BrickWall

The Brickwall Checklist

Have you really hit a brick wall, or are you simply research challenged?

most recently revised: 24 Feb 2018

BrickWall

The trick, to answering the above, is in determining whether you are facing a ‘real’ brick wall.

Quite simply a “real”  brick wall exists when there is no more information.

Brick walls don’t exist simply because a researcher is stuck, confused, or otherwise unprepared to make the effort or incur the cost(s) to find data. A “real” brick wall exists when there is no data; not now, and perhaps, not ever.

I can agree that my position might seem a “tad” harsh. However, I want to make a simple point; and, a bit later I’ll give some help. My basic assertion is this:

You can’t possibly know if you have hit a brick wall without knowing whether discoverable data remains to be found, or not.

If that statement is true then it begs a further quandary, how might you know whether or not discoverable data remain? The answer to that is quite ‘simple’. You need to know your history and know data availability. You need to know such items as:

  • When did they begin keeping birth, marriage, death records?
  • Who governed a region and was responsible for record keeping there?
  • Were records ever massively destroyed?
  • What kind of records might exist, or remain?
  • (The list could go on and on; but, that is not the point here. )

To help provide insight into these factors, I will explain 46 major “events” that have taken place during the last ~1000 years to make European and North American History & Genealogy more, or less, available. I will do this via a timeline. The timeline I created provides an overview of those European and North American “events” which, to my mind, have had the “most significant impact” on the availability, quality, and quantity of genealogical & historical data.

You may know of other critical events I omitted; and, I am certainly happy to hear what they might be. But for now, I suggest we focus on the timeline I created and its 46 crucial events. Understanding these events will help equip you to answer the question:

Might discoverable data remain?

Be aware that timeline events provided:

  • Are far-reaching, not localized
  • Either improved record-keeping or explain where records might have gone missing
  • Describe shifts and/or destructions in major population groups
  • Were impactful in altering social frameworks and social mores
  • Brought changes to regions,  governments, and/or religions
  • Introduced transformative technologies or new data sources

And now a bit of housekeeping before you view the timeline:

  1. Be aware each timeline event has a –more– link at the bottom which will take you to more detailed information. I highly recommend reading the linked article, or viewing the video, where indicated.
  2. The timeline periods are approximate for most events. I try to indicate the most crucial time period in terms of impact.
  3. The time periods themselves are visible at the top of the timeline page.
  4. The timeline will open in a new page.
  5. Oh and if you are going to try to use your cell phone to view the timeline… good luck! I hope it works. But my timeline really is not designed/meant for a tiny form factor. It looks and reads more easily “on the big screen.”

And now, drum roll please, on to the 46 event timeline (checklist):

ManyRoads European & North American Timeline

The Brickwall Checklist and ManyRoads European & North American Timeline are
copyright © 2018 eirenicon llc. (Mark F. Rabideau- ManyRoads) all rights reserved.

Please feel free to share either the article or timeline, I just would like to be asked and know who is using the material.

Frequently Asked Question(s):

  1. Can you print the Timeline? TimelineJS  (the Timeline Software from Northwestern University Knight Lab) does not include specific features to allow users to print timeline charts or other documents. Your best bet might be to take a screenshot of each slide as you create/view them print those.
  2. May I share this page link and/ or the ManyRoads European & North American Timeline? Yes, all I ask is notification of the sharing. (You may share before asking/ telling. I simply would like to know who might be using the materials.
  3. May I have access to the ManyRoads European & North American Timeline dataset? Yes, simply ask me via our contact page and I will send it to you. The data is in spreadsheet format.

Please use our contact page to send me ask for usage permission, provide comments, critique, etc.


ResearchFor additional free self-help on conducting German, Prussian, Polish, Jewish, Mennonite research, please visit ManyRoads' Prussian-German Free Genealogy Help page.

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