Filed under Photographs and Personal Papers: A Method Guide
First checks before you go further
Work in this order: list and date the papers, then check each dated claim against the service record and unit diary, then write the timeline. That order stops a vivid letter from rewriting a dated record.
If the clue you hold is a story, break it into testable pieces before you search. A story searched as a whole can only be confirmed or denied, never tested. If any one of the four filters fails, name, number, unit, dates, stop and re-check before reading further into the record.
Working through it in order
Do not let a tool, a website, or an index set the order of your work. Tools serve steps; steps do not serve tools. Before each step, ask what it would prove and what it would disprove. A step with no test value is a detour, however interesting it looks. A step that involves another person, a holder, an archive, or a relative, should be prepared before it is taken. Unprepared requests get vague answers.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Describe the item itself first: what it shows, what it says, and what marks it carries. |
| 2 | Date the item from its own clues, uniform, badge, format or handwriting, before attaching it to a person. |
| 3 | Use the dated item to frame a record search, unit, place or date, rather than as a substitute for one. |
| 4 | Note the item reference and where it is held, so the next researcher can find it. |
As an illustration only, suppose a photograph shows a uniform but no badge detail: that still narrows the service and the period, and the next step is a record search on those two filters, not a guess at the unit.
What are the common dead ends?
Each dead end here is a normal research outcome, not a personal failure, and each one points to a next check rather than to a conclusion. A common surname in a large unit needs a second filter before any search is meaningful. Without one, you are sampling the unit, not finding a person. A search that works for one service may fail for another, because services filed differently. A method that fits the Army may mislead in the Navy, and vice versa.
The next record in the chain
If a related guide looks irrelevant, read its first paragraph before dismissing it. Irrelevance is often a misjudged title, not a misplaced guide. If this record answered your question, stop and note the reference. The next record should start from a new question, not from momentum.
Where the next step involves a different holder, take the reference with you. A holder approached without a reference can only offer general guidance. The person you started with is the test for every next step. If a step loses that person, it is the wrong step, however interesting it looks.
Primary sources for this guide
Claims in this guide are kept general and point to official holders, so you can check the current position with the holder itself. This guide is general educational information only. It is not personal professional advice, it does not offer a record lookup service, and it does not determine any individual's service.