family-history-research_skill

Overview

This skill helps you plan, document, and evaluate family history and genealogy research projects. It emphasizes disciplined planning before any searching, produces structured research plans, and creates well-formed citations and evidence analyses to support conclusions. The goal is reproducible, verifiable research that follows professional standards.

How this skill works

I start by collecting what you already know about the person, what questions you want answered, and what sources you've already checked. Then I build a prioritized research plan that lists target individuals, likely record types, search strategies (including FAN — family, associates, neighbors), milestones, and success criteria. If you explicitly ask me to perform searches, I will only execute them after you approve the plan and I will document all searches, results, and citations systematically.

When to use it

• When you want a step-by-step research plan before starting searches
• When you need properly formatted genealogical citations for records used
• When you face conflicting information and need evidence analysis
• When you want a research log to avoid duplicate effort and track progress
• When you need a proof argument or assessment of proof level for a conclusion

Best practices

• Always gather user-known facts and existing sources before planning
• Define specific, answerable research questions (who/what/when/where)
• Prioritize original and contemporary records; assess informant reliability
• Document negative searches and every search variation you try
• Use FAN research and collateral lines to uncover indirect evidence

Example use cases

• Plan research to confirm an ancestor’s birth place and birth date
• Resolve conflicting birth or death dates from multiple records
• Create Evidence Explained–style citations for a set of census and vital records
• Build a research log for a multi-phase project across counties or states
• Draft a proof argument determining whether two records refer to the same person