Extracting Information - Getting the Most From Genealogical Sources

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• Organize your information and analyze what records you need
  
• Categories of documents and what you'll find there
• Where and how to locate genealogical documents
• Recognizing valid sources
• Source citation: boring but necessary
• The challenges of incorrect information
• Reading and understanding U.S. records:
  1. Why they were produced and by what entity
     
  2. Censuses: each one unique and useful, the best place to start a search
     
  3. US Military Records, Immigration & Naturalization, Passenger Lists, Census Schedules
     
  4. Understanding the information in U.S. records and knowing what to do with it
     
  5. Knowing what laws, if any, governed the data
     
  6. Is information missing? That's important too.
• Analysis, comparisons and conclusions - the key to accurate research
• Handouts