The Research

One thing about genealogy is that it requires A LOT of research.  I'm big on research.  I've always preferred to try to have a handle on a situation by making sure I possess as much knowledge about it as possible.  As G.I. Joe said, "Knowing is half the battle".  But when I research family genealogy, it's like I've suddenly come down with attention deficit issues and while I'm working on one person suddenly I'm all "Oh Squirrel!" and I'm following tangents on another person.

For some people, this isn't a big deal, but I want my information to be as factual and organized as possible because I want to prove who I am related to unless it's someone not great, then I wouldn't care. In my research, I'm trying to get things as organized as possible.  There is a research trip planned for August with my cousin and fellow researcher.  We are currently trying to amass as much information through internet channels as possible so we can be as efficient with the time we'll have to look through records at the courthouse.

There are tons of websites that offer genealogy information.  I personally use Ancestry.com to build my tree.  (Please note that I am an affiliate partner with Ancestry and receive a small bonus when someone signs up for Ancestry using my links.  And by small I mean I might pay for my first year of web hosting for this blog sometime in about 10 years) While easy to use, it can also be easy to get sidetracked and follow the wrong branch of the wrong tree.  That's why it's important to stay organized, take your time and pay attention.  I do enjoy being able to send and receive messages with other Ancestry members.

I've also mentioned previously about crowdsourcing on the internet, specifically on Facebook.  Facebook has been beneficial not only for gaining information in a specific town, but also with its many genealogical groups.  I am currently in two groups that have offered some insight on research:
The Genealogy Squad and Genetic Genealogy Tips & Techniques.  These are just two of many available groups on the topic.  Through these groups, I've found a couple of other good websites to help with research and organization:

Abundant Genealogy- Free Research Tools Abundant Genealogy has a plethora of links for research and tools.  I recently downloaded their Abundant Genealogy Research Checklist.  This is a comprehensive checklist for several different research categories.  I altered the checklist a bit when I downloaded it adding an area at the end for notes, including a header that allows you to write the name of the family member you're researching on each page and added a spot to add birth and death date information and locations.  I plan to print these out for each person I am currently working on so that I can make sure I look at all potential research. (Here's the link to my altered checklist).

Also on Abundant Genealogy are posts from the Archive Lady  She discusses things about preserving items from your family's history as well as places to research your family.  She also has a blog at A Genealogist in the Archives and a Facebook Page The Archive Lady.

Last but not least, I also recently became aware of Cyndi's List.  This site, as it's name suggests, has a list of research links for each state and some countries.  And within those links are lists of research sites.  This has been a new discovery on my part, but I'm excited to dive in and see what I can find.

These are only a few of the available online research options.  If you have additional helpful links, please feel free to drop them in the comments!

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