Jane's Genealogy Jigsaw

Advice to Beginners

Personal Observations

In my opinion, if you now have, or think you may ever have, an interest in your family history, talk to your older relatives. NOW! Don't wait, they won't be around forever. Get their stories.

Secondly, keep track from the very beginning of where you got every little bit of information. If you don't, you may end up retracing your steps, or scratching your head and wondering just where that date or this place came from. Save yourself some trouble, and start out documenting your sources from the very beginning.

The Importance of Documentation

In addition, do not expect to be able to find all the resources you need to research your family available on the Internet. While more and more information is becoming available online every day (some of it for a fee), the vast majority of genealogy sources still need to be tracked down in more traditional research venues: homes, libraries, courthouses, etc.

Where to Start

Read a book. Excellent books for beginning genealogists include:
- The Genealogy Sourcebook
  by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
  Published by Contemporary Books, 1997
- Unpuzzling Your Past: A Basic Guide to Genealogy, 4th edition
  by Emily Anne Croom
  Published by Betterway Books, 2001
- The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy
  by Val D. Greenwood
  Published by Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc, 2000.
- The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy
  by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls
  Published by Alpha Books, 1997
- For additional resources see Recommended Reading.
Take a class. Classes are often available:
- At local colleges and universities
- Through local and national genealogical societies
- At local libraries
- On the Internet
Join a society. In addition to offering classes, genealogy societies often
- Provide speakers and programs at meetings;
- Sponsor seminars;
- Sponsor Special Interest Groups, e.g. an Irish Interest Group or a Computer Interest Group;
- Publish periodicals and newsletters;
- Publish and/or collect books of local interest.
Consider joining two or three societies — one in the area where you live, so you can attend meetings and seminars, one in the area you are researching, and perhaps also a national society.
Subscribe to a few Mailing Lists.
- There are mailing lists for surnames, localities, computer programs, occupations, and many other subjects.
- Start small, don't subscribe to every mailing list for every surname right away, or your mailbox may soon be overflowing.
- To find Mailing Lists of interest, check out: Genealogy Resources on the Internet - Mailing Lists.
- Most genealogy mailing lists are administered by volunteers — for additional information on the lists that I admin see Mailing Lists.
Post Queries on Message Boards.
- Like Mailing Lists, there are Message Boards for surnames, locations, and various other subjects.
- Read a few postings first, before you post, to get an idea of the "flavor" of the board.
- Many genealogy message boards are also administered by volunteers — for additional information on the boards that I admin see Message Boards.
- For good advice on writing successful Message Board queries see the following articles from Ancestry Daily News:
  - Message Board Postings That Never Get Answered
    by George G. Morgan
  - More on Message Board Posting
    by David G. Ball

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Jane's Genealogy Jigsaw

Advice to Beginners

Personal Observations

Where to Start

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