Research Method: Top Level Organization

Currently working by email and telephone with a descendant of a soldier who is in possession of family documents, including letters and other personal information. To explain my needs, I included this organizational detail:

My research typically breaks down into three sections:
1. Timeline of subject's life, using census data, military service records, pension files, and other source material.
2. Related material that puts his war experience and other life events into context.
3. References to subject's character and other anecdotes from letters, journals, and other personal documents.

Numbers one and two are often easy to locate. The third section can be difficult, for these documents may be in the hands of the families or private collectors, and these collections are not well documented.

While this overview may appear simplistic to some, it accurately diagrams the three broad categories that serve as the main points of organization as material is collected.