ProofTrail Research Foundations · Module 2
The first evidence packet often already exists in family files, messages, photographs, and memories. Inventory it before paying for searches or duplicating work.
What you will be able to do
- Inventory physical and digital family material.
- Record who supplied each statement or item.
- Protect originals while creating organized working copies.
Why this matters
Unlabeled photographs, detached screenshots, and unattributed memories lose evidentiary value. Provenance starts before the first database search.
Gather without declaring truth
Collect certificates, letters, photographs, family Bibles, obituaries, emails, messages, and oral accounts. Label each item by what it is and who supplied it. Gathering preserves information; evaluation comes next.
Capture provenance
Record the current custodian, previous owner if known, date received, file name, and any known alteration or transcription. For an interview, record the speaker, interviewer, date, and whether the account was contemporaneous or remembered later.
Protect living people
Keep living-person details and DNA information inside appropriately restricted case records. Do not place private identifiers in public filenames, screenshots, or lesson submissions.
Use it in ProofTrail
- Use Capture Inbox for unprocessed files and notes.
- Give each file a meaningful name without exposing unnecessary private data.
- Create or identify the related person only when the identity is reasonably known.
- Record the provider and origin before moving the item into the case.
Practice with the fictional Williams case
Practice data only: Sarah, Robert, every record, place, and DNA comparison in this exercise are fictional.
Inventory the Williams family Bible, the marriage-license copy, and the obituary clipping. Record Emma Foster as the fictional Bible custodian, note that the child entries were written together later, and keep the obituary’s 1856 birth-year claim separate from Robert’s actual birth date.
Common mistakes
- Renaming a claim as a fact.
- Discarding the envelope, reverse side, surrounding page, or file metadata.
- Saving “IMG_4827” without context.
- Posting living-person or DNA details in a public workspace.
Check your understanding
1. Does a family Bible entry automatically prove a birth?
Check answer
No. It is information in a source. Its provenance, timing, handwriting, informant knowledge, and consistency with other evidence must be evaluated.
2. Why record who supplied a family story?
Check answer
The informant’s identity and knowledge help evaluate the information and allow later researchers to trace it.
Create the work product
An inventory of supplied material with provenance, privacy status, related people, and unresolved questions.
Completion standard
Every item can be traced to a provider or custodian, and no claim has been promoted to fact without evaluation.
Continue the investigation
Use the People lessons to represent identities without erasing uncertainty.
Written lesson version 2.0. Optional video fields are available for a future captioned video and transcript. The written lesson remains the complete instructional source.