Genealogy: Sources of Information

Genealogy: Library Article

Genealogy: Sources of Information
by Marvin Kusmierz

Genealogy, for the most part, can be divided into the three major categories of:

How To - Information that helps you learn the process of doing genealogy.
Hard Data - This is the records keeping aspect or actual data specific to your family members. Surnames, dates, places, relationships, pictures, artifacts, etc..
Related Information - The "related information" is the material that adds flesh to doing genealogy. Such things as history, culture, time-periods and other information that help to identify with the life of your answers. For many, these are even more important the hard data because they bring us "in touch" with these distant relatives thereby giving a living feeling to their personal genealogy.

Much has been written on the subject of Genealogy to help individuals minimize their learning curve and put them on a path to expediently finding the resources they are looking for. Resources such as books, magazines, libraries, government sources and the internet are readily available for this purpose. We'll help you find these resources and provide a few of our own as well. Below we discuss these sources so you can be aware of each has to offer in helping you with your research.

Family
Genealogy begins with recording your living family and using them as sources for information on deceased family members. In your efforts, encourage your family members to join you in capturing the genealogy of your ancestors. A family genealogy project can often bring members even closer together and much joy in sharing what is learned about the generations the proceeded your time.
A very important focus are the oldest members of the family who are an important source for information on past family history. These members time to help us gather family history is threaten by fading memory or passing on to another life. Identify each of these members, schedule a visit for each and act on it as quickly as possible. Record what they share with you. If acceptable, video or audio tape the conversation. Be prepared with a list questions to help stimulate their memory. Try not to interrupt them as this may distract them from recalling what they were about to share. Be a good listener and only probe once they have clearly finished their thought on a subject. What may seem meaningless to you at this point in time may later on make sudden sense with other data that you subsequently accumulated.
As you move further into your genealogy, you will become aware of family that you were not aware of before. Contact these individuals and introduce yourself letting them know about the genealogy research you are doing. Share some information with them and inquire about their knowledge on the family. Most likely they will be able provide you with information on their segment of the family that you may not have known about.

Internet
A Tool - We begin with the internet for it is the single most expedient tool to the other resources. The internet has been a gift to genealogists providing an easy means to find the other resources and in many cases, the actual information you want. Without the internet, much valuable research time would be spent to determine what are these resources and where are they located.
Resource Links - Since you are reading this you are already somewhat familiar with internet resources. On our Resource Destinations page you'll find links to many of the popular genealogy sites and to the large sites that specialize in genealogy links. These mega-link sites provide can be overwhelming with all the links they provide, but are very essential to saving search time.
Interactive - Thanks to the internet, you are able to interact with many resources by exchanging emails, joining focus newsgroups, participating in board postings, and joining forum groups. ATPC has several of these available for your use as well as links to others on our Destinations page.
Focus - As the internet has grown, sites that have a specific focus rapidly appeared online. ATPC is but one example. While our interest is in genealogy, our focus leans "Polish" related subjects. There are many other ethnic sites and other focus subjects. The mega-link sites are best for finding these resources.
Searches - At some point in time you will resort to doing internet "searches" to try and find what the mega-link sites have not been able to provide. Consider this the adventurous part of your research and be patient as there is much to be gained in not giving up on this process. Some information that you will most likely find are:
New contacts: Names of individuals who also share your surname. Be sure to send them an email to let them know who you are and your interest in genealogy. Don't be discouraged if some do not reply because those that do may be of valuable assistance in furthering your family's genealogy.
Web Sites: Personal web pages are very popular and many of these are based on a family's genealogy. Take time to check out those sites that may fit into your reference. Contact the site owner if they do and inquire for more information. Some may be businesses sites that reference and individual with one of your surnames, again, contact them to connect to this individual.

Government
Government resources whether local, regional or national all have records on individuals. Birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, immigration records, declaration of intent, voter registration, driver's license, social security data, etc. are all documented by government agencies giving the genealogist a good source for established important dates, places and for picking up other information included in many of these records.
Along with government records, check with the churches that your ancestors may have belonged to for information on birth, death, marriage, baptism, societies, etc. These records may reveal additional information that may not be on a government record. If the local church does not have what you are looking for, find the next highest level of that church organization and inquire there. Unless the records have been destroy by fire, war or some other extreme act, will have documented your ancestor's religious presence in their organization.

Libraries
Research at a library is an experience that everyone should expose themselves to. Libraries do a very good job of maintaining public records such as newspapers, obituaries, birth announcements, city directories, books, articles, censuses and more. Your research is hands on in that you will be able to browse the records usually on micro film are indexed by subject and year. It is not unusual to look for a specific bit of information and find more than you expected.
Newspapers: Browsing an old newspaper will give you some sense of society, news, products and more during that ancestor's time.
Obituaries: An excellent source for finding names of additional relatives and information such as; funeral home, church name, pastor's name, circumstances of death, or place of burial.
City Directories: Old directories for cities often list more information than just a street address. Some include who else resided in that homestead, occupation of the listed person or other details.

Books There is nothing like a the book format when it comes to readable materials. You can take it with you most everywhere you go. You can underline text and pinch the corner of a page you refer often. You can also get cozy with book, curl up in a chair, lay back in bed or read a few pages while waiting for an appointment.
Books important to genealogy deal with three basic themes, "how to", "hard data", and "related information".
"How to" or "self-help" books are the preferred method of learning for most people. This is especially true if you were not born in the "digital age" and electronic media is just not a comfortable method of learning. There are many good books to help you get started in an orderly way with your personal genealogy. You can find sources for books at your local library or on the internet. You may want to start with a book on genealogy in general, then advance to books focused toward specific needs. For example, there are many books available that are specific to Polish genealogy that address where to look, go, or what to do to get data specific to your Polish ancestors.
Beyond the what to do books, there are books specific to background (related) information such as history, naming conventions, biographies and so on. These add depth to your knowledge on the life and times of your ancestors as well as knowledge that can make your genealogy research more interesting and meaningful.
Magazines: Magazines will not give you "hard data", but they are an excellent source for staying up to date with what's happening or what's new regarding genealogy. They provide featured articles on genealogy, family, history, etc. And, typically, calendar of events, new resources, reviews and more to keep you informed. Subscribing to a monthly magazine is a good idea to stay on top of the latest goings on in genealogy. Plus, like a book, you can read it most anywhere.

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