Personally, for me going sideways is trying to trace the line when I cannot find anything on my direct ancestor but know the name and approximate age of a sibling.  By tracing the sigling I've often found the direct line again.  Hope this helps.   Ginny --- On Tue, 9/16/08, Lisa Lepore <[email protected]> wrote: I think it's banging your head against the wall instead of on the table. OK, just kidding - I do believe they are talking about following up on all the siblings of a person, instead of just working on the direct line only. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stanley M. Berkner" <[email protected] | Some on the list have mentioned "going sideways"; is that just following collateral lines, or ...?