Checking verification.

Question

From time to time one may get messages from an anonymous person, making various claims. So and so says this, or that, but if you do not have the books they mention, how are you to personally verify the information they give ?

Are you simply expected to accept what is essentially hearsay without question ?

Comments

I would ask for a citation of the source for the new information and go have a look myself!

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Nope.  Trust but verify.  Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.  If they have a copy of the book, they can shoot a cell phone pic of the relevant page and the title page.

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Herbert, you say trust, but can I trust an anonymous person ? I do not accept number withheld telephone calls for the same reason.

If they have a bona fide reason to contact me, why hide their identity ?

You say 'shoot a cell phone pic of the relevant page.....' but that is all too easy to falsify. Anybody could print a page, take a shot of it, and forward that. Unless I have the original document ( not some third party transcript ) that was used when writing the book, then it is just hearsay.

Answer 1

I've been around for a while but I've never gotten an anonymous message.  So, to answer your question:  No, I wouldn't accept information given anonymously.   And I wouldn't take time to make research notes about it unless I were able to attribute it to someone.

Answer 2

I do not expect people to accept my statement that a particular birth certificate can be found at a certain location. As I would do, I would suggest they also visit that location to confirm the source

Comments

George, I accept that, it is the reason why I restrict myself to UK research. I can either travel to the parish in question, of purchase microfiche of the original records from the Records Office.

However, when a person tells me that someone states something in a book, one can only assume the author examined original documentation, and not the work of a previous author.

The problem then is to view the original record, because however well meaning the person that wrote to me might be, the data is 3rd or even 4th hand, so without personal verification it is little more than speculation and hearsay.