If you are just starting out on your genealogy journey, you may be tempted to jump right in and start looking through records in search of your ancestors. There is a very important first step that you should take before that, though. That step is simply to check and see what research has already been done. This very first step of the beginning genealogist’s journey may sound unremarkable, but it can actually get you to the “good stuff” sooner than if you skip it and start from scratch.
There is a good chance that you are not the first person to try tracing your family’s ancestry back through the generations. By looking for family tree charts and research notes from other family members, you can see what has already been done. Since so much family history information is now available online, there is a good chance that your family has at least some information online. Big genealogy sites like Ancestry.com are a good place to look, because so many people have stored family trees and other records there. Free trial memberships make these sites easy to access, and if you enjoy using them you can purchase a membership later when you go to do your own research. There are also online message boards where your relatives may have posted information about your family.
When you find information about your family, be sure to check its accuracy. Also, keep your information organized so that you can look through it easily and plan future research. Read through the information that you have gathered and look for gaps in the information – missing names, dates, and other facts that you can start researching. That’s the exciting stuff, going where no family member has gone before in the hope of clearing up ambiguities and solving family history mysteries.
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