South Bay Cities Genealogical Society

Promoting Genealogical Education and Research in Southern California's South Bay

Beginner's Basics

Starting Out Right

by Connie Moretti

Welcome to the wonderful scavenger hunt that is family history! In the same way that a bit of planning led to success in our childhood adventures, getting off to a good start in our family search can help us reach our goals.

Certainly pencil and paper were essential tools to keep track of our party plunder, and of course they will be necessary on our ancestor hunt. However information will accumulate quickly and we need to keep track of what we know and learn. The most basic tools for family searchers are Family Group Sheets and Ancestor (Pedigree) Charts. These are available from many sources, some of which are indexed at www.cyndislist.com/supplies.htm#Online. Good forms can also be copied from many how-to books such as Genealogy Made Easy by Karen V. Sipe for Dover Books (ISBN 0-486-29977-5), Unpuzzling Your Past by Emily Anne Croom for Betterway Publications (ISBN 1-55870-111-7), or The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy by Christine Rose and Kay Ingalls for Alpha Books (ISBN 0-02-861947-1).

In today's world, a computer with internet access and a genealogy program are almost essential for a successful ancestor hunt. www.cyndislist.com/software.htm is a good starting place for reviews of available software and links to sites where you can see a program demonstration. Charts can be printed from within the program as you need them.

Whatever forms are chosen, it is essential to keep track of where the information was found. This may not seem too important at first, but as time goes on and data multiplies it can be difficult to recall the exact source of information. At first, many facts will be cited as "personal knowledge" but if possible try to give a more exact description such as "Mother's (Alma Lewis Walton) Birthday Book" or "Conversation with Aunt Evy (Mrs. Cleo Coleman) July 4, 2008." As time goes on and more information is collected, source documentation is even more necessary. Resources such as vital records (birth, marriage & death certificates) and census data will quickly become important and need good recording in order to find and identify the same record again.

At the beginning of our hunt, it's hard to predict where genealogy will take us. In the future, if family members want to join a lineage society such as Daughters of the American Revolution or First Families of Ohio or to apply for a lineage based scholarship, it will be necessary to provide back-up documents for each item of information required.

Starting out right, with good recording practices and a genealogist's basic tools will set us up for successful hunting.

[First appeared in The Beacon, May/June 2008.]