Ancestry research isn’t necessarily the most fun of the tasks, but its results could be well worth the effort invested. Here are 8 tips that will help folks just starting (or considering to start) to research their roots.
1. Plan and schedule
You should think of your genealogy as pretty much any other task. And as we all know it, the only way to deal with tasks is to organize yourself to handle them properly. Put activities related to your ancestry project in the calendar and make sure to follow up on them. Only when you can clearly see them occupying a spot in your calendar will you be able to manage your time and make things happen.
2. Create a list of sites to research
Aside from good ol’ Google, good resources are archives.com and ancestry.com. However, prepare yourself for the event that you won’t be able to find all the information at one place and will rather have to visit libraries to get into the nitty-gritty details. Obtaining copies of local magazines and newspapers that were published during the time when your ancestor(s) was/were alive is crucial and because not all of these magazines/newspapers are digitized, the manual work may be required.
3. Set alerts
Archives.com has its alert service so you can be notified when some article pops up talking about your distant relative and/or family member. Google has similar service that will send you search query results directly to your inbox. You can think of this as a research done even while you’re sleeping. Pretty awesome what today’s technology can do for you.
4. Deal with distractions
Again, think of your ancestry research as a regular task and make sure to focus on the task at hand. If you’re really serious about this, you’ll know how to channel different distractions from neighbors, family members and media. For a start, don’t watch TV unless you really have to.
5. Note everything you find
You’ll need a good tool and we can’t suggest Evernote enough. It allows you to archive both images and photos in a single place and have all that information instantly available from both your computer and smartphone (presuming you have one). Moreover, it can also handle various types of documents and for the best results, you can get a Premium service which costs just 50 bucks a year.
In general you should store the following information to better organize your research: search date, where the resource was available (URL, film or book title along with page number), publisher information (for books and movies) and your notes. Additionally, you can also add tags to every note to have an additional reference point at a later date.
6. Social networks are your friend
If you want, you can share results of your research on Facebook and even ask other members of the community for advice. Similarly, feel free to join groups of other people looking to find their roots, who may have a useful advice to share.
7. Consider hiring a professional
If certain resources are located in a foreign country, you may be better off hiring a professional rather than travelling and doing all the work for yourself. When you take into account the flight, accommodation and other costs, hiring a professional could actually be a more affordable option. Then again, you may want to visit the country of your ancestors – see if you have enough time as it can be a fun experience.
8. Have fun
Speaking of fun, ancestry research shouldn’t be a daunting activity though it will be boring at times. Try imagining the complete picture / end result when you’ll be rejoicing in your discoveries. If you’re not having sufficient fun, you’ll burn out quickly. Good luck! 😉
Try this resource
Genealogy Buff is a great way to kickstart your genealogy research. It offers a ton of data about pretty much every surname on the planet. So check it out.