Filed under What Is Really Free Online? A Method Guide
Where should you start looking?
The National Archives offers free catalogue searching and some free digitised series, with other series available on site or through partners. The free set changes as digitisation proceeds, so check the current research guides rather than relying on an old list.
Do not trust a result because it is the only result. A single result with one matching filter is a lead that needs a second record, not a conclusion. A suspicion written into a timeline as if it were a fact is hard to remove later, because every later entry gets built on top of it. A search term that returns nothing in one catalogue may return everything in another, because catalogues index different fields. Try the holder catalogue directly.
How do you read what you find?
If the record uses initials instead of full names, match on the full set of filters, not on initials plus surname, because initials alone match too many people. Watch for the clerk hand as well as the officer hand. Different hands in one file mean different dates of writing, and later hands can introduce later errors.
Do not let the most dramatic entry in a file set the story. The routine entries, postings, pay, movements, are what hold a timeline together. The order of sheets in a file is not always the order of events. Rebuild the date order yourself, and do not trust filing order to do it for you.
Where this kind of research usually stalls
The most expensive dead end is a wrong person adopted early. Everything after that looks consistent, because it was built on the wrong foundation. A trail that depends on a single fragile link, one spelling, one initial, one date, will break. Strengthen the link with a second record before you build on it.
When a trail breaks at a transfer, a renumbering, or a reorganisation, follow the dates and the people, not the name of the unit or the ship. A missing sheet, a closed record, or a file held by another holder are three different problems, and each has a different next step. Do not treat them as one problem called missing.
The order to work in
Treat the steps below as a loop, not a ladder: a finding at a later step often sends you back to re-check an earlier one, and that is normal. Do the unglamorous steps first. Fixing names, numbers and dates feels slow, and it is what makes every later step possible. A timeline with no open questions at the end of a session is a timeline that stopped too early. Open questions are the sign of work still honest.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Start from the official holder catalogue or site for the record you need. |
| 2 | Note whether what is free is an index, a transcription, or a digitised copy. |
| 3 | Check a transcription against the digitised copy or the catalogue entry before relying on it. |
| 4 | Plan paid steps, such as copy orders, only after the free finding aids have fixed the reference. |
What to open after this one
If the next record is a unit record, carry the posting dates with you. If it is a personal record, carry the number. The filter you carry decides what you find. Check whether the next step is already answered in your notes. Reopening a record you have already mined wastes the session that could have advanced it.
The strongest timelines are short and referenced. Resist the urge to add unreferenced detail at the end of a session, when checking discipline is weakest. When the trail goes cold, note where, and when, it went cold. That note is the starting point of the next session, not a reason to stop.
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.