Family name, to Clan, to Tartan

[macwilkin]

Hi, Scootter!

I worked as a genealogical librarian for two years with our local public library; if your local library has a genealogy department, I would suggest visiting them. Most libraries offer classes for beginners, and genealogy librarians usally have years with of experience in dealing with various & sundry records. Another possibility is a local genealogical society, or the local LDS (Mormon) Church, which maintains family history libraries at their churches, which can borrow literaly thousands of records from the main genealogical library at Salt Lake City. Non-Mormons are welcome to use their records.

A good rule of thumb: start with yourself and work your way back. People are usually tempted to try to find your distant ancestors (like immigrants) first, but that just makes it extremely harder to put the puzzle together. Interview your parents and other relatives, and ask if anyone is working on family history. Documents such as birth & death certificates, etc. will provide good information (usually). Get a pedigree chart (family tree) and fill out as much of it as you can. Once you have exhausted your sources, you can start looking for obituaries, census records, etc. But be forewarned: genealogy is addicitive, and you may find yourself in dusty archives all the time, or travelling around the country, as Scotus said.

A couple of cautions:

1. Document, Document, Document: whilst we would like to believe "family legends" that we are the direct descendants of someone famous, always back up these stories with facts. That being said, I never tried to "burst" a family legend on purpose when I was a librarian, but sometimes the historical facts to disproved them, and some folks couldn't handle that. Family stories are a good starting point -- but like serious research for a class or a degree, must be documented. Also, whilst genealogists are in general very helpful and friendly, they do not suffer those who do not back up their findings with reliable sources -- and you will need friends & contacts as you starting digging deeper.

2. The Internet is a fantastic resource for genealogists -- but also one of the biggest pitfalls as well. It's very tempting to jump on-line and try to find great-great-grandfather in a google search -- sometimes you get lucky, but a lot of genealogical research is still done in archives and libraries with the dreaded microfilm -- whilst some libraries and goverments, churches, etc. are now digitizing records, many are not, and that means getting "down and dirty". Most libraries now maintain computers specifically for Internet databases like Ancestry.com & Heritage Quest, and will again, offer classes with the "skinny" on how to find information. Some web sites, like Ancestry, charge a subscription, but the local library may allow card-holders free access from a library branch.

This link, from my old library, is a nice reference guide to beginning genealogy:

http://thelibrary.springfield.missou...t/basicgen.cfm

Good Luck, and Happy Hunting!

Cheers,

Todd