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How to get Started in Family History
by Dale E. Lee
Genealogy has become the number one hobby in the United States. For someone that is just beginning the journey into the past, the road can seem a bit confusing. The outline below is a map of the steps a beginner can take to make the journey easier.
Collect what you've got
Birth Certificates
Baptismal Certificates
Marriage Certificates
Death Certificates
Burial records
Journals
Diaries
Wills
Maiden names
Deeds to land
Family legends
Organize yourself
Organize by family
Alphabetize family group records by last name
Organize your pedigree charts (ancestry)
Organize your descendant charts (descendants)
Organize County folders (repositories, maps, etc.)
Keep a Correspondence log
Keep a Research log
Keep a To-Do list
Set aside space to store records in the home
If you have a computer, get a family file program
Set a Goal, nothing gets done by wishful thinking
Use manila and/or hanging folders
Use a notebook
Helps and Tips you've found
Research the whole family, sibling info too
Ask relatives
Close relatives
Distant relatives
Family organizations
Family Bibles
Family Photo Albums
Journals
Diaries
Family legends
Gedcom files
Document your sources!
Photocopies of documents
Book titles
Volumes
Page numbers
Microfilm numbers
Microfiche numbers
Individual ID's, when found
Documents
Serial numbers
Certificate numbers
Repository name where document found
Author
Source
Publication information
Printer name
Date of publication
Look for outside help
Libraries
Family History libraries
State libraries
University libraries
Family History Centers of the
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
Internet organizations
Family History websites
Family organizations
County genealogical societies
State genealogical societies
Foreign country organizations
Genealogical websites
Genealogical societies
Genealogical e-mail groups
Newsgroups
Mailing lists
Professional Genealogists
Sources
Census records!
Parish records (Bishop's transcripts, etc.)
Newspapers (obituaries)
Immigration records (into a country)
Emigration records (exiting a country)
Ships passenger lists
School records
Naturalization records
Military records
Social security records
Court records
Official documents (county records)
Business filings
Wills
Deeds
Criminal records
Bankruptcy records
How to genealogical primers
Maps
Gazetteers
Trade journals
History books (trace migrations)
The International Genealogical Index (IGI)
Ancestral File
Pedigree File
Many CD's with vital statistics records
Publish your findings
Send copies to relatives
Publish your own Family History
Donate your family file to the Ancestral File
Make your work available to Genealogical Societies
Help others
Join a Genealogical Society
Join a genealogical link
Help make cemetery/grave stone records available
Help extract and enter data from original records
__________________________Dale Lee, © 2001. Dale Lee is a computer consultant that has been involved with Family History for over 12 years. Author Profile
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