Posts tagged "family history website"

Family history research tips

Planning ahead is crucial to the success of any project, and a family history research project is no exception. Many people feel that planning is the least enjoyable part of researching their family tree. It’s true, finding your long lost ancestors and learning more about your family is the fun part of researching your roots. However, one of the most important parts of a research project like this is proper planning. Every family history research plan should define who and what you’re looking for and each task should be prioritized. Having a family history research plan can save you hours of work and keep you focused on your family research goals, be it finding an ancestor or looking for clues about when, where and how they lived.

Undoubtedly you know that information from around the world is available on the Internet. This is absolutely true, you can find millions of names on the thousands of family history websites you will find online. However, due to the vast number of sites to search through, you might find yourself overwhelmed after visiting one site after another. Additionally, you will probably be very tempted to keep a record of anything that may be relevant to your family history, no matter how remote the possibility.

Because there is so much information available on the Internet, it’s critical to create a family history research plan. This can save you plenty of frustration and hours of your time by keeping you focused. Tens of thousands of genealogical sites are available on the Internet. Without a good plan you can get lost in no time at all when researching online. You might be surprised at how easy it is to get lost on the Internet, especially when you start tracking a person just to find out hours later the person wasn’t even part of your family.

To keep this from happening to you, be sure you take the same approach with online research as you would if you were using an archive.  When you have a research plan and keep detailed notes of websites you’ve visited you will be sure you don’t do the same research more than once. Some websites periodically change their appearance so you might not realize you’ve already visited the site if you don’t keep good notes.

If you have a tendancy toward organization, you can keep your detailed notes either in a notebook or on your computer. If you’re the kind of person who knows exactly what you want and need at all times, and you have an excellent memory of where you pause during the course of your projects, your research plan can exist solely in your mind. In other words your research plan can be as formal or informal as you like as long as it helps you to plot what you’re looking for.

If you’re searching for an excellent resource for researching your family tree, Mundia.com is highly recommended. In addition to having all the tools you need to build your family tree, this site makes it easy for other family members to upload documents and photos and share interesting stories related to your ancestors. Creating your family tree is easy with the help of Mundia and registration is absolutely free. The site allows users to search other family trees in their database to look for similarities that will help you quickly grow your tree. If you really want to learn more about your family history, this is the place to start.

Trace your family history by interviewing family

Your first family history goldmine is often a close relative. You might have never considered talking to other family members about their lives and what they may know about earlier generations. The truth is, most of us have never discussed this topic in depth with other relatives.For many people, the opportunity to ask these questions has passed and they will never have the chance again. There is no time like the present to ask other family members what they know about your family history. Interviewing your relatives is an important step in your genealogical research process.

Even though your great grandmother may no longer be living, you can still learn about your family history from your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. These family members can all be excellent sources of names, locations, dates, diaries, photos, and gossip. They might also suggest other people you could talk to that knew your departed ancestors. You never know, they might even have documents that could add to your genealogical file. Think about how helpful this information could be.

Whenever possible, you should interview these family members in person. Receiving a questionnaire in the post or by email is impersonal in off-putting for some people. Some information they have to share might be closely guarded because its very personal or even evocative. You’re probably going to learn a lot more by conducting these interviews face to face and showing a real interest in what they are saying and reassuring them that your intentions are honorable.

Under no circumstances should you misuse the information you uncover and always be discreet. Remember, the information you are gathering involves living relatives or relatives that lived within recent memory. In an effort to encourage relatives to talk to you, let them know that you won’t broadcast any sensitive information to the entire family. Let them know that you consider the information to be important family history data. For your relatives the information is a lifetime of valued memories – to treat it with profound respect.

When your relatives are comfortable with your motives, they may provide all kinds of detail that you never dreamed they knew. Your interest might spark additional memories and lead to more revelations.  Be sure you schedule ample time for these important interviews. You never know how long Uncle Hank will talk once you get him going.

In addition to these interviews, you can also gather information at Mundia.com  This resource is absolutely free to use and allows you to collaborate with other family members to create your family tree.  I strongly encourage you to check it out if you want to trace your family history.