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By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: December 14, 2008

Genealogists love research trips. Nothing rivals the hunt, whether it takes place seated in front of a microfilm machine or tramping through a weedy cemetery.

Like the conquering hero, you return home laden with handwritten notes, recorded interviews, pictures and sketches from the cemetery, copies of deeds and wills from the courthouse.

It was a great trip back in time, but suddenly you're in the here and now - with its workday responsibilities, school meetings, children's sporting events, and on and on. You shove all those treasures into a closet and wait for the break that may never come.

After a few weeks or months, the details that had enthralled you grow fuzzy.

Across the genealogy world this picture sadly repeats itself on a regular basis. How to avoid it?

The first decision might be to spend the last day of your research trip analyzing and organizing, rather than gathering more information. Here's what you could do that day:

1. Sort your materials by category: censuses, deeds, probate records, interviews, photographs, etc.

2. All official documents such as wills and deeds need to be processed individually. This includes transcribing and abstracting each document to make sure you don't overlook a single detail.

3. If you digitize your records (a good practice!), scan each document into an electronic folder.

4. Turn now to your genealogy software. Take each of your new documents and see what you can add in the software. For example, if you found a will and it names a man's children, enter each of them into the software and list the will as your source.

5. Compile a list of all the sources you checked. This sometimes is called a research calendar. Negative results are just as important as positive ones. For example, it is important that you checked the deeds of a specific county for a 50-year period and found no land for your ancestor.

6. Write a report, sort of a memorandum to your files, on the materials you found. Note what you expected to find but did not. Summarize the materials, including complete citations or directions for others to find the same documents you did. Analyze the materials you found. Tell why the information is significant, what it proves or disproves. If the document is an unusual one or one not normally researched by genealogists, put it into historical perspective. If the research ties in with previous work, bring the earlier findings into the picture. If you think you have proven something significant, pull it all together, detailing the reasoning and logic of your conclusions.

7. If you haven't solved the problem, formulate a theory and a plan for the next logical research step. Specify point-by-point what you need to find and where you will go to look for it.

Many people say that they love the search but hate writing the reports and organizing materials. These people sometimes admit that all along they had the answer to their toughest problem, but it was hidden in stack of unanalyzed information.

Real life often takes over and our research takes a back seat, but if you take time to follow this post-research routine, even if your case goes cold, you can bring it back to life quickly by reading your earlier thoughts and picking up the plan you made while the trail was hot.

It all reminds me of a little drawing that was popular a few years ago. A small child sat on a potty with the quip "No job is complete until the paperwork is done." That should be a genealogical dictum. Print it out and prop it under the computer screen.

Cruise Season

Legacy Family Tree is first out of the port to announce its 2009 genealogy cruise. This will be a 12-day Norwegian Cruise Lines trip with stops in Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice, Athens, Izmir, and Istanbul.

Travelers must make their own way to Barcelona for departure Sept. 5. During three days at sea, Legacy will feature a variety of genealogy lectures. A full schedule of classes are listed at legacy familytree.com/cruise info_2009med.asp.

You also can book your trip at the site. Cost is $1,638.25 a person for an inside cabin and $2888.25 for a balcony. Airfare is not included.

Sharon Tate Moody is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Send your genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of Getaway, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa, FL 33606 or wmoody3@tampabay

.rr.com. She regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research and cannot respond to requests for locating or researching specific individuals.

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