Getting Started

There are many reasons to begin researching your family history. I think that a lot of us want to understand more about who we are and where we came from by learning about our ancestors. 

Regardless of our reasons, everyone who wants to learn about their family's history is going on a journey of sorts. There should be an "over all" goal and like every other journey, it begins one step at a time. 

In family history, goals usually focus on learning about an ancestor or a family. Many also want to find missing or unknown relatives. However, it is important to begin with small, managable goals and objectives, rather than try to learn everything possible as soon as possible. 

Here are some examples of good genealogical goals as a starting point:

• Complete genealogical research and document each event on one selected family
• Identify all the important dates (such as birth, marriage, or death) for one family
• Find the parents of one ancestor 
• Compile and publish a story about an ancestor (and/or their family)

Remember that there is an effective research process (click on each point to learn more on how to do this)- 

1. Always begin with what you know
2. Decide what you want to learn further
3. Select which records to look for
4. Find and collect those records
5. Getting the most of the information you find from your records