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6 Tips to Getting Started with Genealogy Research and Genealogy Forms

Like most every project doing family research is not really hard, the getting started is the hard part.  There are many places on the internet where you can download the forms to get started on your search.

Getting Ready…

1.  Gather some forms together. There are lots of free ones available on the internet to start working with.  Free Genealogy Forms and Charts  The forms you will need the most to start with will be Pedigree forms, Family Group sheets and Research Log forms.

Find and print a few copies of a pedigree form to start with.  Much to my own aggravation I’m always trying to reinvent the wheel and often times create my own forms.

I’ve made a couple of Pedigree forms that you can download for free to get started and a Research Log. The download links are at the end of the post.  These Pedigree forms are 3 generation forms to include; you, your mom and dad and your grandparents.  The Family sheets, I really have not come up with a better reinvention of those – YET.

2.  Start a numbering system right from the beginning. You will be SO sorry later on if you don’t.  You will be #1, your Dad #2, your Mom #3, your dad’s dad is #4, your dad’s mom is #5, your mom’s dad is #6 and your mom’s mom is #7.  Once you get further back in your research the numbers will continue in the same manner as you have started here.

3.  I also have created and added a “Blank-Family-Record-Documents-Collected” spreadsheet form that I attach to the front of the file folder of the family I am researching.  You can also download a free copy of that below.  To open this form you will need Microsoft Excel or you can use Open Office, which is free to download (Download Open Office)

4. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. When I first started I did that and still at times make things more difficult than they need to be.  Just start with yourself and write down what you know and continue backwards.  The main thing to remember is to write down the information you find and where you find it so you don’t end up retracing your steps again looking for the same information.

If you have your birth certificate; mark it on the form I’ve provided that you have attached to the outside of your family folder and the same with your parents.  Any documents you have mark it down on the form and store the document in acid free sheet protectors.

5.  Most of all, make your project fun.  Add some scrapbooking touches to your pages. There are also scrapbooking pages with genealogy charts; kits are already put together with pedigree forms and family group sheets.

6.  Another great tip is “digital scrapbooking.”  If you would rather do all of your work on the computer, sign up for a free account at Scrapbook Flair.  The software is a free download and a little large but well worth it.  You can create your family pages in tree form, or chart form, add embellishments and print them out in whatever size you want; even 12×12 if you are lucky enough to have a 12×12 printer.

Have a great time and remember you can post information on the family lines you are researching on the “Add Your Family Tree” section of this blog.  You never know when you may find a connection with someone who can help you in your research.

http://scrapbookingyourfamilytree.com/add-your-family-tree/

Share this post with friends and family.  Best of all, get your children involved in preserving their family history with you.

Click here to download the Pedigree form above.

Click here to download the Pedigree form above.

Click here to download the Blank-Family-Record-Documents-Collected

Scrapbooking Your Family Tree

I finally had a chance to get to my storage unit and retrieve my family history files that I started working on back in the early 1990s.  After about 3 hours in the HOT Florida weather (anywhere from 92 to 98 degrees), I found all my files and some that had gotten put in the wrong boxes.  I still have not found 1 file of my grandfather’s that had some original documents in that file.  I am hoping that they too are mixed up with something else in another box and not lost completely.

This is the mess I had to go through and half way in to even begin finding my genealogy files.

Once I got the files home and started going through them, I realized I had no idea of what I was doing when I first started this project.  I knew enough back then to obtain birth records, death records, marriage records, wills, etc. but I never sat down and created a filing system.  If anyone else were to inherit this mess, more than likely it would all be thrown out in frustration.

I can kind of make sense of it because I created the chaos but even at times it was very confusing.  In some cases, I found 3 copies of a birth certificate (1 for the child file, 1 for the mother file and 1 for the father file); absolutely too much work and a crazy system.  Same thing for death certificates, but usually 4 copies of these (the person who died, the person who supplied the information and the names of the deceased persons parents).

And please don’t ask about the census records… too many of them to count all over the place.

So, before I go any further, I am creating a system, in hopes that generations to follow me will be able to pick up exactly where I left off.  If not, at least a historical society or the LDS Church can have my records as a donation.

I am not sure whether I am trying to reinvent the wheel or not and maybe the system I am going to use is already in use but I have to work on a system that is easy as 1 – 2 – 3 for me.  I AM basically starting from day 1 since I lost my computer records due to a Trojan virus in December of 2010.  I was able to find a sketchy family tree record still left on Ancestry.com that I could transfer to my computer.  I am so happy that Ancestry.com saves the files even if you aren’t a member for a while.

I will be using a genealogy software program, basically for numbering purposes; printing family group sheets and individual report sheets because after watching some interesting videos, I’ve decided that most of my genealogy research, etc. will be done on paper.  As someone in one of the videos mention, “Who knows if in 20, 30 or 40 years if everything is done by computer, who is to say that future generations will ever be able to retrieve the information.”

I will be adding videos as I go along to show how I am setting up my system and will be preparing forms and suggestions and information on research resources and other sites to make your “genealogical life” much easier, especially if you are a beginner.