Filed under The National Archives and Discovery: A Method Guide
What to check first in this record
Research guides at The National Archives explain a record type, its coverage, its gaps and how to search for it. Read the guide for your record type before searching, because it states coverage limits that a catalogue search will not show.
Where the clue is thin, say so in your notes. A thin clue handled honestly leads to a careful search; a thin clue dressed up as a fact leads to a wrong person. Search for the person you can prove, not the person you hope to find. The provable person has a number, a unit and a date range; the hoped-for person has only a story.
Working through it in order
The steps below assume you have already fixed the person, the number, and the dates as far as you can. If you have not, do that first, and then return. Work forward through time, not backwards, unless a later record is the only one that names the earlier period. Forward is the direction records explain.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fix the record series first, from the research guide for the record type you need. |
| 2 | Search inside that series by unit, ship or date range, with the surname as a filter inside it. |
| 3 | Read the catalogue description carefully: it tells you the dates, the coverage, and whether a digitised copy exists. |
| 4 | Note the full reference before you open, download or order anything. |
Reading what the record actually says
A date written in one format on one sheet and another format on the next is the same date wearing two formats. Convert carefully, and keep the original. Period handwriting, period place names and period unit structures all reward a slow reading. Speed is what turns a plausible reading into a wrong one.
Look for what the entry does not say, as well as what it says. A missing expected entry, a blank column, or a skipped date is itself a finding. A medical entry, a pay entry, or a disciplinary entry should not be read as a character judgement. These are administrative categories, and they record process, not personality.
Where this kind of research usually stalls
A gap of a few weeks in a diary, a log, or a file is normal. A gap of months, in the same record, is a question. Learn the normal gap size for the record type. A dead end shared by many researchers is usually a coverage problem, not a personal one. The research guides for that record type will often say so plainly. If the same name keeps appearing in the wrong unit, the problem is usually a filter, not a missing record: widen the dates, or narrow by number, and try again.
What to open after this one
The related guides at the foot of this page link back to the pillar for this section and to the neighbouring guides, so you can move through the cluster without losing the person you started with. If you have reached the end of what this record type can show, say so in your notes, and name the record type that takes over from here. When you close this guide, close it with a question written down. Questions written down become next sessions; questions remembered become lost sessions.
Primary sources for this guide
This guide keeps its claims general and points to the official holders, so the holder itself is the place to check the current position. It is general educational information only, not personal professional advice, and it offers no record lookup service and no determination of any individual's service.