First of all, we need to sit down and decide what we are hoping to gain from our researches. We may have a quite limited objective, seeking only to focus on one branch of the family, or we may be happy to let our new hobby carry us along wherever it will. It is not a bad thing to be told at the outset that this hobby can be very addictive and for some of us the journey never seems to end, which of course is so true, as we suspect there will be yet more intriguing discoveries to be made just round the corner.
Our next task is to assemble everything anything and everything that could be relevant to our researches. We will certainly want to glean all the information we can from Birth, Marriage and Death certificates stored away in a safe place. All these and more will be vital to help us piece together the way we are related to our forebears. As we set out to trace our family tree, they will be vital building blocks in the genealogical charts we will be constructing.
And almost certainly there will be items of memorabilia to help us piece together the lives of our parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles and perhaps distant cousins. There will be old photos, citations, medals, condolence cards, correspondence and a great variety of objects that may go back generations, and be richly redolent of earlier times in our family history. They need to be listed and kept safe while their significance is assessed.
Then we will need a good quality note-book to record our findings, whether or not we later transfer data to our PC. A lot of people use laptops for their records, whether at home or out and about. They are both popular and practical for recording information gleaned from microfiche slides and registers in Record Offices. Probably it is wisest to have records in both hard copy and on the hard disk to prevent your precious research work being lost forever.
The hard copy also needs to be organized. When we start off we have no idea just how many reams of paper we will need to record all our charts and diagrams. As time goes on we?ll probably need some sort of expanding file, with spaces for each section or branch of our tree. Then there will come a time in all probability when files will have to be upgraded to box files.
Certainly this will be the case when we discover that a large area of research relating to our family tree has already been done by others. Overnight a small twig can become a large branch! The writer was once sent over 30 sheets of family tree data in the indented paragraph format about his mother?s forbears by a distant cousin five times removed. So if and when that occurs you need to be sure you have somewhere ready to receive and store it, and then have it clearly labelled.
Sometimes it is possible to interview relatives who have rich memories of relatives who are no longer with us. On these occasions a small portable tape-recorder would be invaluable. However, pulling out a tape-recorder unannounced might well cause someone to feel dry-mouthed and clam up. On the other hand it might have the reverse effect and inspire someone to hold forth about family members who were dear to them in times past. Whatever the situation log the interview with time and place and person or persons involved, making sure you have their permission and their blessing. That will keep you busy for the time being.
Equipment You Need for Family Tree Research
This article may be reprinted free of charge provided that the article remains unchanged, and the author?s resource box is included in the reprint.
Stephen Taylor is an ardent genealogy enthusiast who would love to inspire others to take up this fascinating hobby.
For more great information visit: http://www.familyhistorysecrets.com/what-equipment-do-we-need/
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