Genealogy Starter

There are a lot of things to think about when seriously starting your research. Many of us have begun with the process of trial and error without an established plan — a mistake that can lead you down the wrong path and waste lots of your time. Take it from me, you don’t have enough time not to make a plan! But don’t fret, because Genealogy Starter is here to tell you how easy it is!

Genealogy Starter’s Four-Step Plan

Step 1: Define a plan and write it down! - Start your plan by deciding exactly what you want to get out of family research. Do you want to see how big you can make your family tree, or do you want to document a detailed family history? Do you just want to research direct ancestors, or do you want to research collateral branches and their ancestors and descendants? Or perhaps you know of one famous ancestor and would like to chart out all of his or her descendants.

In your plan, prioritize who you want to research. You may be like me, wanting to know everything about everybody; but you can’t. If you want a complete ancestral chart going back seven generations, it will have 255 people including 128 fifth great grandparents. That can be a feasible undertaking, but first pick a couple interesting ancestral lines and finish those before you bounce around to others. Bouncing around takes time!

You can - and should - change your mind where you want your research to go, but make these initial decisions and write them down. This is a good time to start a new file in your filing cabinet, or set up a new folder on your computer. Keep your plan where you will keep your records so you can refer to it and modify it as time goes on.

Step 2: Get organized - You can’t wait long to start collecting and organizing, because you will be overwhelmed with information very quickly. Unless you have a vast photographic memory like one of my distant cousins in Sweden, your head will spin around names, dates and places.

First, pick a good software tool to create your database. There is absolutely no reason to toil over paper record keeping when so many good tools are available to you–some for free. Second, start a filing cabinet. I like to keep paper copies of census records and vital records so I can refer to them easily while I have other things loaded on my computer.

Step 3: Prepare for what you’ll find - Our definitions page is a good resource to learn about basic definitions and resources that you will find along your journey into genealogical research. Sometimes you’ll run into information that might not make sense - this will help you save time understanding what is out there.

Step 4: Get moving! - Visit our Easy Pickins page to learn about the best places to start your research. You’re on your way to being a great genealogist!