20 December 2014 Nominal record linkage—"the process by which items of information about a named individual may be associated with each other in a coherent whole"— is an issue historians and IT specialists have wrestled with for nearly a half-century. ...

17 December 2014 When transcribing, abstracting, or making notes from any source, it’s wise to follow one of those classic Rules of Three that have governed research and writing for longer than most of us have been alive ...

14 December 2014 You have just found a 19th-century court minute. Being a "minute," the record tells you very little: the case label and the fact that the case was dismissed. The label is this: "John Jones, for the use and benefit of Sam Smith vs. Billy Brown." What do you think that case was all about? ...

8 December 2014 Across centuries of recorded history, many classes of people have had to legally register themselves—voters, military-aged men, free people of color in slave regimes, aliens during a time of war, and "just plain folk" on the occasions of their births, marriages, and deaths.

2 December 2014 In every piece of dependable research, we see eight qualities ...

29 November 2014 Your front door is solid wood. In the middle, there's a peep hole. Your doorbell rings. You look through the peephole and see a pretty face. Smiling. She looks friendly. You open the door and ...