Interactive Genealogy

So you think you have written down everything you can think of, and you probably have for now. But as you start talking to people you will remember little tidbits of things you have overheard as you have grown up. So the next step in the research into your own personal history is interviewing.

Now you need to make a list of all the people you think should be interviewed to find out information, then make another list of people you think shouldn't be interviewed...and interview both. Now before you start interviewing your family members take something into consideration. There might be information in your history that people don't want you to know, so the more people you are able to talk to the more robust your history is going to be.

After you have made your list of people to interview, you need to figure out what you want to ask them. If you go over to talk to your great Aunt Mildred, she will talk your ear off and you will walk away without any information. But if you have specific questions you would like to know, like the names and ages of all of her brother's and sisters (even if you know the answer ask anyways, because she might have different or more information). Continue this until you have interviewed everyone you can think of and when you are talking to your family, remember to ask them if they recommend anyone you could talk to, you never know who might have information on your family.

As I have stated I have been researching since I was 16, and a few years ago I got a funny letter from my Uncle. My cousin had decided to do some family history research and started looking on the Internet. He called my Uncle really excited, he said, "Uncle, I found someone on the Internet who has a lot of information on our family. She has a lot of the information you do."
My Uncle asked the name of the person and when my cousin told him, my Uncle laughed. The person my cousin had found was me and because he hadn't looked closely at the family history he didn't know my married name, so he didn't know it was me.

So remember, think of as many people to interview as possible, decide on your questions, interview, ask for recommendations and then the most important piece of any research...organize your notes. After each interview update the information in your spreadsheets. If the information is varied, you might need to create alternate group sheets for one individual, but it is extremely important to stay organized.

Have a fantastic day and Happy Interviewing!
Patti