Suppose you are interested in finding information about your great-grandmother. Here are a few tips that will help you create a solid research plan:
1. Take some time and write down everything you can think of about the people you plan to research. Include as much detail as possible like spouse’s and children’s names, place of birth, and the approximate dates of birth, marriage, and death.
2. Write down exactly what you hope to learn about the person you’re tracking. Once you start your family history research it’s very easy to get sidetracked. It can be very exciting to uncover facts you never new about your family and this can cause you to lose sight of your initial goals in tracing your family tree. For this reason, writing down your aims in your basic plan is important. For example, your goal might be to learn as much as you can about one side of your family or learn more about an old story you’ve heard about your ancestors.
3. Use a genealogical search engine to get a general idea of what’s available. Using a site like Ancestry.com can help you find information about your ancestors. To start, just enter the name where the person you are searching lived to narrow the results. The data that you obtain will give you an indication of the range of resources available.
4. Prioritize the usable resources. Your search on genealogically focused search engines may turn up several different types of resources, such as newsgroups, mailing lists, and one-name study sites. I’d recommend that you prioritize the resources that you plan to use first. A great starting point is to visit a website that provides access to civil registration documents such as Ancestry.com so you can start trying to verify dates of birth, marriage and death.
5. Schedule time to use the various resources that you identify. Researching your family history is a truly lifelong pursuit. There is no way to download all the documentation and information you need at one time. Because it requires a lot of time and effort to research your family history, it’s best to schedule specific times to work on specific parts of your research plan. Genealogy is addictive; breaking it down into scheduled research time enables you to get the best out of your research plan without getting bogged down with information.
Don’t forget that there are plenty of websites that allow you to create your family tree online for free. One that I recommend is Mundia.com. As you make progress with your research, be sure to keep good notes and share information with your relatives.
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