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The First Families Project focuses on the "publishing" of family and local history. The First Families Project will always be about documenting our sources and writing historically accurate local histories, but our objective is to tell the stories in a compelling and engaging way that everyone will enjoy reading.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sometimes I Thinks and Writes and Sometimes I Just Writes

Today while chasing down my ever elusive Leroy I was reminded once again of the lesson I should have learned twenty (almost) years ago.

When the Internet was in its infancy - before the World Wide Web actually, I worked with Dr. Bob Fernekes on  "How to Do Research on the Internet" - a set of lessons that emphasized the importance of FIRST forming a thesis, then gathering your working bibliography, before jumping in to start "researching".

I spent a good three hours clicking on links and finding interesting stuff about folks that weren't my kin before going back and reading my previous notes and forming a "thesis" of what I really wanted to find.  Once I reread my notes, I immediately knew where I needed to look and was able to zero in on the available data and review it within minutes.

Well, I found Leroy's brother Frank, so I was close which goes to prove my oveall thesis anyway.

"Collect 'em all.  Let God sort them out."

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