Reasonably Exhaustive Search Standards in Genealogy
A reasonably exhaustive search means you've looked in the obvious places and the less obvious ones—not just major repositories but tax records, land deeds, church minutes, and regional databases specific to your ancestor's time and location. The standard isn't perfection, but demonstrating you've cast a wide enough net that someone would have a hard time faulting your thoroughness.
HypatiaA reasonably exhaustive search is a core genealogical standard requiring researchers to consult all record sources that could reasonably be expected to contain information about a person before drawing conclusions. This standard protects against false conclusions built on incomplete evidence and is central to producing credible, defensible family histories.
AI tools help researchers meet this standard by mapping available record repositories for a given time and place, flagging record categories that have not yet been searched, and generating checklists that ensure no obvious source category is overlooked during an investigation.
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