Family Ancestry

Documenting Your Family ancestry

Genealogy is a great family hobby.  No matter where you live, people from around the world are enthusiastically searching for their ancestors.  It helps give people a reference of where they came from and might help you to understand how you got to where you are today.

Beginners usually rely on assembled family information from family trees that they have found on the internet.  The internet has driven the genealogy hobby to be what it is today.  10 years ago, the research process was much different.  If you wanted to learn about your ancestors, you went to your local genealogical society, Family History library, and the national archives.  These types of facilities were the starting point to your journey of documenting your ancestry. Now these facilities seem to be the end point for most hobbyists.  For the hobbyist who is really the family historian who wants to accurately document their ancestry we have a few helpful tips.

Getting Organized

Whether you are traveling long distance to take photos of headstones, going to a State Archive, or your local library, you should be prepared. In order to maximize your time, we have a few helpful tips. Know what the facility has as far as what you are looking for.  Call, Email, or if they have an online index, spend time to get familiar with the facility and what it has to offer.  Know their hours of operation, and their use policies.  Some facilities require appointments.  To get the most out of your visit, plan as much as you can.  This will help to maximize your time at the facility.

Before you go, create a to-do list for your research.  The more detailed your list is, the better off you will be.  You should have a good idea of what you are looking for, and know what is available.  You may get overwhelmed with what you are researching because of too much or too little information that you actually find.  Sometimes you will start to find information for another family member from the same source that you were actually trying to find information for another ancestor.  You might get off track so it is a good idea to have a copy of your Family Tree and family fact sheet to help with the information that you find.

Keeping Track of your Research

Once you get to your destination, you know you have a limited amount of time to research your ancestry.  You are there to gather as much information as possible, so you eagerly gather as much as you can.  You make copies from different books, microfilms, etc.  Some researchers in their haste realize that when they get home and sort through their information, that it is not organized or well documented.  They look at the information and have a mess to sort through, and even have to throw some of it out because they can’t recall where the information came from, who it was for, or why they made copies.

When you are coping information, look over the copy, make sure all the information you are looking for copied correctly.  Immediately bind the information together with a stapler or paper clips.  Write down all the necessary information to recall the source.  If you can’t recall the source, the information is not going to be clear to you.  If the information is from a book, copy the cover, the chapter information, and write down the page numbers if they are not present on your copies.  Be as specific as you can.  Write the information on the front or back of the copies.  Once you get home, if you are missing something, it will be easy for you to call the facility and ask them to copy what you are missing.  If you don’t have enough details, they won’t be able to help you.

Research Logs keep you Focused

Once you have a document in front of you, take the time to write down all the source information and source citation.  Source information is the information in the source; it is the details that you find about your ancestor. Source citation, is the document itself.  It is the facilities reference information to recall the document, like the number on the side of the book and the section you found the book in.  It also includes the details of the document, like book name, author, when it was published, and page number.

Having a research log will help you in knowing what you have researched and what to work on next.  Write down what you have researched, what your conclusions are.  Keeping a spreadsheet can help you to sort and filter on what has worked for you, what has not, and will give you the ability to recall information easily.  We have templates for Research planning, tasks, document management or blank Genealogy Charts and forms.

Managing your Research

When you get over-whelmed with your research, document what you have done, take a break, and come back to it later. At the end of the day, the process should be enjoyable and rewarding, so when things get frustrating take a step back and take a deep breath. This will help you stay energized and focused on the task at hand.   If you are at a loss for what type of document to use to help document your ancestry, we have reference lists to help in your ancestry research.

About the Author

This article was provided by ourFamily•ology®, a security conscious, Web-based provider of genealogy tools to help you build and organize a precise family history and a reliable family tree that can be shared with family and friends. For more information, please visit www.Family-Genealogy.com/

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