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Your Family Tree - GenealogyWe all come from somewhere. Our roots, our family, our ancestors. Finding the story of your family and your relatives can be tough, but that is what the science and art of genealogy (also spelled geneaology) is all about. What is genealogy? It is simply the study of the family tree - tracking peoples names and dates backwards through generations to find out who you are related to, where your family came from, and who your ancestors were. With the advent of the internet, finding and tracking relatives has become easier. What once entailed visits to record depositories in Utah or elsewhere can now be found with the click of a button on line. In this guide, we will check out the best genealogy websites and family tree software programs, plus tips on how to get started creating your own family tree.
How to get started with geneaology? How do I begin to build my family tree?Here are some tips for getting into genealogy. First, you need to collect your basic family information - start with your parents. You'll want to collect information like names, birthdates, places of birth, wedding dates and locations, dates of death and where buried. You'll continue your research talking to aunts and uncles and grandparents if they are alive. You can search the internet for your last name and mother's maiden name to find other possible relatives -- put some feelers out and maybe you can track down others who have already done some research and can connect the dots on your tree for you. If you know graveyards where relatives are buried, you can sometimes pick up additional data on birth and death dates and names, if you don't already have that information. The Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) also maintains a huge archive of geneaology records in Utah, with family lines dating back hundreds of years. But you don't have to visit Utah - local churches can help you get access to what you need.Best Geneaology Websites - Family Tree SitesAs you get started on your family discovery, start out at CyndisList.com. This genealogy site is a reference with links to many other sites related to family trees and tracking your family. They have how-to guides for getting started, information on finding records, genealogy information from different countries and for various religions -- all told, she will point you to over 250,000 different genealogy resources. It may be a bit overwhelming at first, but spend a half hour browsing and you will start to get a feel for what your family tree project may entail. Ready to move on? Check out RootsWeb.com/~usgw. This USGenWeb Project is devoted to providing free internet genealogy resources. You can search state by state and see who else is doing research on your family name and share and compare notes. You won't find all your answers here, but it is a good place to start looking around. The top level domain there, RootsWeb.com is part of the Ancestry.com family, with a lot of good information. You can check out the RootsWeb Surname list (RSL) and see which branches of a family name different people are tracking (ie, different times and countries) - makes it easy to connect with people who may have a lot of your tree already worked out. They have mailing lists and message boards, with a lot of genealogy experts that can help answer your questions about geneaology. So that takes us to Ancestry.com - this is a paid subscription website costing $12.95 or $29.95 per month. It gives you Internet connectivity to thousands of other family trees, so if you have a common ancestor with someone, all the known family tree will be filled in for you -- this makes it MUCH easier to get going and find out your ancestry. They also have online access to census records, birth, marriage, and death certificates, and more. They offer a free 14 day trial so you can look around and see what they offer - certainly take them up on the offer!You can also check out the US National Archives at www.archives.gov/genealogy/. They have immigration records, land records, census data, and much more to aid in your search, and it is all free. Finally, check out Genealogy.com, the parent site for Ancestry and Rootsweb. From viewing celebrity family trees to building your own (see software below) there is plenty of help here for your project. Family Tree Software - Genealogy SoftwareGenealogy.com offers their Family Tree Maker Web Edition software which allows you to begin building your family tree in a diagram form by entering your name and relatives names, with any additional information like birthdate or date of death, marriage dates, birth places, etc. The normal CD version is simply called Family Tree Maker 16. It costs $40 and is easy to use. Start entering your own name and birthdate, then move on to your parents and siblings, grand parents, aunts, uncles, etc. All your data is organized into a clickable family tree diagram. You can search for relatives on the Internet from census data, marriage records, and other sources. Finding matches to known family trees online allow you to quickly expand both the size and the detailed data about your family tree. The program makes it easy to combine charts, diagrams, etc. and make print outs or even a book about your family tree.Legacy Family Tree (LegacyFamilyTree.com) is another popular geneaology software package. The standard edition is free, while the deluxe version costs $29 (for the download file only, $59 for whole shrink wrap package with documentation, users guide, etc.). Like most family tree software, it lets you view and print your pedigree in different ways and makes it easy to add new data for ancestors. You can even print out complete family genealogy books when your tree is complete, with data pages on each person. Roots Magic (RootsMagic.com) Genealogy Software is another leading contender for best family tree software. It is $29.95 for the electronic download file, and it makes organizing and publishing your family history easy. You can view 5 or 6 generations as once on the screen, while editing is as easy as clicking on a name. You can add private events and dates for any individuals to create a complete family history, unique for your family.
Do you have a quality site or product that belongs in this guide? We are always happy to evaluate or review new products and websites. Feel free to contact us at the email address below and let us know about you. If you have a demo product you'd like us to look at, please contact us before sending anything. Thank you.
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