Researching Your Family Tree? Just Click Your Heels Three Times - There's No Place Like Home
When it comes to researching and building your family tree, you need to gather information. To start your research, put your ruby slippers on, click your heels three times, and repeat, "There's no place like home... " That's right - some of your best genealogy research can be done without leaving home. If you thought your days of homework were over think again - you're going to do your "home" work, and I mean that literally.
Before you plan an expensive and long-distance trip to one of the three premier genealogy research centers - the DAR Library in Washington, D.C.; the National Archives (also in D.C.); or the Family Research Center in Salt Lake City - start your research in the comfort of your own home. Before you open up a book or view a microform, open up communication with your immediate and extended family and collect as much family history through their recollections.
Ask your family members to give you names, dates, and places. Ask them if they have any letters; scrapbooks; photographs; religious cards and books; certificates of accomplishments; land deeds; birth, marriage, death, and immigration records; occasion books (e.g., baby books); or memorials, wills, and obituaries that may contain important family history information. Take time to document family heirlooms, as these special items add richness and life to your family story. Make sure you photograph or photocopy all items and create a note for each item.
Family stories and other personal information are terrific resources to enrich family experience, lore, traditions, and culture. Over time some of these stories may have lost or gained content, but most family stories still contain elements of truth. These stories contextualize your family and make your genealogy more than just an attractive diagram or family book. These stories offer a vibrant understanding of your family history.
When collecting family information, consider interviewing family members. Plan the interview by writing down key questions to ask family members. Include open-ended questions (rather than just yes/no questions) to bring out rich detail. Record the interview and have someone else take notes on the emotional experience of the speaker and listeners. If you don't have a recording device, get a couple of family members to write down the responses to questions. Even if you are using an electronic recorder, it is still a good idea to have a note taker. A lot of the newer mobile phones have video capabilities that can be uploaded to your computer, so you may consider availing yourself of this newer technology.
While the interview is fresh in your mind, transcribe the information as soon as possible. Once you have picked the brains of all your relatives, you can consider trekking to the appropriate historical societies, heritage centers, genealogy libraries, city halls, court houses, archives, and the Internet to gather additional information on your ancestors.
Use a genealogy software program to enter and store data and print out family trees, reports, and other information. If you don't have a genealogy program, there are free forms on the Internet in which you can write or type information and create family trees.
Organizing Information
It is of paramount importance to organize and record the information you gather carefully so that your descendants will be able to access the information easily, as well as understand it. Consider scanning the documents that you find; additionally, keep and maintain hard copies of all documents and store them in a secure place. Some organization methods include filing documents by surname, in labeled binders, folders, file boxes, or file cabinets. For easy access, organize electronic files in a similar way as you do the hard copies. Obtain professional advice on the best way to store original and historical documents and family heirlooms. Keep them away from light, bugs, humidity, and make sure they are kept in an acid-free environment.
Make a table of contents for each file/folder and list sources. You may want to break down the table of contents by each person and what documents and sources you have for that person. List all the source information even if you don't have a document. For example, the source information of a library book should include the title, author or editor, the publisher, when it was published, the page number, etc. Some genealogy programs may let you print out a source list, which makes the process faster and easier to update.
Keep a "map" of all your documents by collecting all the table of contents into one place and including other information that needs to be logged, such as correspondence and the location of all documents and resources. A research record can be used to log what you have researched, the results of the search, and what still needs to be done or documented. Share the map with your family members. By including them in the research process, you may find that lost memories will return.
RecordClick.com can help you with your genealogical search by retrieving the records and documents you need in only two weeks. Record Click specializes in small-size genealogical projects, providing you with expert help from records retrieval specialists. And since Record Click is affordable, we can save you a costly research fee that other search firms may charge. Come visit us at http://www.recordclick.com/ or email us at info@recordclick.com and let us help you with your lineage research -- our services are fast, easy, and affordable.
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