Over the last few years, I have developed a strong interest in genealogy. Part of this stems from the many different genealogy-related questions that we get here in the Information Services department. The rest comes from personal interest in tracing my own family history. And clearly, I am not alone. With more and more information being digitized and available online, the numbers are soaring. Just look at the user numbers quoted by 3 of the top genealogy websites:  MyHeritage  – 105 million users in 196 countries; FamilySearch – 12.6 million registered users; and Ancestry.com – 3 million paying subscribers and  more than 15 million people using AncestryDNA. That’s a lot of people!

Given my interest in this topic, I have talked to a lot of people about family history research. Some are in the midst of doing their own research but many are stuck at the “I don’t know where to start” stage. If you are one of those people who has been hesitant to dive into the genealogy research pool, here are a few ideas that can help you to wade in.

Whether it’s a website or a book on genealogy, two of the first steps you frequently see are 1) write down what you already know and 2) interview your relatives. The general advice for writing down what you know is to start with yourself, your parents and your grandparents. There are a number of forms available that can help you organize this information. Two of the most commonly used are the Ancestral Chart and the Family Group Sheet (FGS).  Both forms are available free on a number of websites including the National Archives and Ancestry.com.

With the holidays approaching, this may be the perfect time to interview your relatives. Whether you schedule the interview or do it on the fly, be sure to ask open-ended questions.  If possible, record the interview. (Smart phones provide an easy way to do this. They also come in handy for getting copies of photos and documents.) For more tips on interviewing your family, check out these posts from some of the top websites:

MyHeritage – Genealogy Basics Chapter 1: How to Interview Relatives

FamilySearch – Preserve Your Legacy: 9 Tips for Interviewing Relatives

Ancestry – Family History 101: Tips for Interviewing Your Relatives

No matter what the stage of your family history research, be sure to check out The Library’s Genealogy page for links to a variety of free resources.