Education Week: Genealogist Alice Childs shares tips and tricks for family history work

Alice Childs, associate director of the BYU Center for Family History and Genealogy, shared methods for determining correct information from historical documents during her Education Week class on Friday, August 23.

Childs’ class, titled “Analyzing Historical Data to Draw Correct Conclusions,” was designed to help amateur genealogists better recognize and discover errors in historical data. The class consisted of a mix of lectures and audience participation. Childs shared quotes from leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and taught that genealogy is the work of the Lord.

“God blesses our bodies, including our brains” when we pray for help to do His work, Childs said.

While most historical documents, including birth and death certificates, cemetery records, newspaper clippings and military records, were not created to be used in genealogical work, they are still useful documents for finding and documenting family members, Childs said. In fact, all of the documents that are useful for genealogical work were provided by the Lord, she said.

“These data are often created for a variety of purposes and we can take advantage of that when doing genealogy,” Childs said.

Childs provided three questions about evidence analysis that genealogists can use to determine the historical accuracy of a source. The questions she discussed are as follows:

1. When and how was the source created? If the source was created a long time ago, it may be less accurate.
2. Who provided the information for the source?
3. Do the facts in the source directly or indirectly answer the research question?

In addition to asking these questions, Childs said those doing family history research should think about what their research questions or the end goal of their research is. Examples of this might be finding an ancestor’s birth date, gravesite or parents.

When information isn’t available in one document, Childs said genealogists should look for other documents that can confirm, refute or add to current historical data. This method is called correlating evidence, Childs said.

“We never want to base our conclusions on just one document, because you see there’s always room for error,” Childs said, demonstrating the importance of correlating information using different historical documents.

Childs led the audience through her research process, concluding each document by asking the audience quiz questions to test the documents.

Other factors genealogists must consider when determining the accuracy of a document is how far removed the document is from the information, Childs said. For example, a historical document that describes the life of someone born 100 years earlier is more likely to contain compiled, secondhand information than firsthand documents. For that reason, a diary entry or birth certificate would be more useful in research, Childs said.

“We need to think about who provided the information, who they are and why they might have said it,” Childs said.

At the end of her address, Childs referred to a quote from Elder Dale G. Renlund RootsTech Speech 2016.

“As you become involved in temple and family history work, ‘you will not only find protection from the temptations and the ills of the world, but you will also find personal power—the power to change, the power to repent, the power to learn, the power to be sanctified and the power to turn the hearts of your family to each other and to heal that which needs healing,’” Childs said, quoting Elder Renlund.

Genealogy is the Lord’s work and He will help those who do His work to accomplish it, Childs testified.

“I know this work is a blessing to our ancestors and to us,” she said.