Roger's
Genealogy Information and Internet Links

I have been asked several times about getting started in genealogy. I am delighted to help anyone get started with their family history project. Once you get started, you will get hooked and it will become a life long hobby. I have been doing genealogy research since 1981. I have included some Internet links to help you get started. There are additional links listed at the bottom of this page.

The first link, is for a site with a good basic guide to help get you started. Guide

"Cyndi's List" is an Internet based genealogy index. It will help you find a lot of genealogy related Internet sites. Cyndi's List

Software Choices

There are several dozen genealogy software programs. Many are free and some can cost over a hundred dollars. Our genealogy computer interest group suggests (and I agree) that all beginners should start with PAF. That is "Personal Ancestral File." It can be downloaded free from the Internet site available from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" (commonly referred to as the Mormons). They are leaders in family history research. You do not have to be a member of their church to use PAF, their Internet site, or to visit one of their family history centers. PAF data can be easily imported into most good genealogy programs. That will allow you to make a change to another program at a later date. Always remember to include or cite your sources of information even if it is verbal and came from a family member.

PAF After you access the link, look for the following program: Personal Ancestral File® 5.0 - English Only ~ Windows.

Beginning Your Research

Research should begin with your existing family members. Some will have a great deal of information and some will know very little. After you have gotten some basic information, you can start looking for official records and go fishing on the Internet. Be careful with the Internet, you can spend a lot of time and money for little return.

I have found that women are generally more into family history then men. There are exceptions. Some relatives will be open and very interested while others won't want to talk about it. When doing interviews, the interviewee will invariably get emotional about twenty minutes into the conversation. Don't let it throw you, it is a natural response and is generally trigged by an emotional memory. A kind ear will get you a long way.

For distant family members, you may need to get to know them before they will open up. They may be wondering about your motives. It was my second trip to Canada that I struck gold. Get organized, don't throw anything away that has information on it (file it). It could help you later. It is ok to spend money for official records like birth and death certificates. Be careful about spending money for research and Internet data bases.