Where to Begin
Start with yourself! You may be surprised at how much you already know about people, places, and events in your family history. Begin your search by writing down everything that you can remember about your family—births, deaths, marriages, graduations, military service and so on. You’ll also want to set up a filing system that you will use to collect the photographs, newspaper clippings, diaries, and letters that your family has kept. You’ll use these tools to gather and organize the many documents that you uncover during your genealogical search.
Whatever your organization preference is – folders, notebooks, boxes, large envelopes, etc. – be consistent with your filing system. Scanning all your documents and adding them to your family tree will help keep your genealogy research organized. Make sure you have a back-up of all your information. You can lose your data if your computer crashes, or in the unfortunate event that a natural disaster hits your home. Having an external recovery plan is always a good idea.
Interviewing Your Family
As a next step, you should reach out to your family. Parents a
When you speak with each person, it is important to ask questions that don’t just focus on when births and deaths occurred. A good family tree is more than just dates and places. You will want to learn about the personalities of your ancestors, and what their lives were like. It is important to relax and take your time when interviewing your relatives. You may find that the questions you ask will uncover parts of your family history that you never expected to find.
Searching the Internet
Although scouring the Internet can be a fast way to find the information that you need, the information you turn up may not always be the most reliable. Some genealogical websites enable people to help each other find sources and share information. While communicating over the Internet, remember people have different backgrounds, different degrees of knowledge and capabilities. Make sure you verify any shared information; otherwise your family tree can become a tree of misinformation.
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced genealogist, don’t rely solely on the Internet for building your family tree. Historical societies, the National Archives, LDS Family History Centers, newspaper archives, and local libraries are just a few other great sources that can help you research your family heritage.
Staying Organized
Be sure to organize the information as you go along. Record everything you gather and remember to keep adding to the files that you have created. If you can only find one document you should include a narrative of why you think this one document is proof for your family. If you can't find any documents, you should still write a narrative as to why you think someone belongs in your family tree.
While doing genealogy research you will get stuck looking for a document to substantiate a fact. This is known as hitting a brick wall. When this happens, you will most likely move on to a different family member and eventually return to the task you started years ago. If you do not document your research, you may end up starting from scratch and redoing the same search over and over again, creating a cycle of brick walls.
You should also remember to keep your family up to date on all of your discoveries. If you’ve created an online family tree, you can easily share your research with them over the Internet. As you add new information to your family tree, it may help jog the memories of your relatives and reveal more of your family heritage. Remember that your family has many stories to tell. Treasure the information you find and keep it alive by sharing it with future generations.
About the Author
R.L. Fielding is a freelance writer who has written on a wide variety of topics, with special expertise in the education, pharmaceutical and healthcare, financial service and manufacturing industries.
About ourFamilyology
This article was provided by ourFamily•ology®, a security conscious, Web-based provider of genealogy software to help you build and organize a precise family history and a reliable family tree that can be shared with family and friends. For more information, please visit www.Family-Genealogy.com/.
R.L. Fielding has been a freelance writer for 10 years, offering her expertise and skills to a variety of major organizations in the education, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing industries. She lives in New Jersey with her dog and two cats and enjoys rock climbing and ornamental gardening.
