Researching your family's history is an exciting and worthwhile endeavor. If you have been interested in family history and genealogy, but haven?t started, now is the time!

You may find that your genealogical history includes royalty or other famous people. Are you related to anyone famous? OneGreatFamily

There are resources waiting for you to use and with the popularity of the internet, much of it is online. Libraries are one of the best sources to uncover new information.

There are numerous genealogy based search engines and web pages to help you find family data on the Web. The United States Census has a wealth of data for the genealogy researcher. You can view free online census images from the comfort of your home, without traveling to hundreds of county courthouses across the nation.

Where do I start?

Before going online you need to talk to family members and relatives to get a list of names and information to search. You will need to know as much about your family as you can get. Gather and write down information such as full names, dates and places where ancestors and living relatives lived using a standard genealogical chart Download free forms

Then show the family data you have gathered to relatives. They may be able to add to your family history, adding names, dates, and possibly even a few stories.

You are now ready to start a family tree.

What's next?

Now is the time to try an Online Genealogy Course for a step by step guide to successful genealogy research.

It is time to start the online search

The Internet is a fantastic means of communicating with others who may be researching the same surnames as you. The Internet makes resources available to connect with distant relatives involved in a family history search. For instance, there are a variety of message boards on the web. One of the most popular is GenForum Message Boards @ Genealogy.com . Browse several kinds of boards to see if someone else already wrote an interesting query or post one of your own. By posting messages on these message boards, your request for information may be answered or you may find a distant "cousin" that you did not know.

Is genealogy research expensive?

There are many commercial genealogy sites on the Internet. Most subscriptions rates are affordable and are well worth the investment. Also, there are an increasing number of sites that offer free genealogy information such as GenCircles. The Genealogy Connection, the site you are on now, offers both fee and free genealogy resources. Many sites offer a variety of subscription options. You can also read articles and books written by professional genealogists on a variety of topics. One well known source is Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors : A... (Houghton Mifflin 1999). Many sources at Amazon.com are inexpensive and provide the genealogy researcher with useful and practical information to improve the effectiveness of family history research.

You can CLICK HERE to visit our Genealogy Connection Bookstore, built in association with Amazon.com.

Searching the Internet for information is just part of the process. Successful research is best accomplished by checking a variety of sources such as State Genealogy Records, City Directories and Census Records, Marriage Records, Baptism and Christening Records, or other online and local sources.

Remember to record where you found the data so that you can find it again. Download FREE Forms

Be sure to have a plan for storing your records keeping your records safe.

Family history is fun and the Internet makes it so easy to get started.