The information you get from older family members will come in handy for your genealogy research, but really truthful information is not as easy to get as it seems. Much depends on the character of the particular family member whose interview is planned, as well as the environment, so let’s break down the psychological factors in more detail. How should the conversation be conducted so that the story of a relative will have a positive impact on the genealogical research process? Let’s divide the character of an individual into two types: those who love attention to their person and those who don’t want to touch the past and strain their memory. If in the first case, it is necessary to carefully filter facts from the dialogue in order to cut off the fabrications, then in the second case, it is recommended to direct main efforts to unmask the interlocutor, making him talk, and then the research of the family tree will add new exclusive sections for analysis. Further in the text of the publication we will give useful tips, thanks to them it will be easier to benefit from both options, and the assimilated knowledge will increase the likelihood of success of genealogical research of a family tree.
When the interlocutor willingly comes into contact and gives a lot of information necessary for the search of ancestors, then initially find out from him the places and dates of birth of the oldest relatives, which will later become the starting point for the research of the family lineage deep into the family. Find out which information is absolutely reliable, derived from birth or death certificates, for example, and which relates to unconfirmed facts. You will be able to use this data, taking into account the margin of error, and not to request unnecessary documentary sources in the archives, which will have a positive effect on the efficiency of genealogical research. This nuance is especially relevant if you know that there are restrictions on the volume of documents that can be ordered in the reading rooms. Make allowance for the subtleties of the search process, and the genealogy research of the family will move forward by leaps and bounds without wasting time, and the origin of the surname will soon be revealed.
If a relative is withdrawn, not wanting to go into details of past years and his family tree, then psychology comes into play, helping to establish contact and get information to start genealogical research. There is no need to serve in the GRU and have the skills of a spy to know the basic rules of the conversation. Stiffness and incompetence in discussing the past are present because of the secretive nature or unpleasant memories (excluding the secrecy of members of the secret service). Your task is to convey the motivation for the interest that has arisen due to the need to do genealogical research on the family tree. Explain that you are not interested in it, but in information about the older generations of the family in order to understand your origins and find the ancestor of the family name. Explain that this is not a simple curiosity, but an opportunity to achieve inner peace harmony by studying the fate of your ancestors. Select the moment for the conversation, not burdening the person’s life, that is, it is necessary to get under a certain mood with a favorable atmosphere.
The informativeness of genealogical research will improve if you refer to the family archives, if available. Elderly people often write memoirs or memoir notes, some do it electronically, some write them in a notebook, and some write them on a dictaphone. Do not be lazy and look in this direction, as practice shows, in this way you can meet valuable genealogical data.