Genealogical Research Tips

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Genealogical Research Tips

When I started my genealogy quest approximately 10 years ago, the research quickly became frustrating, simply from the lack of results coming forth from all of the research being done.
Quickly, I realized that searching for family members would not be as easy or methodical as I imagined it would be.
I have outlined some of the key points to aid you in your genealogy research.




Naming Conventions

Even though most french families were given Birth and Middle names, informally, in the family setting, the parents and siblings were acknowledged by the middle name, and this is how they were listed on census.
Example: Mary-Catherine Drolet would be listed on records as Catherine Drolet.
For this reason, it is pertinent to establish and confirm identify by more then one source.

Dates

While specifying an exact date will narrow search results, by allowing yourself -5/+5 years you have a stronger chance of finding an individual, that otherwise would have been missed when specifying an exact year.

Message Boards

Use the World Message Boards! I cannot stress enough how useful these are as tools in your research. For greater success be as specific as possible in providing information to the readers. Below is an example of a standard posted message:
John Doe b. abt 1800 in Wyoming married Jane Smith 1830 in New York.
Searching for ancestors and descendants for this family.

All replies appreciated in advance.
Email me at dddddd@aol.com
Fill out as many fields as you are able to before posting your message. Preview and edit your message before you post!
Be respectful of the living. With identity theft being a rampant problem, do not post personal information that a criminal could use against an individual, not to mention don't post messages for individuals you know are living.
Be sure to mark particular message board sites as a favorite. You will get emails whenever someone responds to your message as well receive notices that other individuals researching the same family line have posted new entries.

Search Engines

With the numerous search engines availables, and mirror sites thriving from these search engines, you will find you are getting too many choices to visit. My two favorite search engines where I have had the most success are:
Google.com
Copernic.com
Copernic.com requires a download of the basic search engine which is without charge.

Memberships & Genealogy Sites

Fee based memberships on genealogy sites are certainly a good idea if your budget can afford it. Ancestry.com remains to be my favorite due to the wide selection of census, draft cards, SSDI (Social Security Death Index). Much of this data can be located at other sites for free, though you may have to work a bit harder at locating data. They are:
FamilySearch.com
Rootsweb.com
MyTrees.com
Genealogy.com

Personal Files & Journals

Hard cover journals will remain the best choice of storage media. I use my journals to keep track of websites, individual data, notes for things I need to follow up on, etc. Most media devices have a storage life of approximately 5 years, before they mysteriously become corrupt. Anyone who has suffered a catastrophic computer crash or had storage media self-destruct will probably agree with me.
Even with my journals, I still keep a separate cd library with my database backup files, jpeg images, archival type documents (birth certificates, marriage contracts, draft cards, etc).
I utilze Legacy as my Genealogy Program, however, I also maintain a separate access file, which is super for storing names that are related somewhere on a distant branch. I can manipulate the data, and the number of records it can hold are too numerous to mention.

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