Getting Organized: Start Your Research the Right Way

Getting Organized:
Start Your Research the Right Way
By Donna Murray

What you'll need:
* 3 ½-inch, three-ring binder and section separators
* hole puncher
* accordion folder for over-sized documents

Getting organized : Use tabbed separators to make specific sections in your binder. You may choose to separate the data you collect by the individual's name or by document type (birth and death certificates, obituaries). If you're researching both sides of your family simultaneously, keep a separate binder for each. Create a section for resource information to store such data as:

• addresses of state and county offices

• names and addresses of newspapers circulating in the area where you'll be researching

• phone number of the main branch of your local library; names and addresses of libraries in the counties where you'll be researching

• snail mail and web site addresses for the National Archives and other repositories

• printed list of your favorite web sites and e-mail addresses

• contact information for pertinent genealogical and historical societies and Family History Centers.

Staying organized: Don't rely on your memory. Write stuff down. You think you'll remember things, but you won't because you'll have too many facts swimming around in your head. Avoid jotting data down on teensy scraps of paper. Use full sheets. When you get a document, immediately stick it in your binder so it won't get lost.

Start with yourself. Get a copy of your birth certificate, marriage license application, baptismal and military records and any other important document. It's amazing how many researchers neglect this task.

Work back - one generation at a time. Get copies of your parents' birth certificates, marriage license application(s), baptismal, citizenship and military records. If applicable, obtain death certificates, wills and obituaries. Then do the same for each previous generation to the extent possible. By being methodical, you'll miss less information, your research will be more accurate and you'll spend less time on wild goose chases.

Obtaining records. Marriage license applications, divorce papers and wills are generally county records. Write to the county where the action took place to get copies of the documents. Prior to about 1905, births and deaths were county records. After that, the states began keeping those records. Most counties didn't start keeping birth and death records until the late 1800s. (Dates vary by counties and by states.)

Other sources. Census records from 1930 and before are public information and available at many libraries and Family History Centers. Large libraries generally have collections that include other states. Census records can help determine birth and death dates, names of siblings, birthplaces and occasionally country of origin. Annual tax lists and land records (both are county records), prove quite useful. Cemeteries and funeral homes also make excellent resources. Start your cyber search at www.rootsweb.com , www.genforum.com or www.cyndislist.com .

Compiling your data. How you compile your data is a matter of personal preference. Some researchers like pedigree charts. Download a free copy from this web site. Others prefer to write up research results in a narrative format.

A few words of caution. The three most important words in genealogy are document, document, document. Do not rely on published family trees whether in book form or online. Too many are woefully inaccurate. So are the Mormon Church records that have been contributed by individuals. Use them only as guidelines and conduct your own research.

And remember, in genealogy, it's really the journey, not the destination.