Repeat Search Loop-Hole

Every so often my good friends who know me will purposefully say something about a research topic and just leave it hanging. They clearly know that I can't just walk away with unanswered questions. Off I go on a rabbit hole search. Sometimes I find great information an occasionally, I find absolutely nothing at all. 

I've heard many professional genealogists tell their followers that you can save time not repeating a search if you write things down such as sources, where you looked, what the results were and that sort of thing. I'm all for that. You absolutely should keep track of what you've searched and what you have or have not found. What I'd like to add to this however is this:  
If you have a negative result, didn't find any information in a particular source, don't give up on it. repeat your searches often. Go back every few days and try the same search again. Better yet, add to that search by using different search terms and variations.  

The problem with giving up after a search in this digital age is that every single day of our lives, there are hundreds of thousands of people scanning documentation and transcribing it into repositories. There are things added each year that if we had given up, we may not see the new items. 

Take some time and review your family tree from yourself backwards several generations. Update the information. If you don't find new items, great. Mark it and move on. But on the off chance that a new fact has appeared, it could very well lead to a breakthrough!  And wouldn't that be awesome?! 

Repeat your searches - and enjoy that Adventure in Genealogy...