Genealogy research could become addictive

[Derek Conley]

Derek--it IS kind of daunting when first begining, but its like what they say about eating an elephant--one bite at a time. I'm no where near where I know I could be in my family research, but I'm just finding one fact/individual and going to the next.

I'm sure I'll just take a deep breath and take the plunge here soon...

[SteveB]

The genealogy addiction started many years ago for me. The kilt addiction is relatively new. My Family tree occupies four four drawer file cabinets with copies of documents for each of the 18,421 records in my database. Without verification, the data could be a mere bit of the wishful thinking of the author of the source you have entered. Around the beginning of the twentieth century everybody was publishing a family genealogy purporting to go all the way back to famous, or royal lines. Most of these "brag books" were very wishful thinking that could not be really feasible biologically. They serve as nice guide, but should be verified with primary records as much as as is possible. Mine started before the personal computer became available. The internet does speed up the process, as well as speed the spread of some questionable data.
Slainte

[Scotus]

Yes, genealogy is very addictive. I was active in the hobby for a long time before I gave it up, due to the fact that it's also a somewhat anti-social hobby. If you're doing genealogy correctly, you'll spend lots of time in darkened rooms of libraries (known as the genealogical section) , as well as tramping through cemeteries. It has been rewarding, but there was a point where I had to say, "Enough is enough." I had to get outside, breath the fresh air, and talk to living humans.

Gilmore is correct. Do not go by what you find on the Internet. You can use it as a guide, but not source material. You have to do the leg work on your own to be certain. Take nothing as fact until you have a real document or other secondary or tertiary source (well documented book that lists primary sources, for example) to prove something.

[Miss_CP]

I've tried doing a family tree a few times this year, including with ancestry.com, and everytime, i've been un-successful :S
Not giving up on this one tho!

[gilmore]

I've tried doing a family tree a few times this year, including with ancestry.com, and everytime, i've been un-successful :S
Not giving up on this one tho!

As was said earlier, either here or in another thread, get a book on how to do genealogical research for beginners, often avavailable at your local library, which may also have classes on it.

We start with what we know and work backward, usually talking to the oldest members of our family.

Good luck!