The process

You’ve finally decided you want to start researching your family history. You’ve signed up for a free Ancestry.com trial, you’ve sat down and entered a name into the search box – and then you’ve sat stunned as the search engine reported 45,000 results. And then you closed the window and said, “I’ll do this later.”

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you putting off your genealogy journey because you just don’t know where to begin? Let me help you get started! Each project is unique, but here is the process I recommend, as well as services I can provide along the way.

Go ask Bubbe: Get some information from relatives who have more information. Note: This is the only step that I suggest starting across the board. You should interview as many relatives as you can across all of your genealogical lines, because you never know when you will no longer have the opportunity. For the remaining steps, research your family one branch at a time to allow for sufficient focus. I can help you brainstorm questions that might be useful in your record search or identify family members who could be valuable resources. I can also help you compile your information into a workable family tree format.

Jump in: Once you’ve selected a branch, jump-start your journey with an expansive initial document search and see what comes up. If that sounds daunting, I can help you get past that first hurdle. We’ll have a conversation about your known family history, and then I will do an initial search and try to identify some records that may be useful to you.

Make a wishlist: Now that you know what you have and what you don’t know, make a wishlist of what facts you would like to know and what documents might provide the answers. I can assist you in compiling this list as well as provide resources to help you find the documents you seek. I can also make record requests on your behalf.

On the side: Here are some things you should be doing consistently throughout your journey:

• Go ask Bubbe again! Take what you’ve found back to your family. Share the records. See if they spark any additional conversation or trigger any further memories.
• Harness the power of social networks. Look for other people who might be researching the same families. If you have identified relatives you’d like to contact, give it a shot!
• Identify relatives you would like to test through ancestral DNA testing, if you are planning to do this. You should test your oldest relatives, and do it as soon as possible – as always, time is of the essence.
• Step back. When you’ve reached back as far as you can, step away and start working on a new branch. Over time you’ll find that doubling back to old research questions might give you time to develop new insight on how you can expand your search, and in the interim you can keep busy locating more readily-accessible information.