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The genealogical research process
Planning: Organize your facts
- What do you know? Fill in what you can on a pedigree chart. Complete family group sheets for your parents and your grandparents. For forms see www.familytreemagazine.com
- What would you like to know? What is your goal?
- What has already been done?
Collecting: Conduct family archeology
Collect information on your family from attics, basements, garages,
scrapbooks, trunks, – wherever old family papers & records are kept.
Interview family members in person, by phone, by letter or by e-mail to
see what they know or might have.
Researching: Search records and sources
Look at the list of suggested searches below to find sources most
likely to help you discover what you want to learn. Check for books
on local and family history. Go to a local library, courthouse,
state archives, or the National Archives and Records Administration.
Search for records to document the history/stories you have heard
from relatives or the claims you have found in published genealogies.
Start with the known and work backwards.
Evaluating: Figure out how it all fits
Process what has been found. Has the information helped you with
your goal? Does it fit? What next?
Suggested searches
Online
Searchable databases
Government sites
Online library catalogs
Subject catalogs
Maps & place findings
Search engines for surnames & research locales
Family associations
Ethnic links
Surname message boards
Research locale libraries & historical societies
Original/compiled records
Vital Records (Birth,Marriage, Death)
Census Records
Cemetery Records
Military Records
County Histories
Land & Tax Records
Naturalization Records
City Directories
Newspapers & Obituaries
Family Histories
Passenger Lists
Links to other sites
To get an idea of what is out there try some of these sites:
Portals and Links
www.cyndislist.com
www.familytreemagazine.com
www.familysearch.org
www.genealogytoday.com/
www.ancestorhunt.com/
Commercial Sites
www.ancestry.com
www.footnote.com
www.genealogybank.com
www.newenglandancestors.org
Reference Sites
www.stevemorse.org
www.censuslinks.com
vitalrec.com/index.html
www.freetranslation.com
www.tomfolio.com
www.abebooks.com
www.Mayflowerhistory.com
www.findagrave.com
Government Sites
www.glorecords.blm.gov
lcweb.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/
www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/index.html
www.ellisislandrecords.org
www.castlegarden.org
www.memory.loc.gov/ammem/
www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/
Surname and Locale Sites
genforum.genealogy.com
rootsweb.com
www.usgenweb.com
worldgenweb.org
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