More comments on Back to Basics on Genealogical Research

I know it isn't his original quote, but Val D. Greenwood says, "A good cookbook does not make a good cook." (Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy.
Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co, 2000). Neither does good
genealogical instruction guarantee adequate research competency. But it
won't hurt either. A good cook can use a good cookbook to advantage to
make some marvelous dishes and a good researcher can use additional
instruction anytime to become even better at doing research. It is
almost a given in our society that people will fail to read the
instructions before trying to operate almost everything. Likewise, many
budding researchers think all you have to do is copy a few records and
voila! you are a genealogist.
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