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• Keep a One-Name Study?
• Begin a One-Name Study?
• Respond to enquiries?
• Write a profile page?
• …….

There are a number of other questions too and I find that Guild members are amongst the most knowledgeable genealogists who freely share their experiences, knowledge and expertise, and their time.

The Pharos One-Name Studies courses :

• Introduction to One-Name Studies (901)
• Practicalities of a One-Name Studies (903)
• Advanced One-Name Studies (902)

attempt to answer those questions and I encourage members embarking on a study to consider what they are hoping to achieve from their study. I encourage students to ponder on their aims, because it is those aims that might dictate how they should keep their study – an example I frequently use it if you know you want a website, then building a robust study using index cards is not necessarily the best way. I am a firm believer in using the right tools for the job.

I also share that you might not find the best way for your study immediately and that is OK. Over 30 years I have tweaked and adapted my study, methods, approaches and software – none of us choose the perfect options. I recommend that those starting off dabble with their software, entering three or four people that are connected to each other, along with the citations and to consider if the software is intuitive to them. I share my methods, not as a way to do it, but as an example that students can adapt to suit if they wish. There is no such thing as the right way to do a study, there is only your way.