Quote Originally Posted by KFCarter View Post
By all means pursue the info your father has. If you can find primary data like family bibles and records kept by earlier generations in your family, it can give you a huge leg up in doing online searches.

Also, if the LDS church has a genealogical library within driving distance of you, it will be worth the trip. They have exhaustive records gleaned from primary sources all over the country. They often participate in "loose records" projects, scanning and recording old paper records in churches, courthouses, etc. Just tons and tons of genealogical info in microfilm... and, if there's something in their index that isn't physically in their local library they will often send to Salt Lake to have a dupe made and sent at no charge... a way to build up each local library.

Happy hunting!
I would echo this, and also suggest you contact your local public library. Most libraries maintain some sort of genealogical department, and many offer free classes and seminars on all sorts of topics, including genealogy for beginners. You might also see if a local historical society maintains a library as well.

I worked for two years as a genealogical librarian with our local library; here is the basic genealogy handout we gave beginners. Hopefully it will help:

http://thelibrary.org/research/res_g...aid=676&lid=50

Just remember, work your way back from yourself, and document, document, document.

T.