Genealogy “Crimes” You Should Forgive Yourself For

“You should always cite your sources. You should never accept a hint without checking it first. You should do this, you should do that, etc.”

The farther you get in genealogy, the more rules it seems like there are to follow. The longer you research, the more you hear about the “right” and “wrong” way to do things. Before long, it might feel like the “genealogy police” are at your door.

Your actions can affect others’ research, so it’s important to follow certain codes of conduct.

Here are a few genealogy “crimes” that you should be able to get away with. Plus, a few crimes where we’ll let you off with a warning—this time!

Crimes to Forgive Yourself For

1. Not having a research plan

Let’s say you’ve been casually doing genealogy research for a while, and you decide to take a beginner class. All of a sudden, you start hearing about the necessity of creating a research plan.

Relax. Research plans are helpful, and they can help make you a more effective, organized researcher. But they are absolutely not required, and it doesn’t mean all the research you’ve done up until this point is bad.

The same goes for research logs.

2. Believing common myths

There are a few classic family history myths that are very common.

If you’re guilty of believing or spreading these myths, don’t beat yourself up. The majority of people repeat family legends without taking the time to verify if they’re true.

So, forgive yourself and take some time to fact-check that family story. And try not to be too disappointed if you find out the story isn’t true. Your real family history is valuable and interesting because it’s the truth.

3.Only doing direct line research

Direct line research means researching your direct ancestors backwards through time (parents, then grandparents, then great-grandparents, etc.)

Spend long enough in the genealogy world and eventually you’ll start hearing that you should research your ancestor’s FAN club (friends, associates, neighbors), otherwise known as cluster research, or that you should be researching collateral relatives (siblings, in-laws, children, etc.)

All of these are good strategies, but there’s nothing wrong with sticking to direct line research, especially when you’re just starting out.

4. Being unorganized

There’s not a genealogist in the world who isn’t guilty of being a disorganized mess at one point or another. We all have piles of papers to file, notes we can’t find, and boxes of documents and photos that need to be digitized. Yes, it is good to be organized so you don’t lose things or have to repeat your research. But as far as genealogy crimes go, let yourself off easy for this one!

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