Getting Started: General Research InformationEdit This Page

Getting Started

Numerous articles are available on FamilySearch Wiki to help you get started in family history. This page will provide links to articles about general research topics.

Principles of Family History Research

1. Identify What You Know
2. Decide What You Want to Learn
3. Select Records to Search
4. Obtain and Search the Records
5. Use the Information

Where to start?

If you are wondering where to get started in your family history research, the following articles will help you with this decision:

How to Guess Where to Start

• Guessing a Name Variation
• Guessing a Date
• Guessing a Place
• Guessing the Easiest to Research Person and Event
• Guessing a Record Type to Use

Organization and Documentation

Organizing and documenting your research is a key concept for both beginners and seasoned family history researchers. File organization is important in computers, but for genealogy and family history research work it is absolutely imperative. Creating links between files (such as source documents that have been scanned, research logs, analysis forms, and records managers) can help in keeping the sources available for quick view while studying and analyzing a research problem. Many types of organizing methods exist, so researchers can adopt and then adapt them to personal styles. The following articles will help you understand this important process:

• Cite Your Sources (Source Footnotes)
• Copying Sources
• Document AS YOU GO!
• Keeping a Research Log
• Organizing Your Files, which deals with general organization matters, also providing links to other important topics
• Research Compass Description, which introduces a comprehensive approach to linking digitized sources, research logs, analysis tables, reports, and records management programs
• Research Logs
• See the category page File Organization for a complete list of articles that are related to organizing your research.

Get Started in Research

Other articles that may be helpful include:

• How to Begin a Search for Your Ancestor
• How to Find Descendants in the United States
• How to Get the Best Research Advice
• How to Preserve and Restore Family Records and Books
• How To Start Your Family History
• Introduction to Family History
• Locating Genealogical Websites
• Family History Library Internet Favorites
• Genealogical Proof Standard
• Major Databases for Beginning United States Research
• Research a Family in Community Context
• Rookie Mistakes
• Civil Government Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificates
• Family group record: roadmap for researchers
• Sharing: a good way to FIND ancestors
• Solving Tough Research Problems—Overcoming Brick Walls
• Spelling of Surnames and Given Names
• Spelling Substitution Tables for the United States and Canada
• Start Family History by Writing What is Known
• Surname Research
• Traditional Nicknames in Old Documents - A Wiki List
• A Guide to Research
• Burned Counties Research
• Solving Tough Research Problems-Overcoming Brick Walls

Technology

Technology can be a useful tool when doing genealogy. Understanding how to use technology can help genealogists create an organized, useful system that makes doing research much easier. A few articles that have helpful tips on making technology work for you include:

• Digital Sound

Wiki Tutorials

New Video Demos:

• How to use the Wiki!

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• Major Features
• Writing and Editing
• Registering
  

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• How to search for an article in the Wiki
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How-to Wiki Articles:

• Register, contribute, edit, author, format, create links, upload images, create Un-Portal pages