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Archiver > TMG > 2002-06 > 1023129928


From: "Cliff Soderback" <>
Subject: Re: [TMG] Place of death
Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 11:45:34 -0700
References: <a.1fcaadc6.2a2c5ec5@aol.com>


>
> Cliff Soderback wrote:
> > To me, it is a waste of time to source something that no one can verify,
in
> > legal
> > terms it is hearsay.
> >
>
> If you don't bother to note that Great Aunt Ida's bible was the source,
then
> who's to know that you didn't just pick a date and place out of the air?
I
> try to source everything. So what if another researcher can't find that
old
> family bible? At least they know (from my citation) that it once existed.
> (For most of my sources, no matter what, I keep copies.) Sometimes the
only
> source I have is a notation on the back of a family picture. This is noted
in
> the citation, of course. And sometimes those old family records are more
> accurate than the "official" court house records!
>
> Fran Anderson
> Olympia, Washington, USA
>
>

As a practical matter I do keep notes of all sorts of bits and pieces
I pick up.

After learning a lesson the hard way of trying for several
years to confirm what turned out to be pure fiction I came to the
conclusion that if I only sourced confirmed facts then any one who
tried to confirm these facts would indeed find them. Facts that
are not confirmed should be classified as fiction(although they certainly
could be true), but this would save some one else's the time and effort
of not chasing his(or her)'s tail so to speak.

Sometimes I think I do more detective work than actual research.
If you have confirmable information then it is rather easy to find people.
Many times it is a case of just looking in the wrong place.

And yes, you touched on another pet peeve, why can't people when they
take pictures just write on the back of them the date and who is in the
picture.
At my mothers house there are hundreds of pictures that no one will ever
know who is in the pictures because the people that would have known
are now gone. They will probably be just thrown in the trash because nobody
is alive today that can identify any of those in the pictures.

Cliff Soderback

Cliff Soderback


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