Genealogy is one of the top two most popular subjects on the Web, and its popularity only continues to increase. It involves tracing your ancestry and finding out more about your ancestors. With the helpful tool of the Internet, and the growing collaboration of genealogists, it is now possible to obtain exciting and interesting information about your ancestors faster than ever before.
The first step in genealogy is an obvious one, but is often bypassed. Talk to your older relatives. Ask them about their relatives and ancestors, where they were born, etc. Bring a camera so you can take pictures of old photographs. The essential information to get from your grandparents about themselves and their ancestors is: full name, place and date of birth and marriage. Find out where they grew up and trace any moves.
The next place to go is your local library. Most libraries have a genealogy section; just ask your librarian for help finding it. You can also ask the librarian if your county keeps documents such as marriage records, birth certificates, and death records at the county courthouse, or if there are county archives.
If you prefer to go online, you can search for these documents online at US Gen Web instead. Their web address is; http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm . At their site, you can search by state for documents of your ancestors. Another good site to begin your research at is www.familysearch.org .
Find out if your county keeps documents such as marriage records, birth certificates, death records, etc. at the county courthouse or at the archives. Or, you can search for documents online at USGenWeb. A useful search tip is, when you are looking online for information about a particular ancestor, a great way to save yourself some time is to hit Ctrl+F or apple+F, then fill in your ancestor's name and it will be highlighted wherever it appears on the page.
Another good way to utilize the Internet is to subscribe to genealogy mailing lists. They typically do not cost anything, and their purpose is to let people doing genealogy for the same surname, or with another common interest, share their research. One Web site where you can sign up to share and receive research based on the surname you are researching is at http://www.surnames.com/ . There are also mailing lists available to share research based on ethnicity or geographical location.
Since there's a lot of information sharing between computers involved, it's wise to invest in an anti-virus program. Keep backups of all the important information on your computer, because you cannot be completely protected from viruses by any program, and your research is valuable to you.
Uncovering interesting stories and facts about your ancestors is exciting and rewarding, but it also takes hard work. Remember that genealogy today is far easier and less time-consuming than it was several years ago. The Internet has revolutionized the process, so make use of this great tool, but don't forget to take the proper safety precautions as well!
By Riannon Cutler