Monday, April 7, 2014

RootsTech 2014 Can a Complex Research Problem be Solved Solely Online? presented by Tom Jones

My first class RT1911 for Thursday February 6, 2014 was taught by Thomas Jones entitled Can a Complex Research Problem be Solved Solely Online? The short answer was "Yes, but...."
This class was an interactive case study of one George W. Edison 1860-1940. Tom Jones took suggestions from the group and then showed what he had done step-by-step. (The room was completely full and I am sure that there were some who were not able to attend.) He led us through the sources and the evidence for the life of George W. Edison. Eventually he resolved all the conflicts. George had four wives and five marriages and lived in three or four states, so it really was a complex research problem. Most of the evidence was available online, but Jones did some on site research as well. In one case, he had hired two different researchers to do a search at a court house and neither had found any results. He visited the court house himself and within 40 minutes he had the information he needed. He advised us to not trust what someone tells you, do your own research.
I was very impressed with Tom Jones's scholarship. I have heard him speak before. This is one class that I was not going to miss.


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