Two years later I am still working on my Genealogy Do-Over, continuing with concentrating on what is available online - and there is a lot! For consistency with sources, I try to stick to the census and BMD records available via Ancestry. They have added alot over the years since I started my genealogy research. There are still many times that names have been so mangled when transcribed, I haven't found the individual. I am usually able to find the individual indexed on another database (FamilySearch, Automated Genealogy, etc) but I will then search another name on the census page to locate the record on Ancestry.
I started my Do-Over with a new database, copying my pedigree from the databases put on hold, deleting any sources included so that I would have a fresh start. I changed the colour for these individuals to Brown to be able to identify which individuals have not yet been researched in the Do-Over. As I "finish" off with an individual, I change the colour to Blue which I had been previously using for direct ancestry. As I add other children to each family, I colour them Aqua - again as a way to identify individuals requiring further research. When I feel that I have researched the individual as much as I can, I change the colour to green for blood relations, purple for in-laws and red for other spouses and offspring of an in-law.
Any individual in black would be someone that is a relation of an in-law and entered into the database because they appeared on a document along with the in-law. I have found that recording the names of the individuals has been beneficial in locating the in-law in other records, or verifying that an individual listed on a document is indeed the in-law. And in many cases, the parent or sibling ties into another branch I eventually come to research.
There have been times a name appears on a document that I suspect belongs somewhere in the Family Tree, but is not directly related to the individual currently being researched. To avoid having to revisit the document, I will enter the individual into the database, colour coding them Yellow as a possible relation. I will also consult my old databases to see where the individual fits into the tree. If found, I will take a few minutes to enter the lineage of that individual to tie it into my Do-Over tree, leaving any entries I enter unsourced until I come upon that branch in my Do-Over research. But I do colour code in Aqua to identify the individuals that more research is needed.
Family friends, as well as clergy or doctors frequently appearing on documents, are also entered and colour coded in Grey.
When I start on a family, I search for the relevant census records of that family as well as the birth, marriage and death records. I also make use of the Suggested Records provided by Ancestry. Information on each record will lead to other names to be research as spouses and children are added to the database. Again, colour coding new additions to keep track of individual requiring additional research.
I also try to locate a photo of the individual's headstone (Find a Grave, Canadian Gravemarker Gallery, Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project, BillionGraves) as well as obituary (ProQuest Historial Newspapers, OurOntario.ca, Legacy.com, YourLifeMoments as well as Google). Which of course may provide names of "new" family members, requiring more research.
When I have difficulty locating relevant information on an individual, I will search an inividual on Ancestry's Public Member Trees for HINTS. There have been times that I have no idea when an individual may have died after appearing on the 1921 Canadian census, or possibily some of the Canada Voter's Lists available on Ancestry. Someone's tree may indicate a death date for an individual, or other relevant information (ie spouse, in-laws, children) which leads me further research for proper verification of the newly found information.
Once I feel that I have exhausted readily available online records (official birth, marriage, death records as well burial information and obituary), I will change the colour of the individual to the appropriate colour (green/purple/red) and move on to the next individual to be done. Repeat and repeat!
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