you will
forget what you have searched in the past.
What is wrong with "user contributed" sites? - ANSWERS-a different person could contribute a
gravestone photo than the person who types in the birth date, parents, bio, etc.
-information may conflict
-some users are not very careful
, The downside to using the internet for genealogical research - ANSWERS-genealogical disinformation
spreads like wildfire around the internet
-"The preponderance of information" could be one piece of bad information that was recopied a
thousand times; therefore, just because one piece of information appears many places, that fact that it is
common cannot be used to judge what is correct and what is not
T/F Ancestry.com's hints are always accurate - ANSWERSFalse
How do you deal with disinformation and keep an accurate family tree? - ANSWERS-stick to original
source documents or eyewitness information as much as possible
-learn to carefully analyze and compare sources to judge their trustworthiness and resolve conflicting
information
T/F The vast majority of pages/records are searchable and indexed - ANSWERSFalse
T/F The amount of genealogically relevant documents that are not online clearly exceeds the amount
that are - ANSWERSTrue
Steps of the Research Process - ANSWERS0. (Prepare)
1. Ask questions
2. Gather evidence & form hypotheses
3. Test hypotheses
4. Repeat steps 2&3 as necessary (if hypotheses were proved false) or else form conclusions
5. Write up your "proof"
When preparing to do genealogical research, important considerations include... - ANSWERS-decide how
you will store your information
-setup a research log
-research what records are available for the region of interest (FamilySearch Research Wiki, join an
online group, reach out to a historical society, ask others in person or online via G2G)
-find out what it will take to access and understand the records (language or handwriting barrier, what is
online vs what can I get from email vs what requires travel)
