User:Nolaneclark/sandbox 2

Starting Research in a Digitized Online Era
This is wonderful time to begin family history research. Every week, new resources are added to the available online resources.

Begin your online research by watching a 5 minute video: Find a Record in Five Minutes.

Now, go to familysearch.org and try to find an online record of one of your ancestors.

Gather Family Resources
Before you attempt additional online research, gather information from family and home sources. This will allow you to work from the known to the unknown.

For tips for talking to relatives, watch the 5 minute video: Learn from Family.

Gather items that are sources of family history, such as:


 * Birth, marriage, and death certificates,
 * Family Bibles
 * Family records
 * Journals, diaries, and letters
 * Old photographs
 * Obituaries and newspaper clippings

In your quest for infomration, go beyond your parents and grandparents. It is likely that your second cousin, great-aunt, or other relative already has some family information.

Organize Your Information
Now that you have started gathering information, organize that information. For an introductory overview of the process, go through the lesson on Getting Starting in Family History Research.

Organize the information you find, and record it on family group records and pedigree charts. For additional guidance in preparing family group records, see Family group record: roadmap for researchers.

Information can be organized most effectively by using computer genealogy software. See Organize the New Records. For free Windows genealogy software, see Windows Genealogy Software. For free Mac genealogy software, see Mac Genealogy Software.

Search Existing Genealogy Collections
To avoid duplication of effort, find out what compiled records already exist in genealogy collections. Be cautious in using compiled records, particularly records that do not cite sources.

Search United States Census Records
Every individual exists within a family. The best original United States records for information about complete families are the census records. Federal censuses beginning in 1850 show all individuals living in a household. Census records are publicly available through the 1930 census.

For guidance in the use of United States census records see United States Census and United States, How to Use Census Records.

Searches For each ancestral family that that Identify each family After gathing information from family sources and from existing genealogy collections, you should focus on individual families so thIdentify each end-of-the-line ancestor for whom you have verified information. Search for that individual in each applicable census, starting with the most recent available.

The starting points for searching census records are the United States Census Indexes. At FamilySearch.org, one can obtain free access to indexed census records for the 1850 census, the 1860 census, the 1870 census, the 1880 census, the 1900 census, the 1910 census, the 1920 census and the 1930 census.