The idea of posting a query is to encourage people to reply. Others are more likely to do so if they recognize your family as related to people they have researched. Include
enough clues about when and where your family lived, but don't overwhelm the
reader.
Use
your subject line wisely.
Put
surnames and locations in subject lines. Many people only scan the subject line,
especially on large list and those in digest form. Putting something like
"Help" in a subject line probably won't get you much of it.
| Successful queries are: |
Klear
Informative
Specific
Simple
|
The following should be near the beginning of a query
-
Specific individual's name or research problem
Specific location - if you
don't know, say so
Surnames in capital
letters
A date - if unknown,
estimate the time period
Unclear query:
| Susan Bird lived in the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma. She
left when she married a man with the last name Higgins and moved to Texas. |
|
Improved query:
| Susan BIRD (b 1830 TN) lived near Poteau, Choctaw
Nation, Indian Territory (now Atoka Co. Oklahoma) from 1880-1902 per the
1880-1900 census records and family history. She
married about 1902 to __?__ HIGGINS (no other information) and moved to Texas, county
unknown.
Looking for 1910 census records and her marriage record.
|
|
Above example told what was known, where the information was obtained, and what they
want to find out. It was also brief, includes enough information, but not every
detail of their lives. If anyone is interested enough to contact you, further
details can be given to them privately.
A good query should cover these three basics:
(1) Tell us what you know--
that includes what you have searched, where you got your information from,
dates, and locations. This prevents others from suggesting you search a certain
census or other resource if you have already done so.
(2) Tell us what you don't know
-- if you don't know the parents names, or when they came to Oklahoma, or where
they were born - say so.
(3) Tell us what you WANT to know
-- otherwise it's just a shotgun query into the dark. Probably the worst thing
you can say is "looking for information on...".
WHAT information do you want? Be specific, do you want to know how to find them on
the census, how to find a marriage record, how to find their parents?
Shotgun query:
| Grandfather was born on the Choctaw Reservation in 1898,
looking for any records pertaining to the events on the reservation. |
|
How can anyone help this person?
There are no other details, not even his
name.
There were no Choctaw Reservations. The query screams "I
didn't do my homework and I want someone else to do it for me." My first
reaction to this type query is to delete it, if comes to my mailbox or is posted to
one of my query boards. Time is valuable and if you want others to read
and respond to your queries you must make it worthwhile.
