How a Record is made

Eight steps. Two yeses are yours.

A Record moves between you and the house in eight steps. The house goes no further until you approve the facts, and keeps nothing until you approve the finished Record.

1. You tell what you know. Through the house's own private door, by typing or by speaking aloud. A spoken answer is turned into text on the house's own machine, and you read it back before it is kept. "I don't know" is a good answer: it tells the research where to look.
2. You add what you hold. Photographs, papers, recordings and films, through the same door. A phone photograph of a paper is enough. You can remove anything before the house takes it in.
3. The house searches the public record. Every finding is sourced and marked proven or not.
4. The house sends a Gathering Guide. Where the person's papers are held, and how to ask for them.
5. You approve the fact sheet.Your yes
   Nothing reaches the story before that yes.
6. The house writes the Record. Every sentence is checked against the facts.
7. You read it and say yes.Your yes
   You decide what stays with the family.
8. It is kept with a public proof. A fingerprint of every part, published where anyone can check it has not changed.

At each step the house tells you where things stand. A person at the house reads the whole Record before it comes to you for your yes. What the house could not find is said plainly, never filled in.

Why the research can be trusted

The house follows the Genealogical Proof Standard, the standard professional genealogists are held to: a thorough search, a full citation for every source, careful weighing of the evidence, conflicts resolved openly, and a conclusion you can follow. Searches that found nothing are recorded too.

AI helps the house search records and prepare drafts. A person reads every word before it reaches you. What you share is never used to train AI.