There are several ways that a brand new genealogist can learn about how to do genealogy. You can learn from the mistakes you make when you first jumped in and started doing research. You can learn from reading about genealogy. Or, you can learn by asking other genealogists for tips and helpful hints.
Most of my experience with genealogy has come from jumping in headfirst, and seeing what I can find out on my own. Plug a name into a search engine, and see what happens. So far, this method has not provided me the great results I hoped it would. Years ago, I talked to a few family members and sketched out a family tree based entirely upon what they told me. When I first got started working on genealogy I thought that these vague, and hastily written down notes, would be all it required for me to be successful with my genealogy research. I couldn’t have been more wrong!
This was when I started reading genealogy blogs. I learned that obituaries are filled with useful information for genealogists. I learned that there are a lot of genealogists who have a personal blog about their family online, available for anyone to read. The more I read, the more I realized that there was so much more that I needed to learn! It was becoming overwhelming.
The best tips and hints that I’ve gotten about the addictive hobby called genealogy came from talking with other genealogists. A friend of mine who knew a lot about his ancestors suggested that I start by looking for an ancestor who was three generations back from me. Until then, I thought I was supposed to start with myself, and work backwards! Since I am getting nowhere trying to find myself, I will have to try this friend’s advice. One of the genealogists in my family told me that he only uses Ancestry.com, which he feels is “the right way” to do genealogy research. I’ve been avoiding using that website, because it eventually charges a fee to users. But, since he has been having a lot of success with that website, perhaps I should give it a try sometime. It seems that when I get “stuck” in my genealogy research, the best resources for tips and hints are other genealogists.
Image by Valerie Everett on Flickr