Simple beginnings are the best in genealogy, like noting when and where grandparents were born, lived, and die. These lead to more details, questions and great family stories. Sometimes the best resources are genealogists themselves and their own families. Sharing memories, photos, and copies of old documents such as draft cards, marriage licenses, birth certificates, death certificates and letters can be the most valuable treasures of all. Those are the family histories.
Government Buildings and Websites as Sources
Additional documents verifying family information can be found online saving time and money. County, state, and federal records are available for order through internet access at government sites. An investment of $8 to $20 in a birth certificate ordered online can be much cheaper than a trip across three states. However, many genealogists make a holiday of visiting places their ancestors lived and a stop at the county courthouse is often part of the tour. The article Free Genealogy Websites discusses access to US Census information and other worthy family history internet sources, which have copies of government documents for public viewing and copying.
Stay Organized: Filling in the Blanks
Simple forms are available to help beginning genealogists focus in books like “The Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook: essential forms and letters for all genealogists“ by Emily Anne Croom, ISBN 155870423X. Croom’s book has about forty different family history forms. Some public libraries shelve this popular book and individual retail purchase list price is $16.99.
Home Computer Genealogy Software Programs
For genealogists wanting the flexibility of using home computers for forms and the capability to create and publish various genealogical data and photos, RootsMagic is coming out with Version 4 in late 2008. The software company has been around nearly a decade and consistently earns highest marks from technology watchdogs like PC Format Magazine, Family Tree Magazine and many others. RootsMagic has a reputation for user friendly formatting, regular updates, and technical support for their clients. Their current catalog offers a variety of software and book packages ranging in price from $29.95 to $84.95.
Family Tree Maker is the most used genealogy computer software, marketed by the biggest commercial company in family history sales, The Generations Network, parent company of several genealogy websites, based in Provo, Utah. Family Tree Maker 2008 hit the general market a year ago, but comments posted at PC Magazine by long-time Family Tree Maker users continue to remain consistently bleak. Loyalists are hopeful the 2009 version might make up for the 2008 Family Tree Maker’s short-comings.
Most Reliable Internet Subscription Website
Ancestry.com is unique among online genealogy resources. Sooner or later, every genealogist turns to Ancestry.com for help. However, like several other reliable genealogy websites and the Family Tree Maker software, it is owned by The Generations Network. Some of Ancestry.com’s information is accessible for free, but most requires subscribing to a yearly service. It has volumes of primary documents, such as US Census records from 1930 and older, military records, wills, immigration records, land grants, forms to help organize and track family history documentation, and more. Ancestry.com is constantly updating, so subscribers might find answers to questions one day that they could not find the day before. Private citizens do subscribe to Ancestry.com for upwards of $180/year to access USA records and about $250/yr to access world-wide records, but many public libraries subscribe because it is such a valuable public resource, and patrons can access Ancestry.com free at subscribing libraries.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Familysearch.org, also known as Family Search Internet Genealogy Service, Salt Lake City, Utah and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints charges a small fee for loaning copies of its millions of microfilm, microfiche, and other historical resources. Familysearch.org gives genealogists the option of temporary loans or permanent loans to their local Family History Centers.
Family History Centers are libraries dedicated strictly to genealogical research, operated by and located on property of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Family History Centers welcome all genealogists, whether members of the Latter-day Saints or not. These genealogy libraries house vast resources available free for all genealogists to access. Experienced volunteers are available to guide patrons, not unlike public libraries. Genealogists find using the Family Search Internet Genealogy Service to be extra rewarding because they receive priceless family information, and have the opportunity to donate valuable historical records to a local library with no to little personal investment.
The Ultimate Genealogists
Everyone deserves to be remembered and regarded correctly. Genealogists must take special care in recordkeeping and documentation. Sources must always be cited with each fact. Before stock piling documents and letting files get lost or disheveled, genealogy hobbyists should read and participate in online message boards and forums at sites like Ancestry.com and the others to gain confidence and knowledge in genealogy terminology and protocol. The more homework done before documentation begins, the more fun the hobby becomes, and the better quality genealogists’ family histories are in the final compilations.
The searches are the ice cream sundaes and the resulting family stories are the cherries on the tops!
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