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 following outline is a map of the steps a beginner can take to become familiarized with the terrain. There is an abundance of books written on the subject, however it is always good to get the big picture before digging into the details.

Collect what you have

• 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 your 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
  • Vital Statistics sites
• Professional Genealogists

Sources

• Census records!
• Parish records (Bishop's transcripts, etc.)
• Cemeteries
• Newspapers (obituaries and births)
• 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
• Hospital records
• 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
• Microfilms
• Microfiches

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

Exploring Womanhood > Heart of the Home > Hobbies