Librarians today often get inquiries on how to find the patron's ancestors or the ancestors of someone the patron is researching. Unless the librarian is familiar with the basics of genealogical research, she may have problems helping these patrons.

Librarians should HELP their patrons, not do the research for them. In order to help patrons properly, promptly and efficiently, I have assembled this Guide for Librarians. It gives a good overview of the issues in Genealogical Research and helps prepare the librarian to help her genealogy patrons. Click on the buttons above, or on the links on the sidebar to learn more about Genealogy and how you can help your patrons find the resources they need for a successful search.

NOTE: This tutorial is also very useful for the general public in learning to research their family tree. It was originally designed as a library school project, and does contain some specific information for libraries, but the techniques used here are the same for any genealogical researcher! So please don't let the title scare you away. There are plenty of interesting research techniques. Just select those that interest you from the Table of Contents or the links on each page.

(If the links do not work on some pages, just use the back key. We have recently changed servers and are still trying to get all the links updated. Thank you, Sharon Centanne, author.)