| How Jeff Used the 5-Step Research Process |
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| Step 1: Write down what you know. |
Jeff always knew his grandparents had come to America from Piana in Sicily. He also knew that his Aunt Rose was born in Piana, and that his mother had some information about the family in the old country, but very few records. Jeff's mother, Virginia, was repeatedly told that the records had been burned in a village fire. |
| Step 2: Decide what you want to learn. |
Jeff and his brother, Craig, decided to take their mother and Aunt Rose back to Piana to see if they could find any trace of Aunt Rose's birth, or records about the family. |
| Step 3: Choose a source of information. |
Upon their arrival a cousin told them that the records had not been burned, and that they should go to the Municipio (the place where the town's records were kept) to find the record of Aunt Rose's birth. |
| Step 4: Learn from the source. |
Within a few minutes of their arrival at the Municipio, Aunt Rose found her own birth record in a ledger! Jeff, Craig and Virginia were also able to discover other records about their ancestors, connecting them to past generations. |
| Step 5: Use what you learned. |
Jeff and his brother were able to capture the whole experience on film so that they could share the information they found, along with their experiences in Italy, with their family and others. |
