Why Not Just Use a Web Search Instead of Discovery?

First checks before you go further

A web search finds pages that mention a record, while Discovery finds the record itself in the catalogue. For holdings, coverage and references, the catalogue is the authority and a web search is only a pointer to it.

Two people with the same name in the same unit are not an edge case. In large units they are the normal case, and the number is what separates them. The strongest clue is often the least glamorous: a number, a date, a place. Glamorous clues, badges and stories, point in many directions at once. If you cannot fix the unit or the dates, fix what you can and search on that, rather than guessing the missing filter to make the search feel complete.

How to read this kind of entry

A summary written later is a different kind of evidence from a record written at the time, and the two should never be quoted as if they were one document. Where an entry is routine, say so in your notes. Routine entries matter precisely because they are routine: they show where a person actually was, not where a story puts them.

A term that appears only once in a file deserves more care, not less: a single unusual entry is often the clue that explains a transfer or a change of role. Read the entry in the terms of its own period, not in modern terms.

Where this kind of research usually stalls

If a name appears with different initials in different records, treat initials as a filter to test, not as proof of two people or of one. If a unit record is missing for the exact week you need, the neighbouring weeks, and the higher formation record for that week, may still fix place and date. If a published history fills a gap smoothly, be suspicious of the smoothness. Original records leave gaps, and a history that shows none may have filled them without saying so.

The order to work in

Start from the reference, not from the search box: know which record you are about to open, and why, before you open it. Where two steps could come in either order, choose the one whose record is more reliable, and let the reliable record frame the less reliable one. When you close a record, write one line saying what it proved, what it suggested, and what it left open. Three lines per record keep a project honest.

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.

What should you check next?

If this guide answered the question you brought to it, the next guide should start from a new question, not from the momentum of this one. If the timeline now has a gap with a name on each side of it, the next record is the one that could bridge that gap, and no other record will do. Do not let a satisfying story override an awkward record. The awkward record is usually the one telling the truth.